Chapter 273

EPISODE 273 – MASTER CRAFTSMAN (3)

Princess Daphne gazed out the window.

The garden covered by snow last night was very white and beautiful.

Perhaps it was the last snow of this winter.

Although it was not as cold as the south that was adjacent to the sea, it was time for the central region and the royal capital to gradually become warm.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

But winter was still winter.

Prince Dion said as soon as he entered the room, prompting Princess Daphne to close the wide open window and smile.

“Did you forget that I haven’t had one since I was five?”

“The fact that you got sick at the age of five means that you can catch a cold too. Shouldn’t you be careful?”

When Prince Dion spoke with a rather stern expression, Princess Daphne eventually chose to give up like always.

“Yes, you’re right. You’re right as always.”

“That’s a given.”

Princess Daphne smiled as she tidied up her clothes, thinking that it was fine if she lost.

‘And… it’s all for me, right?’

Like most people, Prince Dion thought and acted according to his own priorities.

Just as those who valued money strived to make money, and those who dreamt of the ideal strived to achieve it, Prince Dion worked hard for Princess Daphne.

She was the center of his world.

His most precious person in the world.

‘As an older sister, it worries me at times.’

Even if he liked his older sister, he liked her too much.

But Princess Daphne decided to not think deeply about it.

For Prince Dion, Princess Daphne was not just an older sister but the heir to the Sälen Kingdom and the monarch whom Prince Dion would pledge his allegiance to.

‘There’s no reason for me to not like it, right?’

He was a nice and obedient little brother.

So my little brother, let’s work hard together no matter what the future has in store for us.

Prince Dion furrowed his brows when Princess Daphne brightly smiled and kept to herself her thoughts.

“What is it? Is there something strange?”

“No, none at all.”

And when she smiled and laughed ‘fufufu,’ Prince Dion frowned more.

But it was only for a short time.

Prince Dion soon regained his composure, clearing his throat before saying.

“Rather than that, older sister, have you heard of the news?”

“If it’s news, I hear about dozens of those and other things every day, but what you’re talking about now are those two people, right?”

“Yes, I’m talking about the news from the south.”

For the past few days, the royal capital had been buzzing with what had happened in the south.

The resurrection of Ancient Black Dragon Malekith.

Malekith had never directly attacked the central region or the royal capital three hundred years ago or now.

But his notoriety that weighed down the entire south with fear also spread across the continent.

‘Because it’s rare to find an evil dragon that has the same power as a god.’

Power and majesty.

A godlike being that posed a direct threat to humans.

When the news spread that his resurrection was imminent, anxiety and fear spread like wildfire throughout the royal capital.

It would not have been this bad if it had been the usual, but the entire royal capital had been struck by a catastrophe just two months ago.

Many people were afraid, from commoners to nobles alike.

“We must support the south!”

“The battle against him must end in the south! We must not let him enter the royal capital!”

The one who raised his voice the most was Duke Balloa, the leader of the aristocrats.

When the leader of the royalist faction, the Lord Protector – Duke Antarius who was now known as the Lord Traitor, disappeared along with his subordinates, the situation in the royal capital naturally tilted towards the aristocrat faction.

And in the meantime, Duke Spencer who belonged to the dove faction had no other choice but to step back from politics because it was revealed that First Sword, Rhun Froud, whom he had treated like an adopted son, was a traitor who joined hands with the demon followers.

As things progressed like this, it was inevitable that the faction that held supremacy in the royal capital was the hawks led by Duke Balloa.

‘We were really on the verge of sending troops.’

An army led by the Royal Guard Magic Corps was prepared. It was almost close to a preparation for war.

But fortunately, the day just before the army departed.

Good news came to the royal capital.

“Malekith had been defeated! Malekith is dead!”

It was a delightful news, but everyone in the royal capital did not believe the news for a while.

Because the news was so sudden and rather confusing.

‘Even the Founder King couldn’t do it.’

Founder King Lion D. Sälen and the great hero of the south, Carlos.

These two heroes could not even completely kill Malekith.

So everyone was surprised to hear that Malekith died as soon as he was resurrected.

‘It obviously doesn’t make any sense… but what’s surprising is surprising.’

Of the five heroes of Paragon, four of them participated in the battle that day, so they were not lacking in power.

Landius, humanity’s strongest warrior that even the ‘heavenly voice’ recognized, and Kamael, a swordsman comparable to the Sword God.

With the addition of Holy Angel Lena and Necromancer Velkian, it was no exaggeration to say that they were actually mankind’s strongest party.

‘Frankly, it makes my heart pound.’

A huge and mighty ancient dragon resurrected after three hundred years, and humanity’s strongest party fought against it.

Moreover, the battle was truly legendary.

A godlike giant monster that made everyone fear him by just his existence.

A Flesh Golem that was over a hundred meters tall.

Dozens of lightning bolts struck from the sky, earthquakes shook the earth, and a violent storm that made it impossible for even the Sirens to swim.

There were dozens of reports about the battle that day, and although the nature of the stories slightly differed, they all had one thing in common.

A sword of light that reached over a hundred meters had destroyed Malekith’s Dragon Breath from the front.

A sword like the sun came down as it parted the dark sky.

When she read the report, she found it hard to tell if this was part of a legend or a progress report of a real event, but everyone was saying the same things.

It was not an illusion or dream.

All of these happened in real life.

‘Iron Man Landius.’

The heavenly voice only spoke the truth like always.

The strongest man among humans.

The strongest of all human beings living in this era.

‘And those two.’

The young heroes who brought the true end to Malekith was recorded at the end of the report.

‘I was really surprised at first.’

Because the names of those two came out of nowhere.

She knew that they had left the royal capital, but never thought that they were fighting Malekith in the south.

Furthermore, according to the reports that arrived one after another, they did not only dealt the last hit to Malekith.

‘It’s almost like they created the stage.’

Jude and Cordelia.

The two brought together the heroes of Paragon.

They found Ascalon and united the 7 southern families, and made the situation advantageous by searching and defeating Malekith’s subordinates who were secretly moving.

‘How in the world did they get the Sirens involved?’

The method was unknown, but it was clear that the Siren Queen had come to help the two.

‘It’s the same as the royal capital.’

No, in a sense, it was more outstanding than their actions in the royal capital.

‘It’s already the third time.’

The third time that the two people of destiny had saved the Sälen Kingdom.

First was the wild lands.

Second was the royal capital.

And third was the south this time.

Even the heavenly voice who always spoke to her was bewildered – no, it was obviously surprised at the actions of the two.

‘It was the first time they expressed their emotions in their voice.’

The heavenly voice she had heard since she was a child.

Sometimes there was only one voice, sometimes there were several voices, but it all had one thing in common.

The fact that it was always a motherly and warm voice.

But that was why she couldn’t feel their emotions.

However, it was different this time.

Because the heavenly voice was clearly surprised.

An emotion other than warmth.

Proof that the heavenly voice also had emotions.

‘What exactly is going on?’

The two people of destiny made even the heavenly voice surprised.

‘Can they see the future?’

Is that why they are as active as they are now?

And if that is the truth. If those two can see the future.

‘Dangerous.’

That was not Princess Daphne’s thoughts, but Prince Dion’s.

Prince Dion always felt anxious about everything he could not control.

‘It will be fine though.’

It was an unfounded thought, but Princess Daphne did not feel threatened by the two people of destiny.

Rather, they were like blessings that the heavens gave to the Sälen Kingdom.

‘I wish Dion could trust someone other than me.’

Moreover, those two are our benefactors who saved our lives, right?

‘Heavenly voice, please take good care of Dion.’

Princess Daphne prayed to the heavenly voice, and then smiled when she saw Dion looking her way as he frowned.

He seemed to be confused when she suddenly prayed instead of talking.

“Anyway, what else happened in the south?”

“That is…”

The balance between the 7 southern families was destroyed by the changes in the south due to the migration of the Dwarf Workshop and the battle against Malekith.

“Is it those two again this time?”

“Because those two tried to relocate the dwarves, and they handed Ascalon over to Marquis Ophand.”

Princess Daphne had an awkward smile at Dion’s shining eyes telling her to not be careless of the two, and she looked up the ceiling.

‘But everything’s fine, right?’

The southern region was likely to be a little noisy in the future, but it was not something that would shake up the entire kingdom.

Moreover, events that could threaten the kingdom’s existence had already occurred three times in a row. She wondered if another event would occur again.

“So you need to know where those two are going and what they are going to do. Do you understand what I mean?”

Princess Daphne lightly nodded her head Prince Dion’s words, and took the report lying on her desk.

It was the report that recorded the most recent activities of the two.

***

Princess Daphne was not wrong.

The heavenly voices had emotions.

And they were also surprised by what had happened one after another.

Because while a being like Malekith existed, the power of Paragon’s heroes who stopped such a Malekith exceeded the expectations of the heavenly voices.

The heavenly voices were not equal.

There was also a rank among those who spoke to Princess Daphne, and they had differences in power and ability.

The highest among them.

A woman who felt a great sense of discomfort much more than the other heavenly voices.

She looked down at the ground once more.

In order to find the cause of her discomfort that kept bothering her, she traced the path of those two.

***

On his return to the empire, Maximilian changed his course and headed for the Forest of Eternity.

Because the voice from a higher place desired it.

The voice from a higher place that he had heard since his childhood.

The voice always showed him the way.

Where to go, what to do, who to meet, and who to attack.

The voice from a higher place said to him to go to the Sälen Kingdom.

So Maximilian did.

Following the voice from a higher place, he went to various parts of the kingdom to find ancient relics and cultivate his own strength.

Ultimate Two – Divine Sword Balisarda.

One of the most valuable and most powerful ancient artifact he ever obtained on his journey in the kingdom.

But that was why Maximilian didn’t know.

The fact that there was more to the plan of the voice from a higher place.

That not only Balisarda, but also Dragon Sword Ascalon was supposed to be given to Maximilian.

The voice from a higher place looked at the Forest of Eternity through Maximilian’s eyes.

Something had changed here too.

As the one who led the heavenly voices, the voice from a higher place felt a strong sense of discomfort.

What happened?

What is this sense of discomfort?

And why is it related to the activities of the two people of destiny?

“I will follow your will.”

The voice from a higher place told Maximilian to enter the forest, and Maximilian obeyed her command like always.

Maximilian de Avis.

A being born with the greatest talent and the brightest potential among the humans.

But why?

What is this doubt?

Why do I keep feeling uncomfortable?

The voice from a higher place stopped thinking for a moment.

Through Maximilian’s eyes, she looked at the forest where the traces of the two remained.

***

Cordelia had a dream.

A small child sat down and a large screen spread out in front of her.

And there were two people kissing on the screen.

The man was Jude and the woman was Cordelia.

But she wasn’t looking back on what had happened the past few days.

Jude’s sword stabbed Cordelia’s chest.

Fresh blood flowed down along Cordelia’s chin while tears ran down Jude’s cheeks.

The two shared their last kiss.

What’s going on?

I don’t think there’s a scene like this in the game.

When Cordelia became a demonic human, she no longer had any connection with Jude.

Of course, they could have met and fought, but I don’t think they ever had such a close relationship.

It rained.

Cordelia returned to a human from a demonic human right before she died from the power of Divine Sword Balisarda, and she touched Jude’s cheek once again.

With a heavy breath, she left her last words.

“I’m sorry.”

Cordelia smiled as she cried.

She silently died in Jude’s arms.

It rained.

The sound of rain swallowed up Jude’s cries.

The young Cordelia who was looking at the screen burst into tears as she felt really sad.

A strange scene.

A scene she didn’t want to see.

So Cordelia thought of Jude.

The Jude of the present.

The shameless, sly, and blackhearted guy who never fought Cordelia herself, the Jude whom she really liked and always went in the same direction as her.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

When she opened her eyes to the warm voice, she saw Jude’s face.

He was stroking Cordelia’s own cheek just like the Jude she saw in the dream.

But it was different.

It was not raining, and Jude wasn’t crying either.

He was smiling and pinching Cordelia’s cheek like always.

“I had a scary dream.”

Her memory blurred when she opened her eyes and saw Jude.

She couldn’t remember what she saw in her dream, or why she cried in her sleep.

But she clearly recalled that it was a very scary dream, a dream she did not like.

What is it?

What’s with that scene that did not appear in the game?

Surely, it’s not a prophetic dream, right?

Something that will happen in the future, and not something that has happened in the past.

So it was a scene that I have not seen in the game.

She was terrified at that moment.

She was so scared that she burst into tears again.

“Cordelia?”

“Hug me. Hug me tight.”

Cordelia hugged Jude’s neck and spoke as if she was choking, and Jude didn’t understand what was going on, but still hugged Cordelia to his chest.

He patted her back and comforted her.

“Was it a really scary dream?”

Instead of answering, Cordelia tightly shut her eyes while in Jude’s embrace. And she thought.

It was not a prophetic dream.

Cordelia had already become an angel.

So she could no longer become a demonic human.

“Dreams you have during the day are usually dreams that do not have any particular meaning.”

As Jude spoke awkwardly, Cordelia forced herself to smile.

Because she somehow liked the Jude who tried to comfort her. As Jude had said, dreams were just dreams.

“Have you calmed down?”

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

Cordelia smiled and wiped her face with the wet towel Jude gave her before she looked straight ahead.

She could see Baikal Forest, Cassius’ hiding place.

“It’s a little late, but shall we have breakfast?”

“Yes, let’s eat. I’m hungry.”

Cordelia forced herself to answer energetically, sniffing with her nose before sitting down near the bonfire that Jude had lit and looking at Jude again.

Jude was holding a frying pan instead of Ultimate Two – Divine Sword Balisarda.

My blackhearted scammer.

But as she continued to stare, she remembered the Jude in her dream.

What happened to the Jude who cried after killing Cordelia himself?

What kind of future lied ahead for that Jude?

That Jude-

“Jude.”

“Yes?”

“I really like you.”

“Ahem, ahem, me too.”

Jude awkwardly smiled at her unexpected confession, and Cordelia pouted her lips.

It was just a dream of a Jude that did not exist.

Still, she looked at the bonfire, hoping that the Jude in her dream would be happy.