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EPISODE 275 – MASTER CRAFTSMAN (5)
The Witch of the West Forest was a great person.
Born and raised as a slave who did not know much, she became a prey to the demons but her death was not in vain.
With only the power of her strong soul, she formed a contract with a demon, and reversed her relationship with the demon by becoming so strong with her talent that transcended common sense.
It was a real surprise.
The fact that a girl who was only a sacrifice was reborn as a great witch who commanded numerous demons was an unprecedented event even in the long history of hell.
Moreover, the Witch of the West Forest was not just strong.
She was a real powerhouse.
Having mastered numerous spells, her soul did not stop growing as it began to see through the secrets of the world, and in the end, she gained enough strength to stand shoulder to shoulder with Demon Princes, the high-ranking nobility of hell.
At this point, even the overlords of hell couldn’t stand still.
The Witch of the West Forest had become an overly dangerous existence.
It was Belial, the overlord of corruption, who defeated her.
He went to the battlefield himself to devour the witch’s soul and make it his own.
The Black Bug Army, which boasted the largest number of troops among the armies of hell, moved at once, and the entire place was covered with bugs and disasters.
The wise Witch of the West Forest knew very well that there were only two paths left for her the moment the Black Bug Army moved.
One was to surrender.
To live as a slave with a collar and shackles under Belial’s command.
The Witch of the West Forest did not do that.
She didn’t want to do that.
That was why the Witch of the Forest raised an army.
Despite knowing that defeat awaited her, she chose the path to confront Overlord Belial head-on.
And the results were disastrous.
The West Forest that used to be her realm was all burned down, and most of the numerous demons she contracted with were killed before Belial’s wrath.
The witch’s soul was set on fire.
Her body was repeatedly regenerated and destroyed by Belial hundreds to thousands of times, and her soul weakened every day in that endless pain of death.
If Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, had not stepped in and stole her soul, her existence would have completely disappeared from this world.
The Witch of the West Forest.
An existence out of a success story.
A legendary protagonist who directly moved two overlords of hell despite being defeated.
‘Yeah, I know she’s great. But why is the witch here!’
Yes! Why is she here!
Jude’s bewilderment was justified.
In the game, after teaching Cordelia how to become a witch, she ascended to heaven – no, ascending to heaven didn’t make sense as witches were fated to completely disappear.
In fact, the Witch of the West Forest neither appeared in the latter half of Legend of Heroes 2 nor the multi-player Episode 2.5, and was completely gone in the third episode.
‘But why!’
Jude actually knew the reason.
Because he and Cordelia changed history.
In the game, the witch disappeared because she strengthened Cordelia’s body and used up all her power in order to fight Asmodeus’ demonic monster.
But it was different this time.
She did not directly fight Asmodeus’ demonic monster, and thus avoided her fate of extinction.
[J-Jude. What should we do?]
Cordelia sweated profusely as she tugged Jude’s sleeve, but instead of answering her, Jude put on a smile that was as natural as possible, though it was somewhat awkward.
‘Stay calm, stay calm, Jude.’
Just the fact that he called himself by his name revealed that he was not calm at all, but Jude took a deep breath for now.
He had experienced something like this several times in his previous life.
When he got caught while undercover.
In Cordelia’s words, when his scam was figured out.
‘What should we do?’
Most of the time, he just knocked down the person next or in front of him before he run away.
However, he couldn’t do that this time.
If they ran away from here, they would never meet Cassius again.
The Witch of the West Forest smiled as she gazed at them.
She had only recovered a bit of her strength since they had seen her, but she was showing a clear presence as though she was a living person despite being only a soul.
What should I do?
How are we supposed to get out of this situation!
“Helena, do you really know them?”
At that moment, Cassius asked with some suspicion.
Because Cordelia’s nervous appearance was very suspicious.
‘Gulp.’
Cordelia swallowed hard.
She had become blackened and shameless due to spending time with Jude, but she had gone back to her past self at this very moment.
In other words, her face was full of embarrassment and fear, just like the time when she acted in monotone.
‘I’m scared, I’m scared.’
We got busted!
Cordelia tightened her grip on Jude’s sleeve, but Jude was also in a dilemma.
‘Calm down, calm down, Cordelia.’
He had to see the reaction from the other side first.
The Witch of the West’s reaction would decide everything.
What would she say?
How would she answer Cassius’ question?
Jude paid attention to the witch’s lips.
Her beautiful and attractive lips that were inferior to Cordelia’s then slowly opened.
“Yes, that’s right. I told them.”
“Really?
“Yes, really.”
The witch softly spoke and smiled at the two, and Cordelia flinched once again.
Jude had an awkward smile.
“I thought that… it would be like this someday.”
The witch’s green eyes stared at Jude who had green eyes too.
Green eyes that lit up like a flame from a dark abyss.
A color that was incomparably mysterious.
“Hey, you can’t just do that. Don’t just give my information, okay?”
As Cassius grumbled, the witch smiled again while exchanging glances with Jude.
“I apologize, but I knew the moment I met them.”
“About what?”
“How kind and honest these two children are.”
The witch smiled once more after she finished speaking, and Cordelia felt her conscience tormenting her.
Because she knew that it was wrong.
But unlike Cordelia, the blackhearted and shameless Jude somehow endured it.
‘She’ll turn a blind eye to it for now.’
That seemed to be the situation.
In that case, it would be better for him to step forward than to keep silent.
“But… how are you two…”
Cassius frowned when Jude opened his mouth, but not for the witch. She smiled and put one hand on her chin as she said.
“Because Cassius is a demon.”
“Excuse me?”
“HEY!”
Jude was puzzled while Cassius was angry.
“Why did you say that!”
“Was it a big secret? It’s not like you’re hiding it anyway.”
“I’ve never said it openly though?”
At Cassius’ reaction, Jude was once again confused.
‘What, Cassius was a real demon? Not a sorcerer or witch?’
“Yes, that’s right. Cassius is a demon and not a witch. But don’t worry. By demon standards, she’s a heretic, a good demon.”
The witch spoke as though she had read Jude’s thoughts.
And in that time, Jude understood a lot of things.
‘It makes sense. No, rather, a lot of things can be understood if she was a demon.’
The enemy that Cassius was targeting.
Maybe it’s someone from hell?
A demon too.
Ad if that demon is an overlord of hell.
If it’s Belial, the overlord of corruption who defeated the Witch of the West Forest.
The reason why Cassius suddenly disappeared.
The weapon she was preparing to face that transcendent being.
“Hey, you wanna die? W-what do you mean by a good demon!”
“Why? Did I say something wrong? You’re kind.”
When the witch teased her, Cassius’ face turned red, though her reaction was closer to embarrassment than anger.
So the witch spoke again in a relaxed manner.
“It’s fine. They’re really good and nice kids. They’re children who don’t lie and cheat.”
“Uhh…”
Cordelia was at a loss again at the words she had heard, but Jude straightened his expression.
Whatever the reason, the Witch of the West Forest was on their side now.
Accepting her goodwill would be fine then.
“Master Cassius, it’s just as the Witch of the West Forest has said. We are here to visit Master Cassius.”
“Hmph, you want me to make you a weapon? Why should I do that?”
Cassius who had been embarrassed until just now suddenly crossed her arms and haughtily answered.
But based on her appearance, it seemed like she would listen to what he would say.
‘Then.’
Jude took another deep breath.
The witch asked with her eyes on how he would change Cassius’ mind, and Jude answered with his eyes as well to the amused witch before speaking to Cassius again.
“Because I have what Master Cassius wants.”
“What?”
“Ancient Dragon body parts.”
Jude’s words suppressed Cassius’ anger.
Cassius was about to tell him to immediately get out, but instantly stopped so Jude continued without stopping.
“We have the corpse of an Ancient Dragon. There are claws, leather, scales, and even a Dragon Heart.”
“Y-you’re lying.”
“No, it’s all true. As the witch said, we’re very honest. Right, Witch-nim?”
When Jude turned to the witch and asked, Cordelia pulled Jude’s sleeve once more in her guilty conscience, but he wasn’t her scammer for nothing.
He faced the witch with a face like that of a sly fox.
‘Help!’
It was a shameless request, but the witch did not get angry. Rather, she grinned and nodded as if she having a lot of fun.
“He’s right, he’s right. It’s just as the kid said. They’re very kind and honest children.”
“Uuugh…”
Cordelia eventually let out a noise after her conscience suffered from the witch’s ‘attack.’
However, Jude tightly held Cordelia’s hand and looked straight at Cassius.
“It’s all true. Moreover, the quantity is not small. We have about this much.”
Having said that, Jude handed out the documents he had prepared in advance to the bewildered Cassius.
“I’ll review it then.”
“Please do so.”
Cassius nodded and began to read the documents. Her eyes widened in surprise at some point.
“W-what? Is this real? You have everything here?”
“Yes, it’s all real.”
“Nonsense! Did you defeat an Ancient Dragon?”
“Yes, we defeated him.”
“Yeah, you couldn’t have defeated him… what? You defeated him?!”
“Yes, we defeated Ancient Black Dragon Malekith.”
It wasn’t a scam as it was the truth.
But that did not mean that Jude’s voice was more confident than before.
The difference between the two was that one was true confidence and the other was false confidence.
Anyway, it was the truth.
“H-Helena. Is it true? Are they telling the truth?”
“It’s true. They really defeated Malekith. Even I’m a bit surprised, okay?”
The witch, who had been smiling mischievously, said with widened eyes as if she was indeed surprised.
After all, the Ancient Dragon was truly like a god.
“Y-you two… no, how in the hell did you two…”
As Cassius began to mumble in extreme confusion, Jude continued with a smile.
“It’s a long story. Anyway, everything in the document is true and we came her to commission Master Cassius to make myth-rank dragon equipment. Of course, we will remunerate with you with various Ancient Dragon body parts too.”
Cassius gulped at his words that flowed out quickly.
Because it seemed like she could finally make the weapon she had dreamed of so much with this materials.
‘It’s done.’
Jude smirked, and Cordelia forced herself to smile despite her guilty conscience.
However, both Jude and Cordelia had the same reactions to what followed afterwards.
“Myth-rank is a no.”
“Eh?”
Cordelia unconsciously asked and turned to Jude who also looked at her.
Because it was a completely different story from the game.
‘W-what? What happened? Eh?”
We have enough materials.
Or rather, the amount is even more than in the game!
Cordelia was not wrong.
In the game, it was possible to make myth-rank dragon equipment with much less material than this.
But why?
What’s up with Cassius’ reaction?
“Again, myth-rank is a no. Uh, I mean… we can’t just stop at that. We can have up to Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment.”
“Eh?”
Awakening what?
Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment?
[What is that? Jude, do you know?]
[I don’t know.]
It’s the first time I have heard of that weapon rank.
But Awakening Myth-rank.
Anyway, it’s Awakening Myth-rank!
[One more word was added, so it’s definitely better.]
At Jude’s <Message> magic, Cordelia nodded her head.
If there was a higher rank  than myth-rank, it would probably be Awakening Myth-rank.
[Uh, wait. So she’s saying that she can make something better than myth-rank? She really said that?]
Superior equipment.
A more superior equipment that did not appear in the game, so it was like the true end boss of equipment.
Cordelia’s eyes began to sparkle in delight, and so did Jude.
Their sleeping gamer brains began to resume its activities.
“Thank you very much. We are truly thankful.”
“Thank you so much. Master Cassius can definitely do it!”
When the two of them got excited, Cassius got excited as well. And when the three of them were excited, even Melissa became delighted.
But there was only one person who, on the contrary, was anxious about the situation.
[My successor, you’re not going to make a sword, right?]
You can’t be two-timing, okay?
Ultimate One.
But at the moment Sword Origin Valencia said that.
“A sword spirit? Is that Valencia?”
The Witch of the West Forest said with a surprised face and immediately snapped her fingers. The figure of a beautiful female elf, Valencia, then appeared next to Jude.
[Eh? EEEEH?]
As she came out of Jude’s body, the flustered Valencia whose figure was projected outside couldn’t help but blink her eyes and raise her voice.
Then, the voice that was usually only heard by Jude was now heard by the Witch of the West Forest and Cordelia too.
“It’s really Valencia.”
The Witch of the West Forest said in awe as if it was a miracle, and Cordelia who saw Valencia was shocked in a different way.
‘There’s a woman like that inside Jude?’
Such a pretty and cool older woman?
Cordelia’s eyes turned sharp. But before Jude could respond to her change in expression, Cassius shouted out.
“OOOOH! It’s Valencia! Sword Origin! You! You’re the user of Ultimate One!”
Cassius loudly said as she staggered towards Jude and stood before him. She suddenly began to touch all over Jude’s body regardless of Valencia and Cordelia’s looks.
“H-hey, Master Cassius?”
Aside from Valencia, even Cordelia’s eyes were getting scarier.
But Cassius didn’t seem to care – no, she was completely absorbed in touching Jude’s body and just exclaiming in admiration.
“Wow, this is amazing. It’s really amazing when I touch it myself. It’s almost like-… no, it’s a perfect body. And you even have Sword Origin in here?”
Cordelia’s nose fumed when Cassius continuously groped Jude’s firm chest and waist, while Valencia frowned.
And at the time when Jude was thinking if he should escape from here by using Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt.
“Okay, this is really nice. We’ll proceed differently. It’s better to add the power of an awakening myth-rank equipment to Sword Origin than to make a new one.”
“Add power?”
“Yes, I’ll make Sword Origin much stronger than it is now.”
Cassius grinned as her craftsman self was challenged.
Valencia was also happy then.
[I see. My successor will no longer be two-timing.]
‘No, I never two-timed in the first place…’
In any case, Cassius was delighted, Valencia was pleased, and Jude was also in a good mood.
And one more person.
One good thing happened to Cordelia who had strangely been excluded from the current situation.
“You don’t have to worry as Sword Origin and your sweetheart don’t have that kind of relationship. You see, that kid only thinks of you whether he’s sitting or standing.”
Cordelia was startled by the witch’s voice that was right next to her, and her eyes widened in surprise again.
Because she had just been standing next to Jude, but she was now sitting on the witch’s lap.
“How cute.”
The witch tightly hugged Cordelia from behind and continued to speak to the startled Cordelia.
“Since Cassius is very excited… she’ll probably focus on strengthening Sword Origin for a while. But since Jude is Sword Origin’s user, both of them will eventually be busy. So play with me, baby bunny.”
“B-baby bunny?”
“Aren’t you a bunny?”
“No, well… you’re right, but…”
The rabbit ears and tail were almost synonymous to Cordelia herself now.
“Then, baby bunny. Isn’t there something that you want to learn from me?”
Actually, Cordelia had a lot of things she wanted to ask.
Like what in the world had happened.
Or did she know back then when she said that they would meet again.
Or was she able to see the future.
However, Cordelia focused on the witch’s question for now.
Because as the witch had said, there was something that she had wanted to learn from the witch.
“It’s not a spell or incantation. You can learn those things from the spell book I left behind.”
The witch was right.
What Cordelia wanted to learn was more fundamental.
Something she couldn’t learn from Lena, an angel.
Something she could only learn from the Witch of the West Forest who commanded numerous demons.
And what she wanted to achieve through it.
“Your idea’s interesting. I think I can help.”
A trump card she had been practicing since the Temple of Life, but had yet to be completed.
Cordelia no longer hid it.
She nodded her head and broadly smiled at the witch who had already seen through everything.
“Please help me.”
“Okay, I will help you.”
Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment and the witch’s teachings.
The unexpected power-up of the two began.