Chapter 342

EPISODE 342 – THE LULL BEFORE THE STORM (1)

Moving between different worlds was not easy.

This was especially true if they were higher beings who supported the world by their existence themselves, like the archangels and overlords.

There were two reasons for that.

One was that the greater the existence one had in the world, the more power was needed to move to another world, and the other reason was the resistance of the world one would be moving into.

Most worlds did not have an ego.

But that did not mean that it did not have a protective instinct just because it lacked an ego.

Worlds did not care much about small beings.

However, the situation was different when it came to higher beings.

It would be easy to understand if one thought of it as a net, though this might be a poor analogy.

A net with large holes.

A small fish could pass through the net without any difficulty, but a big fish could not.

In order to pass through the hole in a net much smaller than their size, they must forcibly make their own bodies smaller or tear the net to widen the hole.

Either way, it was clear that it was not easy.

Even bringing a Demon Prince to Pleiades needed a lot of preparation to create a Hell Gate, so what more for an overlord who was a higher being than it.

Raguel’s body drooped as her arms were bound by thick and large chains.

Tears flowed down her cheeks.

She was not sad because she was tied and most of her power was sealed.

The things that would happen in Pleiades.

The sadness brought about by the fact that Auriel had changed to the way she was now.

She remembered Solari, Eros, and Gabriel.

I should have paid more attention.

Because Raguel herself knew.

The fact that Auriel had changed since Solari’s death.

When Solari descended on Pleiades, Auriel and Raguel were in a deep sleep.

When they woke up, Solari’s life was already in danger.

Auriel tried to descend on Pleiades.

But Pleiades that had already been entered by too many higher beings then fiercely resisted.

Moreover, the distance between Pleiades and Heaven was particularly far apart.

The enraged Auriel tried to descend on Pleiades at any cost, but that was also unsuccessful.

Because Solari used her last power to cut off all the connections that had been formed.

Solari’s intention was clear.

She pitied, loved, and cherished the beings of Pleiades, so she did not want Heaven and Hell to be involved in Pleiades anymore.

Solari died.

Auriel suppressed her will to descend on Pleiades and remained silent.

That silence.

It seemed peaceful on the outside, but it was not.

Unquenchable flames of rage had been burning inside Auriel since then.

Raguel herself knew about it.

Despite knowing about it, she did not do anything to contain the flames of rage.

Or rather, perhaps she pretended to not know.

She did not know what to do with the flames of rage, so she had just hoped that time would resolve it.

The current situation might be the price.

The price for being an idle onlooker.

The punishment given to herself for failing to more actively heal Auriel’s wounds.

Sariel and Raphaela had a sense of guilt in relation to Solari’s situation.

The two had agreed with Auriel not only because of the fact that Pleiades had fooled around with the fate of Heaven.

Their deep-seated guilt must have influenced their decisions.

‘They got a card.’

They created a justification against those who played with the fate of Heaven.

They made a reason for the Great Summons.

The higher beings from other worlds weakened the resistance of Pleiades, and Hell took care of the ritual necessary for the descent. Descending itself was clearly not an easy task, but the difficulty level was drastically reduced because of their joint efforts.

Raguel’s tears did not stop.

She used her last strength to warn Pleiades.

But would her warning really work?

Would Raguel’s best efforts, or what she did for her trivial self-satisfaction, have any value?

“Solari, Eros, Gabriel…”

Her three deceased sisters.

The powers of the archangels were not all the same.

Compared to Solari, the powers of Eros and Gabriel were negligible as the two were particularly weak among the archangels.

But that power was not important.

Raguel loved her sisters.

She missed her deceased sisters.

“Solari…”

Why did you do that? Why did you intervene in Pleiades? Why did you sacrifice your life for them?

Ego, personality, and emotion.

The archangels capable of emotions were imperfect beings.

So was Raguel herself.

Her longing and love for Solari, her bitter feelings, her worry for Auriel, her compassion for Pleiades, her despair for her helpless self…

All these emotions mixed into her tears.

It endlessly flowed along the cheeks of the archangel.

***

Landius was a person like the sun.

His letter was enough to ignite the flames of hope.

“Master had opened the eighth door.”

Jude himself knew the difference between the seventh door and the eighth door better than anyone else.

Therefore, the fact that Landius opened the eighth door made him happy.

The present Landius was definitely not on the level of an overlord or an archangel.

He was still weak compared to such higher beings.

But Jude felt reassured.

He felt a sense of stability as if he was standing on solid ground.

“He’s freaking awesome. Your father is right.”

What Jude and Cordelia themselves had changed.

The powerful five heroes of Paragon had been reunited.

“His letter is interesting.”

In Landius’ letter, he bragged about the fact that he opened the eighth door, that he was proud as a master to lead the way this time, and such small stuff like ‘You haven’t opened the eighth door yet, right? Are you still in the sixth or seventh doors?’ But there was also something important written in his letter.

[My disciple, if you are reading this letter now, you can probably see it too. The demon followers are trying to have an archangel descend in the imperial capital. Lena says that it will take around 20 days or so. Around 20 days. Yeah, it’s not that short of a time. But it’s not a lot of time either.]

There was still the chancellor’s army.

The demon followers from the east also boasted a powerful force.

[How long will it take for the imperial capital to collapse if we proceed with the usual tactics of war? Even if we gather the most elite troops and advance towards the imperial capital to break through at one point, I think it will take more than a month. If our side breaks through at one point, the other side will also defend at that one point, so we may not even reach the imperial capital at all.]

His reasoning was valid.

It was often forgotten, but Landius was originally a knight of the Paragon Kingdom.

He would be the most knowledgeable among the five heroes when it came to warfare.

[So this is the conclusion we came up with. We will raid the imperial capital with a small number of elite troops. We will somehow stop the descending ritual of the archangel and remove those behind the ritual so that they will not try it again.]

The Archbishop Manuela.

The leader of the demon followers who caused the destruction of Pleiades.

[It’s a reckless plan. It’s crazy too. But it’s also worth a try.]

Jude had a bitter smile.

Because they already had a history of doing that in the past.

These five heroes alone had charged into the Paragon royal palace occupied by a Demon Prince and his forces.

‘But in the end, they defeated the Demon Prince.’

The miracle caused by the five heroes of Paragon.

‘Furthermore…’

Until now, Archbishop Manuela often ran away after pretending to fight Landius.

But the situation was different this time.

Manuela could not escape even if he wanted to because of the descending ritual of the archangel, so this was the perfect opportunity for Landius to punish Manuela.

[Thus we tried to find a way. It would be impossible for even a small number of troops to infiltrate the empire and then attack the capital. We gathered opinions on how to safely infiltrate and attack the imperial capital… and we eventually came to one conclusion.]

“The legacy of Eros.”

Jude said and Cordelia who was reading the letter with him also nodded as her eyes sparkled.

[One of the legacies left on Pleiades by Eros, the goddess of love. It’s the so-called airship. A ship that flies in the sky. Fran knows where it is. Continuous operation is impossible, but it’s possible to use it for a one-way trip to the imperial capital.]

He was correct.

The legacy of Eros, the archangel of love.

The aerial cruise ship, Erotika.

It was a ship that was originally not for combat, but it was still a ship of an archangel.

Its defense was excellent, so it could be used for attacking the capital.

‘As master have said, it can only be used once.’

The primary reason why Jude and Cordelia did not find and ride Erotika was because there was a limit to the number of trips. Now that Eros was gone, the ship could only be moved once, or two to three times at most.

[Then Jude. Will we meet Adelaide too?]

Jude nodded at Cordelia’s message.

[Maybe. We’ll probably meet her.]

Adelaide was said to be the most beautiful person in Legend of Heroes 2.

A unique character who only appeared with a veiled face instead of a bare face, as it was said that it was impossible to express her very beautiful face with an illustration.

She was a descendant of the Eros denomination that protected Erotika.

Given the timing, it was highly likely that she would appear as the pilot of Erotika.

‘In the end, Keynes and Maximilian are the only ones we’ve never met.’

Playable characters from the side of the empire.

They did not feel bad for Keynes who was basically a villain, but not for Maximilian who played an indispensable role among the playable characters.

‘Where and what is he doing now?’

Maximilian originally worked for the Royal Knights so they should have met him when they met Leon, but something went wrong as he did not even take the Royal Knights entrance exam at all.

Unlike the setting of Legend of Heroes 2 where Leon was his close friend since childhood, they were only friends.

Jude wondered where Maximilian was now.

Scarlet had said that she had met him in the royal capital, but it was questionable on why he appeared in the Sälen Kingdom and not the empire.

‘No, that’s not what’s important right now.’

After all, they did not have enough time to find Maximilian and welcome him as an ally.

Even if Maximilian, the official cheat character of Legend of Heroes 2, had grown up normally, he would not be as strong as Lucas who explosively grew.

‘That is, if he went through the normal growth route…’

That part somehow bothered Jude, but he stopped thinking about it.

He focused on the letter again.

[My disciple, as you are reading this letter, I am probably traveling with my companions in search of Erotika. I will come to you as soon as we discover Erotika. Until then, work hard in training the sixth door – no, maybe it’s the seventh door… Anyway, do your best in your training.]

“Master, I’m sorry.”

I’m already in the eighth door.

After reading the letter with a faint smile, Jude impulsively kissed Cordelia who had a mischievous smile and looked back at everyone.

Some people looked at them awkwardly.

His father-in-law appeared to be both happy and embarrassed.

Jude cleared his throat and told everyone.

His mind became clear because of Landius’ letter, and he was able to decide on their next step right away.

“First of all, Master talked about Erotika.”

“What’s that?”

“Ero…tica?”

Jude slightly blushed at Kajsa’s question, and explained one after another what Erotika was and how it would be used.

“What Master said is right. Now that we have only 21 days to spare, a surprise attack on the imperial capital is the only solution. So until Master finds Erotika, let’s boost our power.”

Jude had a lively voice.

Therefore, even those who were shocked at the reckless plan of raiding the imperial capital were able to focus on Jude’s words instead of being discouraged or confused.

“If we want to boost our power in a short period of time, items are the best. Lucas, please go to the royal capital. We need the divine sword Claíomh Solais.”

This legacy of Solari was comparable to the Solar Blade used by Landius.

It was originally intended to protect the royal capital, but the royal capital would cease to exist if they could not prevent the descent of an archangel.

The enemies also confined themselves in the imperial capital, so they could not attack the royal capital. Thus, it was fine to take the sword in order to stop the descending ritual.

“Don’t tell me I’m using it?”

“Yes, you’ll be using it.”

The Holy King’s Cross Sword utilized divine power.

Solari’s sword was good enough for a graduation item for the present Lucas.

“And we’ll keep in touch with you, so get your equipment in the royal capital. Perhaps by now, the dragon equipment is complete.”

“Dragon equipment? Don’t we already have it?”

“Yes. But the new ones are equipment that have been upgraded to a higher level… and made with more time.”

They did not leave Cassius behind in their estate for no reason.

There were a few equipment that took a long time to make from the time they first brought it to her, but those should be completed by now.

“So please do me a favor. Please deliver the news to Cassius. Please tell her to hurry up and come quickly to the royal capital.”

When Jude naturally turned to the witch of the west forest, she had a bitter smile and nodded.

She was originally going to help by giving them various information, but since Jude and Cordelia already knew about it, she could only help in this way now.

“Black Cloa-… I mean, Jude. Where are you going then? Do you have anything else to take care of?”

Sending Lucas to the royal capital meant that Jude and Cordelia were going to a different place.

At Scarlet’s sharp question, Jude turned to Cordelia who shrugged and smiled.

“That’s right, we’re going to a different place.”

The two were already armed with the strongest equipment, but still lacked one thing.

Four seasons and four elements.

They had all the four seasons, but not the last one of the four elements.

The last Fairy Queen.

“We’re going to find the Water Fairy Queen.”

And steal – no, take the Water Protection to complete that.

The greatest protection in Legend of Heroes 2 that was a protection of fantasies since no one obtained it.

“The Fairy King’s Protection.”

And the new power that they could have through it.

[Why do you both have dark smiles when you’re just going to do something good?]

[Because both of them are already black inside.]

At Melissa’s lamentation and Valencia’s enlightening words, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and exchanged dark smile again.