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EPISODE 257 – SURPRISE ATTACK (1)
It was well past midnight, but Argon Port was noisy as if it were daytime.
“This way!”
“We need more lights!”
“There! Over there!”
The knights and guards roamed the streets to search for any remaining Black Hand Mercenaries and demons.
“Don’t go around thoughtlessly!”
“Lock your doors and windows!”
“Those whose walls have already fallen, gather in the square! That side is safe!”
Most of the fighting took place in the central square, but the Vorgs and demons scattered everywhere caused civilian damage.
The fact that there were only injuries and no deaths when such a commotion had happened was truly surprising though.
“Send someone to Count Kagehama as well.”
Two of the seven southern families were attacked this night.
Unlike the Ophands who defended themselves well, the Kagehamas suffered so much damage that not only the mansion burned down and all the walls collapsed, but many employees died too.
“How is Count Kagehama?”
The adjutant narrowed his brows at the question of Sir Marcus, head of the Knights of the Sea Lion that were in charge of Argon Port’s security, and answered.
“It’s not life-threatening, but I think there’s a problem with his head. The doctors say that it’s short-term memory loss.”
“Memory loss?”
“Yes. He said that he completely forgot on what happened tonight.”
“Ha, seriously… Any other complications?”
“They say that there are no visible complications right now.”
“I see.”
His mansion had been destroyed overnight, but apart from his injuries, he only received a mental shock.
“Commander, the guards have arrested seven dwarven artisans in the central square.”
“Dwarves? Why all of a sudden? Did they get into a fight with the people around them?”
“Yes, they were caught trying to steal a part of the Black Dragons’ corpse and got into an argument with the Guardians of the Holy Cross.”
Sir Marcus frowned at the report of his subordinate knight.
“They really are dwarves.”
They were a race that he couldn’t like even if he wanted to because they were not only stubborn, but were also greedy and highly prideful.
As the common prejudice on dwarves strengthened on Sir Marcus, the adjutant standing next to him added cautiously.
“For the dwarves, it’s like a gold treasure… no, it’s like having a sumptuous feast spread out in front of you but you’re forbidden from eating any of it.”
“Really? So if you’re forbidden from partaking in that sumptuous feast, you’re going to steal it?”
“Uh… well…”
The adjutant who got admonished was crushed when his efforts to defend them ended up in vain and even backfired, and Sir Marcus clicked his tongue at the pitiful sight before asking the knight who reported the arrest.
“What about the key people in this incident?”
“They said that they’ll tell us about the circumstances once they’ve treated their injuries.”
“Tsk.”
Upon hearing the knight’s report, Sir Marcus clicked his tongue again, revealing his displeasure.
Because he was annoyed at the fact that they had yet to tell them of the full situation despite an incident that shook the security of the entire Argon Port.
‘I am thankful if they should be thanked, but f*cking pissed if they’re the ones who f*cked things up.’
He was grateful that the incident which could have turned into a huge disaster was prevented, but the circumstances regarding the incident had yet to be clarified.
Perhaps it was their fault that the port was put into danger in the first place.
‘Of course, I don’t think that’s the case considering the circumstances.’
In any case, Sir Marcus wanted to hear about the incident’s details by detaining the key people involved, but he couldn’t actually do that.
Because his opponents were really big.
‘It would have been better if was from the 7 southern families.’
The heroes of Paragon.
How in the world could he detain those people?
“Okay. Just tell them that I’ll meet them tomorrow morning.”
“Eh? Morning?”
“It’s almost dawn anyway. It’s better to let them rest properly than just taking a short break.”
“I understand.”
When the knight withdrew, Sir Marcus looked back at the central square.
Thinking about the dozens of wyvern corpses lying there as well as the dragon corpses that he had only seen in storybooks gave him the chills again.
‘It’s only for today.’
All these unbelievable things will only be for today.
Sir Marcus slowly nodded as he tried to calm himself down.
Without knowing on what was going to happen in the future.
***
“Disciple, how many doors have you opened?”
“Six doors.”
“F*ck.”
Scarlet flinched when a curse word came out of Landius’ mouth.
She had heard that he was strong, but upon seeing for herself the power of Landius that was beyond the limits of a human, she was blown away and became somehow afraid.
But unlike Scarlet, Kajsa was examining Landius’ entire body with sparkling eyes.
She had such a desirous gaze that it seemed like she wanted to stroke it affectionately.
As for another person.
Sitting next to Lena who had a gentle smile, Cordelia thought with a big smile.
‘As I thought, f*ck is an exclamation!’
She had always said that it was an exclamation.
Moreover, Landius’ reaction made Cordelia very happy.
‘This is my Jude.’
He’s amazing, right? He’s cool, right? He managed to do 50 kills alone in the fighting competition in the royal capital, okay?
Lena smiled again while Scarlet coldly looked at the excited Cordelia who had snorted in pride.
As for the people being talked about.
Landius and Jude were repeating their previous conversation.
“Six doors? Are you really saying that you’ve opened six doors?”
“Yes, six doors. You’ve seen it yourself.”
“What an unfair world.”
He had worked so hard to open six doors.
He obviously welcomed his disciple’s quick achievements though.
The fact that Jude had opened the sixth door made him really happy.
But still, it hadn’t been that long since they separated at the temple, and his disciple was already in the sixth door.
At this rate, he was worried that the next time he saw Jude, his disciple would have caught up to him.
‘No, it’s better that way.’
He wasn’t just talking about his disciple’s achievements.
Because Landius himself had been stuck in the seventh door and was unable to proceed to the eight door for a long time.
If Jude was able to open the eight door with the help of his Cheonmujiche, Landius thought that he might get a clue on how to open the eight door.
‘Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors was suited for those with Cheonmujiche in the first place.’
Having cleared his thoughts by nodding his head once, Landius began to see Jude from a different perspective.
“By the way, Jude.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You look quite good.”
“It’s all thanks to Master’s teachings.”
When they had first met, Jude was skinny, frail, and small, but now, Jude had grown up to 186-190 centimeters, and even had quite a bit of muscles in his body.
He was definitely still small and little when compared to Landius though.
“Anyway, Landy, shouldn’t we go back to our previous topic?”
Landius nodded at Lena’s gentle voice, and Cordelia’s eyes sparkled in a different sense.
‘Landy? She said Landy, right?’
Not Landius but Landy.
It’s a shortened version of his name, but is this his pet name too?
‘Hmm… Landius and Lena-nim.’
They’re quite a good pair.
In the first episode, these two also get along very well with each other.
‘W-wait. For real?’
Landius is too big.
Their difference in height alone is 60 cm… no, it’s almost 70 cm, but there’s something more important than the height.
Because Landius’ forearm are thicker than Lena’s waist!
‘Too much. That’s absolutely too much.’
Cordelia shook her head before looking at Jude again, and thought as she put her hands together in front of her chest as if she was praying.
‘Please don’t get bigger.’
You’re body’s perfect right now, okay?
However, even if Jude really grew as big as Landius, she wasn’t likely to change her mind.
Because her mind was rationalizing that being big was also a good thing.
In any case, while Cordelia was lost in her thoughts, Landius continued his words.
“Ahem, ahem, let’s get back to the topic. I’ve heard about the general situation from the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.”
The group was currently on the rooftop of a building near Marquis Ophand’s mansion.
Whether it was Marquis Ophand or the Knights of the Sea Lion, they would definitely suffer from a barrage of questions once they were caught, so they chose this place to talk.
“Yes, everything we have told them is true. Today’s fight is also proof of it.”
The threat of the ancient Black Dragon Malekith.
“Today’s attack is just the beginning. The enemy’s main forces, the Dragonflights, have yet to properly appear.”
Malekith’s Dragonflights were not a just a group of wyverns and the like.
They were a real army of dragons that inherited Malekith’s blood, so their fighting power was naturally incomparable to a group of wyverns and the like.
Landius furrowed his brow at Jude’s words and looked back towards the west. Seeing the crows that were flying towards them, it seemed like Kamael’s work had been completed.
“Why don’t we talk in earnest after Kamael is here?”
“That would be great.”
“Yes, Master. Then before that, may I ask a question about Master and his colleagues?”
“A question?”
“Yes, I want to know why you’re in the south.”
Landius was not alone as Kamael and Lena were also accompanying him, and the three were traveling together.
As shown in today’s battle, they could easily wipe out a city if they were united, so he couldn’t help but wonder what in the world these powerful three were after for them to unite together.
‘Because I need it for the future.’
Jude had not been able to get help from Landius in handling the situation in the north and the royal capital.
But he had to change the future.
As demonstrated in the south’s current situation, they would be events in the future that Jude and Cordelia would not be able to handle alone.
“Hmm… all right. Now may be a good time to talk about it.”
Other people might consider Jude’s question to be rude, but Landius nodded his head a few times as if he didn’t care, and he narrowed his brows before continuing to speak.
“Jude, you already know about this, right? The person responsible for the destruction of the Paragon Kingdom.”
People often cited the queen who formed a contract with the demon as the cause of the Paragon Kingdom’s fall, but Landius disagreed with that.
In the first place, the queen was just being taken advantage of.
That person was the first to deceive the queen.
That person not only informed her of the demon’s existence, but also taught her how to form a contract, as well as using her son as a human sacrifice.
“Archbishop Manuela.”
“Yeah, that b*stard. I, Lena, and Kamael have been tracking his whereabouts ever since the fall of the Paragon Kingdom.”
It wasn’t just for revenge.
They wanted to prevent Manuela from causing a bigger tragedy.
“Is Manuela here in the south?”
“Yes, but unfortunately, we missed him.”
Jude already knew that Landius was traveling all over the continent in search of Manuela.
But nevertheless, he asked again for confirmation.
‘Because many things have already changed from the game’s storyline.’
In the game’s storyline, there was no story of Landius and Malekith fighting each other.
In other words, Landius shouldn’t have been in the southern region at this time.
Therefore, Jude was on alert for other possible reasons, even if it seemed to be unfounded worries.
‘Archbishop Manuela is definitely not an unfounded worry though.’
Archbishop Manuela was the actual final boss of Legend of Heroes 2, though it might somehow be different depending on the route one took.
Because Archbishop Manuela was the one who caused the Great Summons and brought about the Armageddon of Heaven and Hell.
‘As expected, he’s on the level of a final boss.’
Because he could get away from a group that had Landius, Kamael, and Lena.
He was an enemy, but he was quite admirable in terms of power.
“That b*stard would suddenly appear and disappear, so I don’t know where he would appear next. I should have caught him this time…”
Landius gritted his teeth in his anger, revealing a slightly murderous look. It was the first time that they had seen him doing that.
‘Landius.’
His death was not known in the game. It was only inferred from the circumstances that he was killed by Duke, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil’s Eye.
‘Is it Manuela?’
If it’s not Duke, is it perhaps him?
But at this point in time, Manuela wasn’t that strong. It was after the 7 major calamities happened that he acquired the strength befitting of a final boss enemy.
‘Even so, it still won’t be easy.’
Because Lena was with Landius.
And on some occasions, he was with Kamael too.
‘And… he’s also strong. He’s unusually strong.’
The two had both opened the sixth door, but there was a huge gap between the strengths of Jude and Landius.
The increase of their strength was the same, but their basic capabilities were different.
It was the same logic that if you multiply your strength 10 times, one who has the capability of 10 would become 100, while another who has the capability of 20 would become 200.
‘Of course, it won’t work out exactly as what I’ve calculated.’
In any case, it was true that Landius was incredibly powerful.
To the point that it felt abnormal.
“Kamael is coming. It seems like his job has been successfully completed.”
Jude nodded at Landius’ words as he saw Matteo being carried by a murder of crows.
Matteo, the Sword of Heavy Pressure, was indeed above average among the Ten Great Swordmasters, but even so, he was a swordsman who was one step lower than Ghostblade Kamael.
“I don’t think it’s going to be easy to interrogate him right now.”
Everyone agreed with Kamael who spoke as soon as he landed on the roof. Because Matteo who had collapsed on the floor was on the verge of death.
“So let’s proceed with our conversation separately from the interrogation.”
Kamael strode forward and sat next to Landius before he took a deep breath and continued.
“I’ve already heard about it from the Guardians of the Holy Cross’ report. As today’s battle proves, Malekith’s threat is real, so we must come up with some countermeasures.”
Unlike Landius and Lena who wandered around without being associated with any organization, Kamael had spent nearly ten years working for the Guardians of the Holy Cross.
There was bound to be a difference between how Landius and him naturally viewed the situation.
“We first need to unite the forces of the south, apart from asking for help from the center.”
Judging by Matteo’s defection, one of the 7 southern families, the Luculias, were already in the enemy’s hands, so there were only six families remaining.
“But there is no way that the powers of the south would unite simply because of the appearance of an external enemy.”
Unifying together in order to confront a common enemy was something that only happened in storybooks.
Humans were not that simple.
They would pursue their own interests. They would not actively take action to avoid losses, and even if the seven families eventually united, their actual strength would be less than four families combined, and their forces would be quite a mess since they would prefer to move separately.
“So we need a solution.”
A means to fully unite the forces of the southern families.
When the conversation progressed to this point, Kajsa suddenly turned to Jude and smiled, while Scarlet also had a mischievous smile on her face. Cordelia had a wide smile too.
But Kamael continued to speak instead of being confused by the sudden reactions of the three.
“We need the legacy of Carlos, the great hero, that has the ability to unite the 7 southern families into one.”
“Yes, here it is.”
“Yes, it is… What?”
“Here, this is Carlos’ legacy.”
Jude pushed Ascalon forward, and Kamael blinked his eyes. He was speechless as he sat with a stunned expression that he had never showed in the game.