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EPISODE 305 – TREASURE (1)
Red blood splattered.
The parched earth greedily devoured the blood, and Jude walked away. Rain began to pour down from the dark and gloomy sky.
The spilled blood.
It mixed with rainwater.
Together, it was absorbed by the earth and disappeared.
Jude continued to walk away. The sword in his hand fell to the ground, but he did not pick it up.
Divine Sword Balisarda.
As its name implied, it was a holy sword. Jude’s own favorite sword and the strongest sword in the world that reached the realm of legends after slaying numerous demons.
But for Jude, it was also a cursed item.
The sword that killed Cordelia.
It fully became a curse for having been stained by the blood of his many loved ones.
It fell to the ground.
Jude didn’t care and kept going. He approached the man lying on the floor, bleeding and nearing his death. He crouched down.
It was a demonic human.
But not now.
Just like Cordelia, the man regained his humanity in the end.
The man smiled awkwardly.
He rolled his eyes to look at Jude even though his empty eyes made him unable to see, and he said at one point.
“As expected, you’re my best rival. You’re the only one.”
His voice was thin and weak.
But there was a bit of a unique refreshing feeling left.
A child who loved novels about heroes.
He was a pure and good boy who wanted to play an active role like the main character in a hero novel one day.
Lucas threw up blood.
He was the last of Jude’s companions and eventually became an enemy like Cordelia did, but he began to cry in the pouring rain.
He wasn’t afraid of death.
Rather, he felt relieved that he would be able to escape the world full of despair and not suffer any more.
Nevertheless, he cried because of Jude.
Because he was worried about the heart of Jude who had truly become his best friend, his lifelong rival, and a companion who was like half of his soul.
Lucas coughed blood again. And he realized.
His humanity that had been temporarily restored by Balisarda was disappearing again.
The demon’s soul located deep inside him rose once more and tried to control Lucas’ entire body.
Lucas gritted his teeth again.
As someone who only had his human shell left, he stretched out his hand to Jude who had sat down but didn’t do anything.
“Jude.”
Jude turned his way. Jude knew. So Lucas clenched his teeth. He put the cruelest words in his mouth.
“Kill me.”
While I’m still human.
Before I get controlled by the demon again and utter all kinds of curses on you.
There was a scene like this in Biltwein the Hero.
So Lucas wept. He was too kind and pure to show a heroic and resolute appearance like the protagonist of a hero novel.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.
For leaving you alone, for making you do this.
Lucas remembered the moment he killed Scarlet.
He did not forget Kajsa who died in his arms.
Jude placed his hand on Lucas’ chest. He had to say his last goodbye, but he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth.
That was why Lucas opened his mouth first and spoke.
“This world sucks, but… it was nice to be able to fight with you. I liked you.”
There was no strength in his voice perhaps because his consciousness was increasingly blurring.
Jude held back his tears and nodded his head.
“Me too… I like you too. You… You… are my best rival.”
Not Maximilian.
Not Leon either.
Lucas, you were my best rival.
You were my best friend.
“Of… course.”
Lucas cried and smiled.
He put his hand on top of Jude’s hand that was placed over his chest.
Now was really the last goodbye.
Jude used his energy. He destroyed Lucas’ heart. He took the life of his last remaining comrade with his own hands.
It rained.
It swallowed up all the sounds in the world.
Therefore, there was no sound in Jude’s scream. No one heard him weep as he collapsed on Lucas’ chest.
The rain stopped.
The sounds returned.
Someone stepped on the wet ground and approached him. After picking up the Divine Sword Balisarda that fell to the ground, she approached Jude.
“Jude Bayer.”
It was a beautiful voice full of sorrow.
She knelt down near Lucas’ corpse and cuddled the crying Jude. She held him in her arms as he cried like a child.
Archangel Raguel.
One of the archangels who descended on the human world on the day of the Great Summons.
Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment, said.
Give Jude Bayer the sword again.
Give him the will to fight again.
What Auriel said was not wrong. Jude was mankind’s strongest swordsman whom even the archangels could not treat carelessly.
The Sword of Wind he wielded when he reached the sword horizon would surely reach the overlords of Hell.
But even so.
Was it right to force the current Jude to continue fighting?
Was it fair to give a sword to the man who had just killed his friend and tell him to get up and fight again?
“Cordelia…”
Jude whispered as he cried.
Before the Great Summons took place, before many people were forcibly turned into demonic humans, it was a hard but happy life.
The days when he was together with Cordelia.
Raguel read Jude’s memories. So she cuddled Jude just like how Cordelia did.
Instead of telling him to get up and fight again, she hugged Jude just like how Cordelia did.
The rain had stopped.
It didn’t pour down anymore.
But the sky was still dark and gloomy.
***
“Jude?”
Cordelia who was flying low towards the Orange Gate stopped in her surprise. Because tears were streaming down Jude’s eyes.
“Jude?”
She gently called him again, but there was no answer. It seemed like he was still sound asleep.
But why is he suddenly crying?
Is he having a sad dream?
Or a scary dream?
Cordelia was in a hurry, but she could not continue running immediately.
Because it felt like her heart was being stabbed when she saw Jude’s crying face.
Why?
Why do I feel so sad?
Cordelia wiped away Jude’s tears. She held Jude’s head to her chest for a moment and patted his back.
“Corde…lia…”
“Yes, yes, I’m here. I’m here, Jude.”
When she spoke gently, Jude’s face appeared to be relieved. It seemed like he was still asleep, but his expression had relaxed as if he was glad to hear Cordelia’s voice.
‘Thank goodness.’
Because we can be together like this now.
Because I can wipe away his tears.
‘Huh?’
Cordelia blinked at her thoughts that formed without her realizing it, but she did not think about it deeply.
After pinching Jude’s cheek for no reason, she began running towards the Orange Gate again.
[Mistress Cordelia.]
“I know.”
Cordelia responded in a faint voice to Melissa’s low warning.
Elio’s subordinates, the elven rangers.
They were elves who agreed with a rebellion but did not join Elio in his rebellion.
It was not that they were not loyal to Elio.
But to leave Elio alone in the hands of the enemy?
That was impossible. In the first place, half of the reason why the elven knights simply retreated was because they wanted Cordelia to feel at ease.
‘They’re just looking for a chance.’
The Orange Gate was also under Elio’s jurisdiction.
Perhaps the news that Elio had been captured had already spread.
So they would ambush Cordelia at the Orange Gate.
They would rescue Elio and kill them to shut their mouths.
‘Of course, I have a plan too.’
She wasn’t heading to the Orange Gate blindly. Cordelia herself had her own plans.
Cordelia focused her consciousness.
After making a contract with the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning, Cordelia was able to read the wind.
Everything that was blown away by the wind.
Facts that only the wind knew.
She figured out the number of elven rangers moving silently in the bushes.
Nineteen.
There were more elves than she expected.
Therefore, Cordelia was conflicted for a while.
‘Should I go to Plan B?’
For some reason, she always felt like they moved to Plan B whenever they made a plan, but she couldn’t help it this time.
“Melissa.”
[Yes, Mistress Cordelia. Please leave it to me.]
It was shortly after Melissa replied.
A gust of wind rose from Moonlight and swept around them. Soon after, Cordelia pierced through the wind and soared, firing magic missiles in all directions. She attacked the elven rangers in the bushes and reversed her direction as she flew towards the Orange Gate at full speed.
Tatatatatak!
It was at that moment.
The elven rangers who had been hiding in the bushes suddenly revealed themselves and flat out began chasing Cordelia. Their speed was truly astounding when they gave up hiding and ran.
And a few seconds later.
After verifying that the elven rangers had left far away, Cordelia dispelled the invisibility magic and stood up.
Since she used a fairly large magic stone, the illusion magic would hold out until it reached the Orange Gate.
“Hmm, good. Our plan succeeded.”
Cordelia brightly smiled and Melissa said in a low voice.
[Mistress Cordelia, this isn’t flattery but… you’re really amazing.]
Because she could use so many kinds of magic spells.
Very few of Magellan’s elven wizards who were Melissa’s past masters could use as many different kinds of magic spells as Cordelia.
At Melissa’s sincere compliment, Cordelia snorted like it was no big deal, but her body was honest.
Her shoulders were involuntarily moving up and down in her exhilaration.
“Anyway, let’s go. They might notice it and come back.”
[Yes, let’s hurry up.]
Plan B that Jude came up with.
The Shadow Forest that was destroyed during the Great Summons became a paradise for monsters, so Jude and Cordelia who were rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2 knew the Shadow Forest well.
‘There was a quest before the Great Summons.’
There was a hidden place in the Shadow Forest.
Located between the Red Gate and Orange Gate, it was a place created by human hands and not elves.
Although Cordelia didn’t have an accurate map in her head like Jude, she rarely got lost.
Because she had a good sense of direction and excellent senses.
“It’s over there.”
Their target location.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that this was the best place to hide for a while until Jude wakes up.
Cordelia who had been flying without hesitation stopped at some point.
She stopped under a very big rock and looked at the small rocks around her. She changed the arrangement of the rocks by relying on her body’s memory rather than the memory of her head.
Something unexpected then happened. The ground opened with a rattling sound, revealing an underground passage.
[A hidden mechanism. Indeed, this would be less noticeable to the elves than something that used magic.]
It was just as Melissa said.
If this place was hidden by something like an illusion magic, the elves who were sensitive to magic would have discovered it right away.
[But what kind of place is this?]
Who made this place?
Cordelia answered with a shrug at Melissa’s question.
“This is a place where a treasure of the Rogue Master lies.”
Three of the Rogue Master’s treasures were in the empire, and one of those treasures was located right here in the Shadow Forest.
‘Since I’m here, I might as well take the treasure.’
With a grin, Cordelia hurried into the underground passage before her eyes widened. She couldn’t help it.
“Scarlet?”
“Pink Bomb?”
Inside the underground passage.
Scarlet stood in a place that was decorated like a temple.
***
“What happened?”
“No, the underground passage suddenly opened, so I prepared myself to fight.”
Scarlet said as she lowered the whip sword in her hand, but Cordelia shook her head.
“I mean, why are you here?”
Why is Scarlet here?
But the same was true for Scarlet who was confused.
“Then why are you here?”
“We’re in trouble.”
Scarlet had a bitter smile as if she was dumbfounded by Cordelia’s natural answer before she nodded her head.
“I suppose so. Given that Black Cloak is stretched out like that. Wait, isn’t that Elio Lombardi? The Lombardi family head’s grandson?”
When Scarlet asked in surprise, Cordelia replied with a smile.
“Yes, that’s right. He’s one of our troubles too. Simply put, he’s a traitor.”
“There are so many things that you have omitted in saying, so I think I should listen to the details… but first of all, let’s close the door for now.”
Scarlet said that and activated the mechanism, but instead of helping, Cordelia asked while looking at the other side where there was a tightly closed stone door.
“Were you solving the puzzle?”
“My clues seemed to be a bit lacking so… I think it was a waste of time for me to come all the way here.”
Based on her words, it sounded like she had been for a short while, but it wasn’t.
Seeing the amount of garbage in the corner, she seemed to have been struggling for at least a week.
“What about you?”
Scarlet quickly asked when she felt bothered by Cordelia looking at the trash.
Cordelia first put Jude and Elio on the floor and scratched her cheek in reply.
“It’s a long story, but to summarize: We came here to save the empire but got attacked by the traitor Elio while passing through the Shadow Forest with the Royal Knights who were accompanying the emperor after escaping from the Chancellor. I came in here to rest for some time and avoid our pursuers.”
Scarlet was dumbstruck by Cordelia’s words, but soon regained her composure.
It was an absurd story, but was also a Cordelia-like story.
“I see, you came to the empire, so the emperor got involved.”
They got involved with the Lord Protector and the king when they were in the royal capital, and got involved with the Ancient Black Dragon when they were in the south.
So it made sense if they got involved with the emperor here.
“What about you, Scarlet?”
“As you can see, I’m here to find the treasure. I have to become a Rogue Master.”
It was a much simpler and more reasonable story than Cordelia’s story.
“By the way, Pink Bomb. Did you come alone with Black Cloak?”
“Eh? No. Lucas and Kajsa are also here.”
“Is that so?”
At Cordelia’s words, Scarlet nodded as if she didn’t care, but that was not true.
She asked as she lightly twirled her hair.
“How is Lord Lucas these days? Is he healthy?”
Her question wasn’t really a big deal.
But Cordelia who had beastly instincts was able to see through it instantly.
Scarlet appeared to be looking away when she asked, but her concentration was at its fullest. She seemed to be a little nervous, yet her eyes were filled with anticipation. And her cheeks were slightly tinged pink.
“Hoh?”
Cordelia had a sly smile and Scarlet furrowed her brows.
“Pink Bomb?”
“He’s fine. He’s not just fine as he’s very cool and strong. I’m sure you’ll be surprised when you see him.”
“Is that so?”
Scarlet pretended to not be that interested, but Cordelia knew. The fact that Scarlet’s heart rate accelerated in an instant.
[Hey, you’re human, right?]
While Melissa was questioning Cordelia’s human senses, Cordelia was lost in her thoughts.
Scarlet and Lucas.
The Lucas x Scarlet ship.
‘Ah, wait a second.’
Kajsa is with him now.
The Lucajsa ship is also in development.
Cordelia imagined it again.
A confrontation between Kajsa and Scarlet over Lucas.
A conflict between love and friendship.
‘Oh.’
This will be fun.
“Pink Bomb?”
“Eh? Ah, no. Don’t mind me. Hehe.”
Scarlet looked at her suspiciously, but decided to move on. Because she had more questions to ask.
“Anyway, where is Lord Lucas now? If you’re running away, doesn’t that mean that Lord Lucas is in danger?”
“Uh… maybe?”
Scarlet had a puzzled face at Cordelia’s answer.
“Hey, what do you mean? And why are you so nonchalant about it?”
Cordelia scratched her cheek at the slightly annoyed remark, but she couldn’t help answering that.
“Because Lucas has become stronger.”
“Eh?”
“He’s become really strong.”
Besides, he’s with Kajsa now.
Her words were not a groundless belief.
At the same time in the Shadow Forest.
Lucas was proving the veracity of Cordelia’s words.