Chapter 31 – EPISODE 31 – WITCH’S FOREST (4)

Terms used in this chapter:

Zhuge Liang – a famous Chinese strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. He is recognised as the greatest and most accomplished strategist of his era, and has been compared to another great ancient Chinese strategist, Sun Tzu.

Li Mu – a prominent military general during the Warring States period of Chinese history. He was named by Chinese historians as one of the four greatest generals of the Warring States period.

The pure white cross burst into light.

The skeleton leader’s ribs and spine shattered, and it fell and collapsed. Jude kept his punching posture for a while before his arms slumped down.

“Haa…haa…haa…”

Holy Cross Punch was one of the skills of God’s Fist and as its name suggests, the sacred battle aura takes the shape of a cross that directly hits the enemy with a powerful punch.

“Haa…haa…”

After taking a comfortable posture, Jude’s rough breathing continued.

Though he had improved his body with continuous level-ups, the technique still used inner Qi that caused a burden on his body.

His body still had a lot of small and narrow meridians that were blocked.

‘But…it paid off.’

It wasn’t just the white ring of light that surrounded his body.

There was also the God’s Fist and the Holy Cross Punch.

The remnants of the sacred battle aura scattered in the air as Jude happily smiled and turned to Cordelia.

As he expected, Cordelia’s side was almost finished as well.

“Break away! Defend! Penetrate the core!”

Cordelia issued rapid-fire commands before gliding on the ground.

It wasn’t an ordinary move. She slipped between the skeletons without any hesitation and swung the Moonlight enchanted by a <Strike> magic to smash their neck bones.

With her actions, the battle formation was destroyed.

This is because, as Cordelia herself said, she penetrated the core of the Guardian Extermination Formation.

“Oooh! Ooooh!”

Lucas, who quickly understood Cordelia’s commands and guided the skeletons towards himself, cheered with a bright face.

There were already three skeletons that had fallen down to his sheathed sword.

“Let’s finish this!”

Cordelia refreshingly smiled as she glided on the ground again. She was like a figure skater that swiftly glided smoothly on the ice.

‘She’s really Yellow Storm.’

Instead of running to help, Jude admired the sight as he stretched his arms.

Cordelia’s movement right now wasn’t just an ordinary move.

‘You’re using <Haste> magic to move on a floor applied with <Grease> magic?’

It was generally not possible.

<Grease> is a magic that causes one to fall on their back, and not a magic that is used to glide like it was ice.

But Cordelia could pull it off.

‘She’s like a real wild animal sometimes.’

If Jude was the type who handled everything through calculations and thinking, Cordelia was the type who entrusted her body to instinct.

That phenomenal movement was the result of acting according to her instincts, and not because of thinking.

“It’s the end!”

Cordelia moved among the skeletons as if she was dancing and swung the Moonlight like a baseball bat. The skeleton’s lower back bones were smashed, and it fell and collapsed on its back.

“Oooh! That was amazing! Lady Cordelia!”

“Hehe, V!”

As Lucas admired her and Cordelia laughed while making a V-sign with her fingers, Jude suddenly smiled as he recalled an old event.

‘It’s understandable why the guild leaders don’t like her.’

Yellow Storm was a disaster itself in massive battles between guilds.

‘Damn it! I can’t predict how it’ll move!’

It was a natural reaction. Once she entered the battle, Yellow Storm didn’t do what the others were thinking.

‘Could it possibly be a genius? Or else, how can it show up like that!’

There was no knowing when, where, or what she’ll do, but strangely, Yellow Storm always appeared in times of need.

It was basic of her to stab the enemy’s sore spot, and as she had just showed in the battle against the skeletons, she was also good at destroying the enemy’s camp itself by penetrating the core of the formation.

Therefore, people unfamiliar with Yellow Storm thought of her as a ‘genius tactician.’

She was like Zhuge Liang and Li Mu, who could see the entire battlefield at a glance and get in the way of their enemies.

But Jude knew the truth.

‘It’s just…feeling?’

The words that Yellow Storm spoke in her battle earlier.

She simply did it without thinking.

Yellow Storm was not the type to stab the enemy’s sore spots by using high-level tactical thinking.

‘How do I say it, I just do what I feel like I should?’

It was literally a feeling or sense.

She feels like she have to do that somehow.

At first, Jude thought that Yellow Storm was lying. However, after spending a long time with her, he finally understood it in the end.

‘It’s instinct.’

Yellow Storm was a genius.

She was a genius in the side of battle sense/feeling, and not on the intelligence side.

She didn’t calculate the ever-changing situation of the battlefield. She just understood instinctively.

And the result was what was shown.

What she should do.

Where she should attack.

Plus one more talent of hers.

The reason why Yellow Storm engraved her existence as a true ‘human storm,’ and her unique ability that even Jude couldn’t imitate.

‘Incredible spatial perception and multitasking.’

Normally, in Legend of Heroes 2, the highest-level mage could generally use around twenty to fifty magic spells at the same time.

But Yellow Storm was different.

‘274.’

It was the highest record of the number of magic spells that Yellow Storm could use at the same time.

She advanced alone with hundreds of magic shots at the same time, making her known as a human storm indeed.

She wiped the guild units from the hunting ground by herself, and even smashed the guild alone.

‘Well, I’m still 1^st place though.’

Jude ended his thoughts with a grin as he looked straight ahead again. He saw Cordelia run to Lucas and push her palm out.

“High five!”

“Huh?”

“High five!”

As Cordelia waved her hand again, Lucas blinked and soon raised his hand timidly and high fived with Cordelia.

“As expected of Lucas, good job. Truly a sword genius. The best.”

“Ahem, ahem…Lady Cordelia was amazing too. It was unexpectedly impressive.”

Lucas said with a slight blush in his cheeks.

It was also because of Cordelia, but his heart was pounding at the high five itself.

‘There is a similar scene in Biltwein the Hero.’

Nodding his head alone, Jude approached the two teenagers who were so excited that they were jumping around.

“It looks like the battle’s over.”

“Yes, I think it’s over too, Mr. Bayer. Hohoho…”

Cordelia said as she pretended to be coy when she saw Jude’s face and read his thoughts.

At her sudden change in tone, Lucas smiled and turned his eyes away, as if he deliberately didn’t know Cordelia flirting with Jude.

“Lord Lucas, are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m okay, thanks to Lady Cordelia.”

“I’m afraid to say this…but I’m glad that the other side were the Guardians of the Holy Cross.”

At Jude’s words, Lucas blinked his eyes, and soon widely opened them as he asked back.

“You mean the Guardians of the Holy Cross? The ones that protect the continent in the shadows?!”

“Yes, the clothes that the skeletons were wearing…and more than anything, the Guardian Extermination Formation itself were all proof of that.”

Jude answered calmly and place his hand on Cordelia’s shoulder, who decided to shut her mouth tightly instead of interrupting him.

“Count Chase had a bit of connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Thanks to that, Cordelia and I were able to learn about it.”

“Guardian Extermination Formation…”

“Yes, it’s the most basic battle formation used by the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It’s not comparable to Count Hræsvelgr’s Sage King’s Cross, but it’s a very sturdy formation. Right, Lady Cordelia?”

“Eh? Oh…yes, it is.”

Cordelia smiled awkwardly and nodded.

With her clear smile, she looked like a completely different person than when she swung the Moonlight.

“Whatever the circumstances, it seems that a group of Guardians became undead monsters after they were trapped in the barrier.”

“The Guardians became undead monsters…is it the power of the barrier?”

Lucas asked with a slightly frightened face, and Jude nodded slowly.

“It’s highly likely. But don’t worry too much. If we find the witch’s seal and break the seal, everything will be fine.”

When Jude answered softly, Lucas nodded with a stiff face, and soon made another expression.

‘Let’s handle this like an adult.’

To Lucas, Jude had acted like the reliable Sir Seornn, even though he was only a year older than him.

So in order to be a good rival, Lucas himself thought that he had to look mature.

But it was only for a while.

Lucas suddenly frowned, as he looked back at the destroyed skeletons and said.

“Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia. It may be a little unreasonable, but…I’d like to ask the two of you a favor.”

“What is it?”

“Can we bury them? If they are members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, who have worked hard for the peace of the continent, leaving them like this is a little…”

Somehow, Cordelia agreed with Lucas’ words.

“With <Dig> magic, I can easily make a pit…how about making a large common grave?”

She was talking to Lucas, but her gaze was on Jude.

Jude looked at her and nodded.

“I agree. I also think that it’s not right for the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross to be left in such a place.”

“Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia. Thank you very much.”

Lucas smiled brightly as he quickly put away his sword and began gathering the skeletons’ remains.

“I’ll look for a place.”

Cordelia briefly said as she looked around and soon settled down in a place that seemed to be okay and fired her <Dig> magic.

After a dozen minutes, the group buried the skeletons in one place and erected a tombstone with a sword. They then had a brief moment of silence as they remembered the dead.

“May the blessing of the Holy Spirit be with you.”

It was the brief moment after Jude recited a prayer in silence.

“Ah…”

Lucas sighed in admiration. Blue lights had risen like fireflies from the grave of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.

Cordelia unconsciously spoke.

“There are nine.”

It was a group of lights with the same number as the Guardians of the Holy Cross buried in the grave.

As if greeting them, the group of lights circled in front of Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas and then flew towards one place. And after they flew in a circle again, the lights soon scattered and disappeared.

“Aah…the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross…”

Lucas was moved by the sight as he muttered quietly. On the other hand, Jude shouted inwardly as he clenched his fist.

‘Bingo!’

There were no events in the original story where Cordelia fought the Guardians of the Holy Cross who had become undead monsters in the witch’s forest, but there were quite a lot of events of a similar kind.

‘It’s a cliché that souls who have achieved their wish and can finally rest, would tell you where important objects are hidden.’

In fact, if Lucas didn’t come forward first, Jude himself was going to make an offer to do it too.

‘Cordelia must have had a similar idea.’

“That’s great. It turned out really well.”

When Jude turned to Cordelia, she spoke quietly with a flushed face. It seemed that she was relieved at the souls’ fortunate circumstances, seeing that her eyes were slightly red.

She would too, because Cordelia didn’t actually consider making a grave like Jude did.

It was just a skeleton in the game, but this place was reality.

There really was a group of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and they wandered through the witch’s forest and became undead monsters.

How can she not feel sorry for them?

“I’m glad…I’m glad…”

The souls of the Guardians of the Holy Cross have finally found eternal rest.

With moist and wet eyes, Cordelia saw the lights scattering away. Meanwhile, Jude cleared his throat, somehow unknowingly became the bad guy who didn’t get swept up by the mood.

“Ahem, ahem.”

“Huh? Why? Are you not feeling well?”

“No, it’s just…you are kind, cute, and lovely.”

“What is this crazy bastard saying? Do you have a fever?”

Cordelia frowned in worry, but Jude simply shrugged and tapped the shoulder of Lucas who was still moved by the sight.

“Lord Lucas, the Guardians of the Holy Cross seemed to have left their last gift there.”

“Gift…ah! Indeed! They let us know!”

With his eyes wide open in wonder, Lucas ran straight to the place where the group of lights had gathered.

It was under a big tree with roots that were half-exposed, and it seemed like a good place to hide something underneath.

“Let’s dig.”

“Yes, Mr. Bayer.”

Lucas was excited by the hero-like development, and he took the lead in digging up the ground. Soon, a well-sealed wooden box was dug out.

Looking at the cross pattern engraved on the box’ surface, it was clearly an item of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.

“Lord Lucas should open it.”

“Me?”

“Yes, it was Lord Lucas who offered to make a grave for them. So you should open it.”

Cordelia recommended it following Jude’s statement, so Lucas’ cheeks were flushed as he nodded at the two.

“Then, I will open it.”

Though it was well-sealed, it was simply just a paper seal pasted on the wooden box.

Lucas took out a knife and opened the lid after tearing off the paper seal. What came out was a parchment inscribed with a complex formula.

“This is…”

“It’s a technique of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It’s an attack skill that destroys demons…it seems that the Guardians of the Holy Cross had come here to repel the demonic hordes that were sealing the witch’s soul.”

Lucas nodded seriously at Jude’s explanation, before looking at Cordelia and asking.

“Lady Cordelia, can you use it?”

“Uh…yes, maybe.”

Honestly, she wasn’t confident, but there was also Jude, so she thought that it would somehow work.

“There’s also a book about the God’s Fist. Lord Lucas, can I take this?”

“Of course. I use a sword, so I’ll pass.”

When Lucas responded plainly, Jude smiled and took the martial arts book. It wasn’t a skill book like the one he got from the dungeon book, but it wouldn’t take a long time to learn it because of Jude’s memory and his Cheonmujiche.

“If the evil energy here is very strong enough to create undead monsters, then it seems that we’re moving in the right direction. We’ll be able to reach the center of the seal if we walk a little further.”

It was then when Lucas nodded at Jude’s explanation.

“Wait, wait a second.”

Cordelia quietly said as she suddenly jumped from her seat and started walking in one direction.

And Jude understood why she did so.

‘The voice of the witch.’

The witch’s soul was sealed at the center of the forest.

Cordelia turned to Jude as if to answer him. She nodded as her clear blue eyes shined.

“I can hear a voice.”

The call of the witch.

Cordelia raised her hand and pointed over the fog.