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EPISODE 221 – JABBERWOCK (2)
—————–aaaaah!
The sound became a little clearer.
Princess Leica looked at the front and shouted.
“Let’s go!”
As her unicorn began running, the other Elven Steeds also began to run.
Their legs were lean, but it was surprisingly powerful as they were able to become as fast as the wind in an instant.
————–aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The sounds of the rough wind and Jabberwock’s screams could be heard together.
In the midst of the hectic run, Cordelia tightly hugged Jude’s waist while Jude drove the Elven Steed to the side of Princess Leica.
“Your Highness!”
Princess Leica turned her head at Jude’s call, and Jude sent her a <Message> magic instead of talking with his voice.
[I know the weakness of Jabberwock!]
“Weakness?!”
[That’s right! Jabberwock is not a monster without a fixed shape! There is a way to fix it into a single shape!]
Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock.
For the elves of the Forest of Eternity, Jabberwock was a monster with an unfixed shape as it could change its shape at any moment.
But the truth was different.
Because it wasn’t just a monster with an indefinite form that continuously shapeshifted.
[It’s a monster that grows by feeding on fear! Therefore, if everyone thinks of the same thing, if what the existence everyone imagines that they are afraid of is the same, we can fix it to that shape!]
At his unexpected words, Princess Leica blinked her eyes.
Because it was information that was not found in the royal family’s subjugation records of Jabberwock.
“Is if from the Guardians’ record?!”
“Yes!”
To be exact, it was a strategy guide posted in the ‘Legend of Heroes Wiki.’
Adelaide Hastings, one of the playable characters in the empire.
She was the most beautiful woman in the world as dubbed by the game’s production staff, though Jude obviously refused to admit that now, but she was a character with an imagination as unique as her beauty.
‘In the game, the best strategy to attack it was to use Adelaide.’
When other characters faced Jabberwock, it would change its race, sex, and attributes at any moment, but not for Adelaide.
‘Because of her imagination.’
And as a result, Jabberwock turned into a very harmless and cute animal.
‘A continuous one-turn kill.’
Before Jabberwock changed its shape again, she would kill it by using her strongest lethal move.
It was a method in the game that only Adelaide could use because of the forced story progression, but it was a reality now.
He knew how to do it, so there was no reason not to use it.
“It’s all right! Trust me!”
It wouldn’t hurt to try it.
Princess Leica loudly shouted and conveyed Jude’s words to the other knights, and whether it was because of the emergency or her outstanding leadership, all of the knights received her order without any objection.
—–aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Its waking-up screams were heard again.
It was already the ninth waking-up scream.
“The Shades are coming!”
“We’re almost there!”
Dead trees that were drained of their life came into everyone’s sight. The Shades protruded their heads from the blackened ground, and the cries of Jabberwock continued to be heard from afar.
—aaaaaaaaaaaaah!
[It’s getting shorter!]
Cordelia sent a <Message> magic to Jude as she hugged his waist even tighter, and the knights began to rush as their steeds trampled the Shades and continued to run.
–aaaaaaaaaak!
Die-die-die-I’m-scared-I-don’t-want-to-die-save-me-monster-I’ll-kill-you-aaaaaaaaaaah!
The mixed voices of men, women, children, and the elderly were simultaneously heard in random.
And in response, the Shades let out spooky and eerie cries. They then suddenly heard the last waking-up scream.
I-hate-you-I-hate-you-I’ll-kill-you-don’t-look-back-I’ll-chase-you-you’ll-die-here-yaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
Its screams made their hair stand on end.
The sky quickly turned dark, and the black Shades with burning green eyes appeared.
And what they saw in front of them.
As the ground greatly shook, something purple and almost black inflated its body and roared.
I’ll-strangle-you-I’ll-kill-you-I’ll-tear-you-up-and-take-out-your-gut-before-you-die-I’ll-kill-you-yaaaaaaaah!
The Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock.
Everyone was overwhelmed by its presence in that moment.
And Princess Leica had a gut feeling that there was something wrong with it.
Even Midas who had participated in the subjugation of Jabberwock in the past immediately noticed the difference.
It’s stronger.
It’s been reborn as a far more powerful creature than what was left on the records.
Why?
For what reason?
“Imagine!”
In that instant, Cordelia spread out her angelic light and shouted in the elven language.
When she shouted with the power of an angel, even the elves who fell into a panic came to their senses at once.
Imagine.
Imagine what?
“Imagine!”
Princess Leica ordered them too.
The knights desperately thought of the most harmless and weakest beings in the world they could imagine.
Fluffy.
Round and small.
Cute, adorable, and lovely!
Jude-I-like-you-whimper-whimper-whimper-meow-meow-woof-woof-woof-hehehe-hehehe-I-love-you-f*ck!
At that moment, Jabberwock shrank as it let out strange sounds. Cordelia’s eyes widened when she saw it turn into something pink for an instant, and she slapped Jude on the back before shouting again.
T/N: If you still haven’t figured it out, Jude was thinking of Cordelia. And Cordelia realized it when it turned into something ‘pink’ (her hair color), so she slapped Jude on the back, hahaha.
“Same thing! Think of the same thing!”
She then used <Message> magic to spread the image in her mind to the elven knights.
“Imagine!”
What Cordelia imagined in her mind.
What Cordelia thought of as harmless, cute, and pretty.
At that moment, Jabberwock turned into something small, round, and green.
Princess Leica and the elves didn’t know what it was, but Jude knew.
‘Slime!’
To be exact, a baby slime that was common in online games!
A monster that Cordelia knew because she had a keychain of it in the past!
But it was right after that.
Die-die-I’ll-eat-you-I’ll-melt-your-stomach-I’ll-melt-you-and-kill-you-and-your-house-will-be-my-stomach!
In an instant, the stomach of the swelling slime split, and a huge mouth appeared.
And Jude realized.
It was impossible in the first place.
Jabberwock was a monster that fed on fear.
It was impossible to completely escape from fear like how Adelaide did. Because ordinary people could not imagine Jabberwock as a harmless existence.
Monster.
In the end, whatever they imagined would transform into a monster based on it.
“Black Dragon’s Ascent!”
Jude shouted out loud as he jumped from the Elven Steed. He opened the sixth door and released the energy of the black dragon in succession towards Jabberwock who was trying to attack their group. The elven knights had begun fighting the Shades, and Jude yelled without looking back.
“Cordelia! Plan B!”
The second strategy they had prepared in case Adelaide’s strategy did not work.
Die-die-I’ll-kill-you-I’ll-kill-you-I’ll-live-I-want-to-eat-you-I’m-hungry-I’m-hungry-I’m-hungry-aaaaaaah!
Jabberwock turned into a giant wolf. It rushed towards them and became a lion, but Jude did not look back.
If he couldn’t think of a harmless being anyway, he tried to think of a humanoid knight in order to make it easier to fight. Jude then used his Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt.
“Cordelia!”
The full-scale battle began. Midas joined in to help Jude, and the battle between the Shades and the elven knights intensified. Vanessa also cast recovery magic to help the knights.
And it was at that moment.
At the time when Princess Leica was about to fire an arrow with Mistilteinn, a fine bow that was a treasure of the royal family.
“<Paralyze>, <Silence>, <Strength>, and <Haste!>”
The first two spells were for Princess Leica, and the other two were for herself.
Cordelia did a surprise attack from behind as she neutralized Princess Leica and hugged the princess’ waist before she soared. She spread out her wings and flew up.
“Y-your Highness?!”
Vanessa belatedly cried out, but it was already too late.
Princess Leica was paralyzed as her body drooped and became unable to move. Midas was shocked but couldn’t chase after Cordelia because Jabberwock had turned into a giant hedgehog in front of him and fired hundreds of thorns in all directions.
“Human! What the hell is going on!”
Midas used his swordsmanship to block the thorns and then shouted behind Jude. At Midas’ murderous aura, Jude’s hair stood on end but instead of looking back, he defended himself and the elven knights by releasing the energy of the black dragon.
And then he shouted.
“They’ll be back!”
Plan B. They’ll be back when the preparations for our second strategy is finished.
Jude controlled his breathing.
As he had expected, Jabberwock had not turned into a calamity yet, but there were some similarities from the time it was a calamity in the game to the present reality now.
It had a tremendous vitality and regenerative power. Every time it shapeshifted, it instantly healed its wounds so they couldn’t defeat it with just normal attacks.
“You have to continuously attack and wear it out!”
Midas shouted since it was how the elves dealt with Jabberwock in the past. However, that did not work this time.
It was much stronger than what was written in the royal family’s records.
And Jude could roughly guess the reason.
He didn’t know on who was behind it, but he was convinced that Jabberwock was heavily involved in the destruction of the Forest of Eternity.
‘Cordelia.’
I need to buy time.
Until Cordelia fulfills the conditions. Until she finishes the preparations for the second strategy.
Jude thought of the Lord Protector. He made Jabberwock look humanoid for a while and then pushed it back.
And at that moment.
At the time when Jude’s ‘sword’ split Jabberwock’s body.
Cordelia landed on the ground.
She threw Princess Leica into the lake known as the residence of the spring fairies.
***
Princess Leica was in a daze.
The moment she tried to shoot with Mistilteinn, she was suddenly paralyzed.
She couldn’t hear her voice even when she opened her mouth, and when she realized that her waist was grabbed, she was already in the air.
‘Mom was right!’
She said that all humans are scammers!
But what’s going on? Didn’t my identification ability clearly identified that they were good kids?
However, she didn’t have the time to answer her own questions.
Because she fell into the water at some point.
“Mmmph! Mmph! Mmph!”
The water was only waist deep, but Princess Leica struggled because her head was facing the bottom of the lake.
And her whole body was paralyzed!
‘What is this! Are you an assassin? Are you from Kelthur’s side? Does my younger brother want me dead?’
It was at that moment. She felt something pull the back of her neck and her head was suddenly out of the water.
“Puhaa!”
Princess Leica who was having difficulty breathing then gasped, and Cordelia removed the <Silence> magic from the princess’ mouth before she began to busily move her hands.
“You! What are you doing! W-what are you doing?!”
There was a mixture of anger and embarrassment in Princess Leica’s words. Because Cordelia suddenly began to take off Leica’s armor as well as her clothes.
“Take it off!”
“W-why all of a sudden!”
“Because the princess is the prettiest in the punitive force!”
“Eh?”
What are you talking about? Well, it is true though.
But it was at that moment.
After Cordelia almost stripped Princess Leica naked, Cordelia took off her own clothes this time and soaked her body into the water in her underwear.
What’s going on?
Why are you suddenly doing this?
“D-don’t tell me.”
Are you trying to call out the spring fairies now?
That’s impossible.
There’s a story about how a beautiful girl or boy took a bath and the fairies came out to play, but that’s just a story.
‘Because I’ve already done it!’
She still had vivid memories of being scolded by Midas because she caught a cold after taking a bath at night with Vanessa as they tried to call out the fairies.
But Cordelia sat down and pulled the hand of Princess Leica who was about to drown in the water before she began to sing.
“Twinkle, twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~ ”
A human girl had suddenly taken off her clothes, soaked herself into the lake, and began to sing.
It could only be described as the act of a woman who had gone crazy, but Princess Leica held her breath at that time.
Because the girl in front of her was very beautiful.
“A-angel?”
Now that she took a closer look at Cordelia, she saw the latter’s angel wings. There was also an angel’s halo above Cordelia’s head.
Cordelia continued to sing, and Princess Leica began pretending to bathe while still in a daze.
And right after that.
By the time Cordelia sang the entire song of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
“Wow! She’s so pre-”
That was it.
Something happened before the usually chattering spring fairy who had appeared could even speak.
Cordelia grabbed the spring fairy with her right hand like a hawk that caught its prey, and at the time when Princess Leica was shocked and felt a sense of betrayal at the spring fairy’s appearance, Cordelia opened her mouth.
“Let’s go! To your Queen!”
“T-to the Queen?”
“Let’s play at night together!”
“I-it’s daytime now though?!”
Her answer was logical and unlike that of a fairy, but Cordelia didn’t care.
She used her telekinetic power to capture all the other spring fairies before shouting again.
“Let’s goooo!”
To meet your queen.
To get the Spring Protection!
To get the Great Protection of the Four Seasons.
And to get the other treasure that Jude needs to attack Jabberwock.
She had roughly coerced them, but she couldn’t help it. Even at this very moment, Jude was fighting Jabberwock.
“L-let’s go!”
The spring fairies cried out in tears, and at that instant, Cordelia and Princess Leica leapt across the space.