Chapter 49 - EPISODE 49 – SUNFLOWER (4)
Chapter 49 - EPISODE 49 – SUNFLOWER (4)
Farragut thought that there was only one entrance to Frost Anvil, which is the Great Gate, but that wasn’t the case.
There were several dog holes.
And in one of them…
The moment they came out of the vent, Jude and Cordelia became nervous.
The strong and rotten smell of blood irritated the tip of their noses.
In front of the Great Gate, it was not an exaggeration to say that the bodies of many monsters had covered the entire snowfield.
Fortunately, this was near Frost Anvil where the temperature was cold. If it had been elsewhere, they would have found it hard to breathe because of the rotting bodies’ smell.
And the demon stood there.
Sisioth stood with his two bladed arms hanging down, as if he was guarding the front of the Great Gate.
On his skinny body, pitch-black shells were connected in succession, forming a shape that was like an armor.
He remained motionless with his head slightly lowered, as if he fell asleep while standing.
Although the restriction technique casted by the leader of the Devil’s Hand had been released, that didn’t mean that he was completely free.
Until his consciousness damaged by the Devil’s Hand was restored, he stayed around the Great Gate, bringing death to all those who faced him.
And on his opposite side.
As Jude had expected, there were some people who could be considered as their allies.
“Are they…trying to seal him?”
Jude nodded at Cordelia’s question.
About a dozen meters away from the quietly standing Sisioth, six wizards wearing the robes of the Guardians of the Holy Cross were maintaining the seal.
However, that was only buying them time.
Moreover, even that time seemed to be running out.
“It’s the flag of Count Hr?svelgr.”
Jude turned his gaze following Cordelia’s voice, and saw an outpost built some distance away.
There were four knights of Count Hr?svelgr and around thirty soldiers.
Instead of saying something, Jude closed his eyes once.
Considering the general arrangements of Count Hr?svelgr’s troops and the Guardians of the Holy Cross, it seemed that they had already suffered considerable damage as he had expected.
“Let’s join them.”
At Cordelia’s words, Jude nodded.
Technically, the Devil’s Hand came here because of Jude and Cordelia.
Of course, the two were also victims, so they did nothing wrong, but that did not mean they were free from responsibility.
Hunt the demon.
Knock it down.
After all, it was a path they must pass in order to get to the perfect happy ending.
And right at that moment…
“It’s going to break.”
Cordelia abruptly said.
Her intuition felt at that moment the slight change in mana.
And right afterwards…
Jude pounced on Cordelia. He pushed her down to the ground and made her lie down, and at that same time, the air let out a howl.
Cordelia’s intuition was correct.
The space between Sisioth and the Guardians of the Holy Cross collapsed like breaking glass. The moment the invisible wall was destroyed, Sisioth swung his arm.
One slash.
A huge slash split the space.
“Get down!”
Shouted someone from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. The knights moved and shouted too, but not everyone managed to react.
Two of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were near Sisioth lost their heads. None of the soldiers lost their lives because of the distance, but most of them were terrified, and couldn’t move.
The seal of the Guardians of the Holy Cross was broken.
Sisioth began to move again.
Out of all times, it had to be at this time.
No, it was rather fortunate.
If it had been before Jude and Cordelia appeared, everyone would have been massacred!
“Go!”
Jude said to Cordelia who was under him. Cordelia responded, and Jude became a gale.
Twenty-Four Gale Steps.
Cordelia followed the whirlwind that Jude created, as she moved forward and unleashed the witch’s power!
“Aaaahh!”
Cordelia had activated the Witch Transformation.
She had yelled out loud.
Sisioth reacted with the destructive power of a demon. As he was about to deal a second slash, he turned to Cordelia, but a gale suddenly struck him.
Demon Sisioth.
He was not comparable to demonic human Farragut.
His physical ability was truly a wonder itself.
Sisioth saw Jude.
His pupils turned into slits, like that of a cat, as his yellow eyes caught the sight of Jude.
“<Haste>!”
Cried Cordelia. Sisioth wildly swung his second slash and Jude evaded it at a close distance. The slash was so fast that without Cordelia’s <Haste>, Jude wouldn’t have been able to avoid it.
“<Haste>!”
Cordelia casted <Haste> in succession.
Overlapping the use of <Haste> was in a sense, poison.
Not only did it place a considerable burden on Jude’s body, but it was also possible that like everyone else, Jude would be unable to adapt to the speed that had become too fast.
And it was true for Jude.
Jude was not Cordelia.
It was too much for him to adapt to the speed that had suddenly accelerated.
So Jude calculated it.
His own body.
His movements.
His speed.
The trajectory he wanted to draw!
Jude critically avoided Sisioth’s attack.
A smile spread over Sisioth’s face, and Cordelia shouted again.
“Don’t just watch!”
At the same time as her cry, she activated her magic.
Dozens of magic missiles rushed like a storm towards Sisioth, and the Guardians of the Holy Cross regained their senses at Cordelia’s cry. They turned to each other and began to chant their spell.
And Jude’s Cheonmujiche shined.
Because of Jude’s calculations, he was able to adapt to the speed that had gradually increased.
Their operation was simple.
Narrow the distance.
Cordelia or the Guardians of the Holy Cross somehow slows down Sisioth’s movement.
And Jude himself will strike and thrust the restriction technique on Sisioth’s body.
“Kahahahahaha!”
Sisioth burst into a fiendish laughter and began to swing both of his arms simultaneously.
Jude deliberately turned his back on the Great Gate, and more than ten attacks slashed through the space where he had been, which then collided with the Great Gate.
Kaaaaak!
His slashes were so sharp that several deep lines were drawn on the thick and hard Great Gate.
Jude held his breath. Even the movement of exhaling or breathing was a luxury for the current Jude.
He focused and concentrated again.
His understanding of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors further developed with the opening of the second door, giving Jude a wider and more sensitive sense.
The scary thing about Sisioth was the fact that his range of?Space-Breaking Slash?was very vast.
Therefore, it was rather bad to widen the distance. This is because if he deals Space-Breaking Slash one after another, Jude wouldn’t be able to avoid it.
So Jude must fight at a close distance. He must create a situation in which he can avoid Sisioth’s attacks one at a time.
The spell of the Guardians of the Holy Cross was completed.
Dozens of golden chains stretched out toward Sisioth.
Sisioth used Space-Breaking Slash again.
He rotated his body and split the space several times, breaking the golden chains.
But that was enough for the two.
Because Sisioth had turned around. Because he had attacked somewhere other than Jude.
It was just a moment.
It was too short a time.
But there was someone who squeezed into that short time.
Cordelia’s <Dark Blade> cut through space.
It flew at the right timing and penetrated Sisioth’s blind spot.
An explosion occurred.
It wasn’t Cordelia. It was the result of Sisioth exploding the mana surrounding his whole body.
The air shook. Cordelia’s <Dark Blade> was crushed, and the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the soldiers standing far away were unable to withstand the aftermath and fell down.
Cordelia clenched her teeth.
The moment the <Dark Blade> was crushed, she withstood the rebound of mana and completed another magic.
It was the power she gained from absorbing the spirit stone of the White Snake.
It could only be used at the moment when the eyes of her and the opponent met.
Their eyes met.
Because Sisioth had crushed the <Dark Blade>.
Because the demon’s mana detection identified who threw the <Dark Blade>.
It was as she desired.
As soon as her eyes met with Sisioth, Cordelia’s blue eyes turned like that of a snake.
She activated the <Evil Eye>, a power which the White Snake once possessed.
“Aaahh!”
Cordelia screamed. Blood trickled down from both of her eyes. But Cordelia did not close her eyes.
She forced herself to endure it.
And the result was that Sisioth stopped.
For a very short moment.
However, it was infinitely long compared to the moment when Jude turned around to deal a blow.
A whirlwind.
There was a gale. A golden flash of light rose from the Power Fist covered with a sheet of paper inscribed with the restriction technique.
“Juncathergo Sisiono Zirvanston.”
Said Jude. As he recited that very long name, Jude’s fist reached Sisioth’s chest.
Cordelia eventually closed her eyes. She collapsed, covering her eyes with both of her hands.
But nothing happened to Sisioth.
Jude had a bewildered look.
Why is it not working?
“This should work!”
As he tried to figure out why it didn’t work, Jude spread out his palm. He raised his palm to the golden-colored restriction technique engraved on Sisioth’s chest and shouted again.
“Juncathergo Sisiono Zirvanston!”
“Aaaahhh!!!”
Sisioth screamed. The golden light engulfed him, and the terrifying mana he had on his entire body shrank in an instant.
Jude swallowed his breath. He shouted as he pulled his fist.
“Cordelia!”
The Holy Cross Punch exploded on Sisioth, and he couldn’t respond properly because it was right after the restriction technique bound him.
Sisioth’s jaw turned to one side and Jude used the Lightning Punch in succession. It struck Sisioth’s whole body and Jude cried once again.
“Cordelia!”
He called her.
And Cordelia responded to him. With her eyes still closed, she stretched out her hand. While she was in the Witch Transformation state, Cordelia’s ability to detect mana was comparable to a low-ranking demon even though it was still underdeveloped.
She sensed the mana.
She thrust it into the mana that she sensed there.
The <Dark Blade> cut through space again. It penetrated into the back of Sisioth, who was being beaten up into a mess.
“Kuaaaahh!”
Sisioth let out a shriek. And Jude pulled both of his fists.
His next move was based on the Holy Cross Punch.
Make a Holy Cross in both hands.
Overlap the two Holy Crosses to raise the power more than twice.
Double Cross Punch.
The attack was great. But it didn’t stop there.
Just like Cordelia, Jude also used his newly acquired power.
Yin and Yang.
On his right hand, the Holy Cross emitted Yin energy.
On his left hand, the Holy Cross emitted Yang energy.
“Uuoooooh!”
Jude’s two fists struck Sisioth’s chest. Two Crosses penetrated his body, opposing each other as the two collided before finally exploding.
Booooooom!
It was not comparable to Manuela’s <Ultimate Extinction> spell, but the two energies of Yin and Yang collided with each other, creating a more destructive power than the Double Cross Punch.
“Gaak-!”
Jude wasn’t uninjured either. Both of his arms became hot red as if he was burned, and a streak of fresh blood flowed down his lips.
But that was enough.
Sisioth no longer moved. A ring of pure white light surrounded Jude and Cordelia.
“Did we kill him? Did I deal the last hit?”
Cordelia was still sitting with her eyes closed, fumbling in the air as she asked, and Jude wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth and counted the rings of light.
Five for Jude himself and four for Cordelia.
However, Jude was a man who knew how to tell a white lie.
“Oh, you hit it. You got the last hit.”
“Nice! Last hit! Last hit!”
It made her happy.
Jude felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he saw the appearance of Cordelia feebly collapsing with a happy face, and he looked back.
If he could, he wanted to appreciate the newly acquired title, but he had to prioritize handling something first.
That something was the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the knights of Count Hr?svelgr.
As he expected, they had mesmerized faces when he saw them, and one of Count Hr?svelgr’s knights suddenly exclaimed.
“Jude Bayer! Cordelia Chase!”
Jude nodded his head.
It was just as the knight said. He was thinking of revealing their identities first before talking to them.
But the knight’s words weren’t over yet.
“Crazy-…no, it’s not that! It’s?fantasy?couple!”
T/N: There’s a pun here. The knight was about to say ‘hwan-jang-ui’ (???), which means ‘crazy.’ However, what he wanted to say was ‘hwan-sang-ui’ (???) which means ‘fantasy.’ So he mixed up the ‘jang’ and ‘sang’ in both words.
This pun continues in the conversation of the knights after this note.
“Gasp! For real?”
“They’re the very?crazy?couple?!”
“Fantasy, it’s?fantasy. The young master warned us to be careful with those words.”
“Ah,?fantasy. Yes,?fantasy.”
What the hell was their conversation?
And is Lucas the young master they’re talking about?
‘Lucas?’
What the hell did you say to them?
And ‘crazy couple.’ What is that?
You warned them to be careful about it because they got confused too often?
“Ahem, ahem, my name is Phil Reiner, Count Hr?svelgr’s knight.”
One of the knights who seemed to be their leader came forward, and then a woman from the side of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, who quickly came to their senses, also spoke to Jude.
“I’m Joan from the Guardians of the Holy Cross.”
Phil Reiner was a big knight who looked to be in his early thirties, and Joan was a woman in her late twenties with such gorgeous golden hair that it was disappointing for her hair to be just short.
“…as you know, I’m Jude Bayer. I’d like to talk to you later once I take care of my fiancée first.”
There were also victims on the side of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. All of their groups needed time to settle things first.
Jude ran to Cordelia, and one of the knights who saw them, spoke again.
“A couple of the century who would die if they cannot live with each other…! That’s what the young master said. It’s just as the young master said.”
Lucas. What the hell did you say to them?
Jude only looked forward as he repressed the urge to look back, and soon, he saw Cordelia covering her face with both hands and expressing her embarrassment with her whole body.