Chapter 237

If audio player doesn’t work, press Stop then Play button againEPISODE 237 – KAJSA OPHAND (3)

Unfortunately, it was impossible to have a proper conversation with Wolfe.

Because he was in such a bad condition.

‘Well, if Wolfe was in a good condition, he wouldn’t have left Kajsa in the pirate island.’

His injuries had been cured, but he was still unconscious ever since he collapsed during the battle.

‘Wolfe is not going to die, right?’

‘He’s unconscious because of the fatigue he accumulated, so he’ll wake up by tomorrow morning at the latest.’

But it would be too late by then.

Therefore, Jude and Cordelia began to question the other crew members of Kajsa.

The sailors were rough-looking because they were Kajsa’s subordinates and not just anyone else, but they were no match against the great power of societal class and money.

“That’s what happened, Countess.”

“I see. Thank you for the detailed information.”

Jude and Cordelia gave some silver coins to the hairy sailor who meekly bowed like a lamb. The two then left Kajsa’s mansion after leaving their luggage to the anxious butler.

“What do you think?”

“I think our enemies are strong.”

The story of the hairy sailor could be summarized as follows.

The Black Shark fired at the ships anchored on the pirate island to destroy them, and the infiltration squad of Kajsa landed on the island amidst the disturbance.

It was Kajsa’s tactic to quickly overpower the enemy’s core in the gap created when chaos occurred.

But there was a problem this time.

The core of the pirates was too strong.

‘Among the landing squad led by Kajsa, only three survived, which included Wolfe and the hairy sailor.’

The sailors waiting on the Black Shark chose to retreat as soon as they saw the unconscious Kajsa being captured by the pirates and dragged away.

They couldn’t do anything else, so they chose to deliver the news.

‘Of course, they had a reason on why they ran away.’

According to the hairy sailor’s testimony, it was an iron-masked swordsman who defeated Kajsa.

The hairy sailor did not properly see Kajsa being defeated because he himself was fighting pirates at that time, but it seemed like Kajsa wasn’t just defeated. She was overpowered.

“Do you know who that person is?”

A male swordsman with an iron mask.

At Cordelia’s question, Jude shook his head.

“I’m not sure. Even though it was a surprise attack, he managed to overpower Kajsa. I know of a few candidates but… they all use swords.”

The first ones he could think of were the pirates from the deep sea, but as Jude had said, most of them used swords, so it was difficult to pinpoint on who it was.

It was easy for anyone to cover their face with a mask too.

“He could be from Malekith’s side.”

“Malekith’s children?”

“He could be one of them.”

Malekith was an ancient dragon.

He had a dragon army under his command that was made up of his children, so one of them could be that masked man.

“The hairy sailor said that he didn’t properly see that masked man’s fight. So the masked man might have overpowered Kajsa with magic or a supernatural ability.”

“Uuuugh.”

In the end, it was impossible to find out the enemy’s true identity.

“Moving on, if the person who defeated Kajsa is strong, I think it will be better for us to sneak in.”

“We’ll sneak in, save Kajsa, and then run?”

“Yes. After all, we need to secure Kajsa to avoid a hostage situation.”

“I see. It would be difficult if Kajsa was threatened with a knife in her throat.”

Nodding her head, Cordelia raised her hand and asked again.

“Then Master. Are we going to get a boat from here on?”

“No, we’re not going by boat.”

“Eh? Then how will we get there? Can you run on the sea now?”

When Cordelia asked with wide open eyes, Jude suddenly had a troubled expression and said.

“Cordelia, you’re really good at forgetting things.”

Just like how you forget about Melissa.

“Ugh.”

Cordelia couldn’t say anything as he was right about Melissa.

As she began to groan, Jude said with a small smile.

“I think you’ve forgotten because we haven’t ridden on it for a while, but we have this.”

The ring on Jude’s finger.

Cordelia blinked her eyes for a few times before she finally remembered.

“Phantom Steed.”

A ghost horse that could fly in the sky.

“We’re going to run over the sea.”

They would take advantage of the night’s darkness and run across the sea.

Cordelia briefly closed her eyes at Jude’s explanation, and imagined it.

Two people sitting on a Phantom Steed that was running over the sea.

Jude said that they were going in the middle of the night, but somehow, in Cordelia’s imagination, they were running towards the sunset.

No, it has to be. That way, it will be a picturesque scene.

The sky and the sea.

A world that had turned red starting from the horizon.

The Phantom Steed stopped as the two gazed at each other.

The sound of the crashing waves could be heard.

Besides the waves, they could hear each other’s hot breaths in that silent world.

They yearned for each other as they felt the beating of their hearts.

And at some point.

The sun set.

The long shadows then became one.

‘Kyaa, what should I do? What should I do?’

In her imagination, important things like Kajsa’s rescue operation and the pirate island somehow disappeared, but she couldn’t help it.

If Dahlia was here, she would have nodded her head and agreed.

“Hey, Cordelia?”

“Eh? Uuuuh. Okay, so we’re going to run across the sea to rescue Kajsa, is that right? Good, that’s good. Let’s do that. Yes, let’s do that.”

Her giggling was very cute, but Jude ended up confused.

Is there something in our conversation that can make anyone blush?

And why are you still avoiding my gaze?

‘Anyway.’

It’s fine since it’s cute.

Jude nodded his head and said again as he pointed to the sea.

“Let’s eat first and then leave at sunset.”

“Yes!”

Nightfall.

Sunset.

A smile spread across Cordelia’s face.

***

Cordelia clearly knew.

That imagination and reality were different.

The sunset was much shorter than she thought, and Jude was busy in finding the right direction on the open sea through a nautical chart.

Cordelia herself was busy in hiding the Phantom Steed with various magic spells.

‘It’s scary here!’

Rather than being romantic, the sea in the middle of the night was scary.

The dark sea stretched out endlessly, and it seemed like a monster could appear from the sea anytime.

Therefore, instead of looking around, Cordelia clung to Jude’s back and only chanted the spells.

With her eyes tightly closed.

And time passed.

After running for at least an hour, Jude suddenly spoke.

“Cordelia, that’s the island.”

Cordelia slightly opened her eyes at Jude’s words, raising her head to look straight ahead.

Seeing a dark island in the middle of the dark sea was really spooky.

‘It’s like a school.’

The school in the middle of the night.

A place that strangely became scary at night.

Cordelia said as she added a little more strength to her arms that embraced Jude’s waist.

“Let’s hurry.”

If we enter the island, I’ll no longer see the island and be scared.

“Okay. Please use your magic then.”

“Yes.”

Cordelia added a magic to the magic that she had already cast. Because they needed to suppress all sounds including the Phantom Steed’s breathing.

‘I already know that she’s skilled, but she’s really skilled.’

Each wizard had their own field of expertise.

Because there were some disciplines in magic that required a vast amount of knowledge, and there were also some who were born with the aptitude for it.

This was common in reality too.

A person was good at math, but not in English. Or a person was good at basketball, but not at soccer.

But Cordelia could do everything well.

In fact, one could say that she was an all-around wizard in the field of magic.

She originally specialized in elemental-based magic.

Dark magic such as curses or necromancy was added because of her witch transformation, and when she turned into an angel, she also became proficient in divine magic and life-based magic.

‘And she did all of that at the age of 17.’

She was still young.

But her mana already exceeded Adelia who was one of the commanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, and the number of magic spells that she could use was more than those high-ranked people in the magic tower.

‘She’s also going to use spirits in the future.’

She was also the Spirit King’s contractor.

‘Wow.’

If you think about it, she’s a real monster.

Isn’t she like a cheat character?

Is there a wizard who has reached Cordelia’s level at that age, even in the entire history of Pleiades?

‘As expected of my Cordelia.’

My beast.

My scammer apprentice.

In that regard, Jude was definitely a monster among monsters too.

In less than a year, he grew from a weak and sickly boy into a strong man who could stand against one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.

[Jude, are we there yet?]

[We’re almost there.]

Jude responded with magic, and landed on the island’s shore afterwards. He then unsummoned his Phantom Steed.

[This is Pirate Island W. You know what kind of place this is, right?]

[Yes.]

It was an island that a player would attack once when they played as Kajsa.

Jude did not memorize the entire map of the island, but he roughly knew its structure.

[It’s an abandoned island that was once used as a prison. Therefore, it’s not an exaggeration to say that there are plenty of places here where you could lock people up.]

But if their hostage was Kajsa, they just wouldn’t put her anywhere.

So Jude was able to estimate her approximate location.

‘The number of ships anchored here.’

Two pirate ships.

Judging by the size and shape of the ships, the number of pirates on this island should be around seventy.

Jude then hid himself in the bushes to raise the accuracy of his estimate, and told Cordelia.

“Stay behind me, okay?”

“Okay. But what are you going to do?”

At Cordelia’s question, Jude pointed to his eyes once before opening the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors and activating his ability.

An ability to see through things.

Though it was more like an X-ray that saw through the skin and rocks instead of seeing the skin underneath the clothes.

Jude saw everything that could be seen, and not just the area around him, so the burden on his eyes was enormous, but Jude had already reached the level of a superhuman in terms of durability.

Every time his eyes were damaged, Jude would repeatedly use his regenerative ability to heal it, but he closed his eyes after observing for almost three minutes.

“Haa.”

“Are you all right? Do your eyes hurt?”

“Uh, it’s all right. And… I think I somehow know it now.”

From the place where Kajsa was being held to the deployment of pirates in the building.

Jude was only able to see their skeletons and not the exact location of the people when he used his ability, but as he said earlier, he had a rough map of the pirate island in his mind.

He was able to figure out the situation based on the people who were at a certain place, and places where there were no people.

‘It’s a bit unfortunate that I can’t pinpoint the location of the strong person who overpowered Kajsa, but it can’t be helped.’

Because his ability alone was already a cheat-level reconnaissance ability.

“Kajsa is locked up in a special room.”

“The one in the deepest part of the basement?”

“Yes, that one.”

As he had thought, Kajsa was locked up in the deepest place in the island.

If she was imprisoned in a place like the top of a spire, they could just fly and rescue her, but it was a different story if it was underground. It would be best for them to infiltrate the place before rescuing her.

“It’s okay. I’ve also prepared a magic spell for today.”

Cordelia clenched her fist and then said as she glanced at him.

“Shall we go then?”

“Let’s go.”

Clouds covered the moon, and Jude and Cordelia came out of the bushes.

***

The most problematic thing in infiltration was the sound.

The sound of one’s movements.

The sound of the enemies shouting to inform their allies of an invasion and its location.

Therefore, the difficulty of an infiltration would be greatly reduced if one could not make any sound.

Just like now.

“.”

A witch’s spell that Cordelia newly learned after she became a seventh-rank angel.

It was ironic that she could learn a witch’s magic because her angel rank increased, but it was a spell that Cordelia had been wanting to learn ever since she got the spell book.

‘Field-type magic.’

Magic spells that could change the environment within a certain range, with the caster as its center.

But it had no effect when used alone. Its proper effect was only triggered when at least one other magic was mixed.

Thus, it was an exhausting magic that required the caster to use double casting and also consumed a lot of mana. Conversely, it was also a magic that could produce infinite effects depending on which magic spell was combined with it.

Cordelia’s choice was to combine it with the spell.

The entire corridor in Cordelia’s sight was forcibly engulfed in silence.

And that was why Jude appeared without even hiding.

“—–!”

“—–?!”

“———-!”

The pirates were surprised by Jude’s appearance, and shouted with their wide open mouths, but it was useless.

No voice could escape from the area covered in silence.

Jude laughed in his delight.

Even his laughter was shrouded by the silence, so he laughed louder and kicked the ground.

Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt.

An attack that incredibly boosted his speed, but also drew attention because it was accompanied by thunder.

But it was different today.

There was no sound, so the pirates felt like they were facing a ghost.

‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’

Cordelia opened her mouth and made the sound effects herself, while Jude relentlessly moved his hands and feet, throwing and slamming the pirates into the walls, ceiling, and the floor.

There was no sound again this time.

Cordelia smiled at the sight as if she watching a muted video, and Jude continued to run.

After quickly defeating as many as five panicking pirates, he threw a bottle that had been rolling on the floor, instantly knocking down the last one who was fleeing.

‘Wow.’

Is this like an assassination if there’s no witness?

Is this a magic specialized for assassination?

Jude turned to Cordelia with a satisfied face, and she snorted before proudly shrugging her shoulders.

The place was still affected by the spell, but she didn’t mind that when she spoke.

‘Aren’t I awesome?’

‘Yes, you’re awesome.’

Because the two could talk with their eyes.

Jude and Cordelia giggled among the pirates who couldn’t even groan when they were knocked unconscious, and the two headed towards the special room.

“—-!”

“——–!”

“—?!”

The pirate who quickly rang the bell that made no sound was then slammed into the wall, and the pirate who was blowing on a trumpet with all his might was thrown to the ceiling.

And in the midst of all this, no alarm sounded, so pirates didn’t come swarming in.

‘As expected of a wizard.’

Those who could work miracles through the use of magic.

Every time Jude raised his thumb, Cordelia would proudly shrug, and the two were able to reach the front of the special room after a while.

‘It’s a lock.’

A thick padlock that secured the huge and black steel door.

Cordelia tried to use an unlocking magic spell after canceling the magic, but Jude shook his head.

Because there was a magic that Jude could use too.

He grabbed the lock and pulled it.

He removed the metal ring from the body of the lock.

The sight of the padlock being disassembled at once with a loud sound was truly magical.

“Wow, physical magic.”

“Very easy, right?”

Jude proudly shrugged his shoulders and Cordelia put her hands in a praying position, saying.

“May the muscles always be with you.”

But not as bad as Landius. I prefer the you now.

At Cordelia’s eyes that were filled with her wish, Jude laughed again before he put his hand on the steel door’s handle.

He turned to Cordelia and said.

“I’m opening it.”

“Okay.”

Cordelia grasped Moonlight and took a step back while Jude opened the steel door.