Chapter 63: (2/2) – Ruins (2)
Chapter 63: (2/2) – Ruins (2)
I’m back! My fever has subsided, so I’m feeling better now. Releases will then resume like usual (6 chapters/week).
“It’s sort of strange that it’s really waiting for us.”
“It’s a good boy. That angel.”
The Tomb Guardian looked down at them with a solemn expression, and Jude and Cordelia spoke some short words before they inhaled at the same time. Afterwards, they slowly exhaled as they prepared themselves for battle.
A golden sacred battle aura rose from Jude’s body.
Cordelia’s hair turned black, and her blue eyes glowed.
“Let’s go.”
“!”
Acceleration magic was cast on Jude’s whole body. Jude then used Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and the Tomb Guardian reacted to Jude as he shot forward like an arrow.
“Aaa-!”
Sacred Echo.
It was a kind of sonic attack that spread out over a wide range. The effect of this debuff lowered the stats of the enemies that got hit with it.
The Tomb Guardian always began its attack with Sacred Echo, so Jude was already prepared for it.
‘Holy Cross Punch.’
A huge golden cross appeared from Jude’s fist and acted like a shield as it blocked the front of Jude.
It collided with the Sacred Echo, and at that moment, the Tomb Guardian flew up.
Pah!
Jude ran forward. The Tomb Guardian’s second attack, Wild Blades of Light, was a wide range attack. It poured down blades of light from the ceiling like rain, and the best way to prevent it from reaching Cordelia was to change the starting point of the light attack itself.
Papapapapa!
The blades of light rained down towards the swiftly moving Jude as he had expected.
With his sharpened senses, Jude quickly used Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He avoided the blades of light and let the blades of light hit the whirlwinds and the Wind Barrier that he got from Great Storm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blades of light crashed into the ground and exploded.
As it exploded inside the whirlwind, Jude counted down in his head and then shouted.
“Hurry up!”
“Here it goes!”
Cordelia moved her hand, and at that moment, the witch’s flew into the air and rushed towards the Tomb Guardian.
The Tomb Guardian turned towards the and at the same time, activated a Light Barrier.
Paaa!
The from the power of darkness, and the sacred Light Barrier clashed with each other, causing lightning sparks.
And Cordelia smiled.
“Bingo.”
It was one of Jude’s speaking habits.
The rushed to the front while the Wind’s Wing Arrow that flew as if it were crawling on the floor, soared upwards as it aimed at the Tomb Guardian’s back. It then pierced the Tomb Guardian’s back before it could even react!
“Kaah!”
The power of the Wind’s Wing Arrow was weak.
Its penetration power was also uncertain, to the point that it was blocked by a goblin’s skull.
However, Cordelia did not use the Wind’s Wing Arrow for attacking in the first place.
The Wind’s Wing Arrow was simply a means to move something.
Its real purpose was to move the Bicorn’s horn tied to the arrowhead of the Wind’s Wing Arrow.
“Kuuuaah!”
The Bicorn’s curse penetrated into the Tomb Guardian’s body.
But not yet. It was not enough to bring down a heavenly being.
“So we prepared one more shot.”
At the moment Cordelia spoke, Jude threw another Bicorn’s horn.
The Bicorn’s horn flew at a terrifying speed and pierced the side of the Tomb Guardian who lost its concentration, and the Bicorn’s curse doubled.
“Keuuuuoh!”
The Tomb Guardian violently charged towards Jude.
Cordelia chanted the witch’s curse and the dark energy that came from the Bicorn’s horns bound the Tomb Guardian’s whole body.
“Kuaaaaaah!”
But it was a Tomb Guardian.
The heavenly being endured the pain and opened its mouth wide, and a huge wave of light left from its mouth.
It was the Tomb Guardian’s strongest attack, Holy Breath.
“Jude!”
Cordelia urgently cried at the terrifying wave of light that covered her eyes, and Jude reminded Cordelia of the one thing that she had forgotten.
Using the Fairy Steps, he passed by the wave of light itself and rushed towards the Tomb Guardian!
Thud!
He kicked the ground hard. Jude flew to the Tomb Guardian’s side and at the same time, he drew his fist.
The Tomb Guardian’s gaze headed towards Jude. But it was too late. Jude’s fist was already halfway to hammering the Bicorn’s horn, or to be precise, it was on the verge of hitting the dagger made by processing the Bicorn’s horn.
Boom!
A roar burst again. Jude’s fist struck the dagger made from the Bicorn’s horn, and as if a hammer struck a nail, the Bicorn’s horn penetrated deeply into the Tomb Guardian’s body.
“Kuaaaaaah!”
The Tomb Guardian twisted its body. It randomly swung its feet towards Jude, and sharp claws cut through the air.
Jude calmly responded. He used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and as he evaded its attacks, he prepared for his next move.
He counted the numbers in his mind.
‘The Bicorn has two horns.’
All the heavenly energy that surrounded the Tomb Guardian’s body had been removed.
But this was not enough. They had to bring it down a little more.
What was the best way to defeat a heavenly being?
The answer could be found in classical literature.
Turn it corrupt.
Bring it to ruin.
Bring down the heavenly being to the ground.
Curses poured out from the Bicorn’s horn. And at that moment, Jude found a way through its random attacks. He flew as he penetrated through the whirlwind, and once again seized on the opportunity to attack.
Fist attack.
But it wasn’t an ordinary fist attack.
A few months had already passed since he opened his eyes in Pleiades. During that time, Jude learned many things and came into a conclusion.
There was no need for him to move like this was still a game.
Because this was reality.
It was a place where he could do things that were systematically impossible in the game.
So he was going to do it.
He would use everything that he could to increase his combat power.
Bang!
Jude’s fist struck the thigh of the Tomb Guardian’s hind leg. At the same time, a change took place in the specially made knuckles Jude had requested from the blacksmith of the Great Storm tribe. One of the magic circles that had been rolled into the front of the fist, was set ablaze.
What he used was a basic curse magic that slightly reduced the enemy’s stats.
He planned to directly hit the magic circle from a close distance. If he had to give it a name, should it be a physical curse?
“Kuaaah!”
The curse gnawed at the Tomb Guardian. Jude continued to punch without stopping.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The magic circles, which were loaded like bullets, continued to burn.
“Curse! Poison! Curse! Poison!”
It wasn’t a strong magic, but the Bicorn’s horns had already removed the heavenly protection the Tomb Guardian had.
When the curses and poison overlapped, its condition became noticeably worse.
Moreover, Jude knew the basics of combat.
He hit the spot where he had once hit.
He further damaged the damaged area.
“Kuuu….kuu…”
The Tomb Guardian was hit on the thigh one after another, and it collapsed when it could no longer stand properly. Since it couldn’t properly attack now, it hurriedly flapped its wings and flew away.
“Keuuuuuah!”
It flew up and used its Holy Breath once more.
Jude threw a hatchet and a dagger from his waist to the flying one in succession.
The Light Barrier that it suddenly created again, blocked the primitive weapons that he threw, but it didn’t matter to him.
After all, his only purpose was to get its attention.
“Isn’t this enough now?”
At Jude’s question, Cordelia responded to it through her actions. Cordelia shouted towards the enemy that was completely distracted by Jude.
“!”
It was one of the witch’s spells.
Covered in sweat, Cordelia grasped in her right hand a long and huge mass of black light.
The Tomb Guardian hastily turned towards Cordelia, but it was too late. Cordelia threw the towards it, as she bled from her nose.
Shaaa!
It wasn’t fast. But it wasn’t something that could be avoided.
The Tomb Guardian hurriedly opened its mouth to let out an echo of light, but it had lost most of its heavenly powers due to the overlapping debuffs.
The echo of light was shattered like glass. The rushed forward and struck the face of the Tomb Guardian!
“Kuaaaaah!”
The pierced its open mouth. Then it continuously burned the enemy’s body with black flames.
Thud!
The Tomb Guardian crashed to the ground.
Cordelia sank to her knees and panted, and Jude drew the Eastern Warrior’s Sword, but it was no longer necessary.
Rings of pure white light.
The rings surrounded Jude and Cordelia in succession. Information about new titles also came into their minds.
‘You acquired the titles ‘The one who attacked the heavens’ and ‘Angel Killer.’ When fighting an angel, all stats increase by 1%. You also gain a weak resistance to an angel’s mind attacks.’
The enemy might be of the lowest rank, but it was still an angel.
Jude grinned as he counted the rings of light.
‘Indeed, it was a level 40 enemy.’
Satisfied with the three rings of light that he had, Jude took a deep breath and then turned to Cordelia.
“Uh…are you satisfied with this now?”
“Haa…haa…f*ck.”
Without even thinking about wiping off the blood from her nose, Cordelia fell on her back, but her face was smiling.
“I got the last hit.”
“Congratulations, Madam.”
Jude clapped his hands, and instead of approaching Cordelia who was wrapped in four rings of light, he approached the body of the Tomb Guardian.
‘I’m glad it’s like a gargoyle.’
If it was an intelligent angel, it would have been a very difficult fight.
‘No, if that was so, we wouldn’t had to fight at all.’
Because they might have been able to persuade it.
Well, they defeated it somehow. Jude retrieved the Bicorn’s horns and hurriedly collected the angel’s blood into a water bottle at once.
“It’s sparkling.”
It was red, but it was filled with a faint golden glow.
“Do you think…we can use it?”
At the feeble voice that came from afar, Jude said as he slightly frowned.
“I’ll need to do some experiments first before you take it.”
It would be possible to use it for the Ancestral Regression technique, but it would be better to use the blood of a high-ranking angel.
‘She’ll turn into a beast more than she is now.’
After all, it was the blood of a beast-type angel.
Jude widely smiled as he thought for a moment the Cordelia that would become more of a beast than now. Because he thought that it unexpectedly suited her.
“Ah, it’s time.”
The body of the Tomb Guardian became light and disappeared. Just as demons became ashes when they died, so did angels become light.
Jude approached Cordelia after he had collected all the angel feathers the Tomb Guardian dropped.
“Madam, please wake up.”
“Quickly…help me…”
Cordelia panted as she answered and stood up while holding Jude’s hand.
“Will you be okay? Do you want to just lie down and rest some more?”
“I’m tired, so I’ll take some more rest. Let’s just check the contents of the sarcophagus.”
One wasn’t a rotten water, or even a gamer itself, if they didn’t check the reward after defeating a boss mob.
Jude agreed as he carried Cordelia who completely had no strength left to stand.
“Let’s go, Madam.”
“Let’s go, Dolswe.”
Upon reaching the sarcophagus, Jude put Cordelia down on the floor before he took a deep breath.
It was the sarcophagus of Galleon, who was one of the three disciples of Solari’s strongest champion, Gallus, and was also a saint who defeated numerous demons.
They wondered what exactly could be inside the sarcophagus.
“I’ll open it?”
“Wait, wait a sec. Give me a piggyback. I want to see it the moment it is opened.”
“Do you think you can hold on to me?”
“No, so use a Podaegi.”
“What a very demanding maiden.”
Though Jude clicked his tongue, he still obediently followed Cordelia’s wish.
After he carried her through a Podaegi, he stood in front of the sarcophagus again.
“Let’s open it?”
“Okay!”
Cordelia spoke with an expectant face, and Jude slowly opened the sarcophagus as he calmed down his beating heart.
And what they found inside was completely out of their expectations.
In a good way.
***
Meanwhile at Count Chase…
Count Bayer and Count Chase were sitting face to face and enjoying a chat after a long time.
“Come to think of it, it’s about time for Ga?l and Adelia to communicate to us.”
“It seemed like it took some time because Jude and Cordelia were at the end of the north, but that wouldn’t be a problem for Ga?l and Adelia.”
“I suppose so.”
Both of them trusted their eldest son and eldest daughter very much.
It was no wonder as their two children had distinguished themselves in their respective fields since their childhood.
“Perhaps sooner or later, they’ll bring Jude and Cordelia back.”
“We’ll also have to write an apology letter to Count Hr?svelgr.”
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to increase our exchanges at this opportunity.”
Count Bayer slowly nodded at Count Chase’s words.
The public thought that Count Bayer resented Count Hr?svelgr for losing his margrave position. But no, they only thought so, as Count Bayer himself held no regrets over Count Hr?svelgr’s position.
It was a feeling that he handed over the margrave position rather than it be taken away from him.
“You’re like a warrior from , no, I mean, a knight.”
At Count Chase’s words, Count Bayer shrugged his shoulders once and enjoyed his tea.
He found the smell of black tea better than usual perhaps because he was less worried about Jude and Cordelia now.
But shortly after that…
Rough and thumping steps were heard from outside the door, and soon, the door burst open.
It was Norton, Count Chase’s butler.
He was not one to have an unsettled appearance, but for some reason, he had an urgent look on his face.
“What happened?”
With a slightly surprised face, Count Chased asked him, and Butler Norton delivered the urgent news after he swallowed down his breath.
“We’ve lost contact with Lady Adelia.”
“What?”
“We lost contact with Lady Adelia. It seems like she deliberately stopped contacting us due to some circumstances.”
Count Chase couldn’t understand it for a moment.
Why would Adelia cut off their contact?
And as if the timing was right, Count Bayer’s knight hurriedly ran and entered from the door that was already open. As soon as he saw Count Bayer, he shouted.
“We lost contact with Lord Ga?l!”
It was not just Adelia. They also lost contact with Ga?l.
What happened?
For what reason?
“He disappeared after they were heading towards Lankebuste.”
“Lady Adelia also disappeared after she contacted me that she was heading to Lankebuste.”
Butler Norton said following the knight’s words.
It made sense that they lost contact in the same place, since the two were acting together in the first place.
But why? For what reason?
“No way.”
Count Bayer unconsciously said at that moment, and Count Chase turned to Count Bayer. And Count Chase also unconsciously said.
“Perhaps?”
It was hard to imagine that Ga?l, who was already Count Bayer’s successor, and Adelia, who was one of the heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, might have been beaten by someone.
Then, the remaining answer was that they intentionally disappeared.
A young man and woman suddenly disappeared while traveling together.
Weren’t they familiar with this situation?
“N-no way.”
“I-it can’t be.”
The truth was that it was an extreme measure taken by the two for fear that those at home would oppose to them crossing the border, but the two counts were unaware of such a situation.
Even their eldest son and eldest daughter followed their second son and second daughter.
The two counts facing each other were thrown into distress and confusion.
Poor Count Bayer and Count Chase, hahaha. I can totally imagine them thinking, “You were supposed to bring them back, not join them!” XDDD