Chapter 279

EPISODE 279 – WEDDING (1)

The overlords of Hell numbered seven.

Two of them were gone, so only five remained now. The demon followers who worshipped them were also divided into five groups.

The Devil’s Hand served Asmodeus, the overlord of lust.

The Devil’s Eye served Belial, the overlord of corruption.

The Devil’s Mouth served Lilith, the overlord of love and hatred.

The Devil’s Ear served Belphegor, the overlord of cruelty.

The Devil’s Horn served Behemoth, the overlord of violence.

Archbishop Manuela sat on the throne of the destroyed Paragon Kingdom and propped his chin as he looked down at a metal plate.

The genealogy of the demons were inscribed on it, and seven names representing an overlord were written with the names of mighty demons under the overlords.

But it was a record of the past and not the present.

Having acquired ancient secret arts and great power in exchange for dedicating the Paragon Kingdom to the demons, Manuela formed a contract with five overlords and not just one.

Therefore, the demon followers called him “Everchosen,” the chosen proxy of all five overlords, and his power was incomparable to that of ordinary demons.

Even the Great Demons living in Hell could hardly boast of their strength and status in his presence.

“I don’t like it.”

Dressed in splendid and beautiful priest robes in red and white colors, Manuela spoke in a low voice.

He gained immortality when he became a demonic human, so his appearance was very different from the past.

He didn’t look like an old man as he had the appearance of a boy with a face as beautiful as a girl and long white hair that reached his thighs.

His golden eyes stared at the metal plate he lightly tapped with his long white fingers. The genealogy inscribed on the metal plate then turned into something completely different.

There were five groups of demon followers.

However, the Devil’s Ear was pretty much wiped out.

The Devil’s Horn was annihilated except for the demonic human Jabberwock, so what remained was the Devil’s Hand, the Devil’s Eye, and the Devil’s Mouth.

There were only three groups now.

“Our plans had gone wrong.”

The Devil’s Eye lost control of the wild lands.

The Devil’s Hand did not cause tragedy to the royal capital.

Their powerful ally, Malekith, died before he could even properly wake up, and the only group that achieved its purpose was the Devil’s Mouth in the distant east.

That was why they could not bring about the Great Summons.

The flames of turmoil that covered the world was too small and weak. In order to bring about the Great Summons, they needed greater confusion and fear.

“The biggest problem is the five heroes of Paragon.”

Manuela’s plan for them had also gone wrong.

Lena who had been imprisoned in Hell had escaped and was now with Landius, while Velkian whom he tried to trap and get rid of had shut himself in the royal capital, so Manuela couldn’t do anything to him.

Manuela’s biggest problem was Landius.

He was originally fated to self-destruct because of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.

However, he was still alive and well, and could even use the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors better than before.

At this rate, far from self-destruction, he would open the eighth door and become closer to a transcendental being.

‘Ninth door is not possible for him now. But the eighth door alone is a threat.’

Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors was a power that came from nine worlds that did not belong to Heaven or Hell.

So even Manuela who had the power to read the World Records could not read everything about the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors, but one thing was clear to him.

‘The one who will open the ninth door will reach true transcendence.’

Someone who crossed the line.

Someone who transcended their limits.

Just like that transcendent being who killed the overlords of Hell.

‘Before that day comes, we must create enough turmoil.’

At the present moment, they still had a chance.

The Devil’s Eye failed to take control of the wild lands, but instead strengthened its influence within the empire.

The Devil’s Mouth also began to encroach the eastern part of the empire, starting with the border of the empire and the distant east, so more than half of the empire was a den of demon followers.

‘And one more thing, two people I cannot ignore.’

He had been ignoring them so far.

But he couldn’t just do that now. Perhaps it was because of these two that all their plans so far had been messed up now.

Those two people.

Manuela moved his fingers, and the faces of those two appeared in the air.

Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.

Seeds of destruction that intervened in everything that was done in the Sälen Kingdom, ruining all their plans as a result.

“Eliminate.”

So that those two could no longer interfere with any of their plans.

Manuela lightly tapped the metal plate again and gave a similar command to the demon followers.

The assassination of Jude and Cordelia.

He had the Devil’s Hand prioritize it.

But unfortunately for Manuela, his command was already too late.

***

“Let’s take the initiative.”

Jude and Cordelia were looking at the same place.

To be exact, Cordelia was snuggling in the arms of Jude who was sitting on the bed, and their eyes crossed the map placed on the bed.

“Our goal is to stop the Great Summons one way or another. And the only way to bring about the Great Summons is to cause great turmoil.”

The Great Summons was not just about opening a portal to another world.

It was a world summoning technique that let those from another world descend directly into this world.

The worlds of Heaven and Hell would overlap and connect into one.

The cost was obviously enormous in order to use this level of magic.

“So a great turmoil is necessary.”

Everyone on the continent needed to have negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, and terror.

In fact, the game’s Archbishop Manuela succeeded in bringing about great turmoil in this world.

He destroyed the Sälen Kingdom and the Argon Empire, and plunged humans into chaos with the 7 major calamities.

However, the current situation was quite different from the game.

“The Sälen Kingdom is strong and standing.”

In addition, more heroes were alive than in the game.

Both Cordelia and Lucas were safe, and the five heroes led by Landius were also active.

On the other hand, the power of the demon followers had greatly diminished.

They had lost a lot of demons and low-ranking demonic humans, and also lost their cards called the Lord Protector and First Sword.

Malekith’s forces that should have tyrannically reigned the south were completely destroyed.

‘Of course, there are still people who are alive like First Sword…’

Still, one could say that their current situation was much more advantageous than in the game.

“So we’ll change our strategy from now on.”

From a defensive approach to a preemptive attack.

The power of their opponents had been too strong until now, so Jude and Cordelia could only move a few people with their power then.

So even if they knew when, where, and what would happen, they could only hurriedly stop it.

‘Just like how we couldn’t defeat the Lord Protector in advance, and could only wait for the incident to happen before we could stop him.’

But it was different now.

Jude did not ignore the changed situation.

“We’ll begin by rooting out the demon followers in the Sälen Kingdom.”

Even if the groups were different from each other, they were all demon followers in the end.

These groups would become Archbishop Manuela’s forces, so they had to destroy the groups when they could.

The last 3 months.

Jude and Cordelia devoted themselves into training in that time.

But they didn’t just train.

Jude had been preparing to attack the Devil’s Hand in those 3 months.

“Because we now have their trust.”

The two knew the location of each branch as well as the headquarters of the Devil’s Hand.

But they hadn’t been able to do anything with this information so far.

To put it bluntly, it was unlikely for anyone to believe them at that time, and even if people believed them, sending troops was another problem.

However, the situation was different now.

When Jude told the location of the demon followers’ headquarters, saying that it was information he found out himself, the Guardians of the Holy Cross trusted him.

Not only that as it became possible to even move the kingdom’s army.

“We’re ready.”

The generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were spread across the continent had secretly gathered.

The kingdom’s army also secretly moved their elite troops in order to annihilate the demon followers all over the kingdom.

When news of Malekith’s upcoming resurrection in the south was heard, the kingdom’s army was able to quickly prepare because they had already made some preparations to fight against the demon followers.

‘Eliminate the Devil’s Hand.’

The Guardians of the Holy Cross was a group who devoted themselves to fighting demons in the first place. For them, this opportunity was truly like a blessing.

Every general was highly motivated.

‘Even Henry II acted tough.’

He still missed the Lord Protector.

He continued to do so, despite knowing that the Lord Protector was a traitor and harmed many royal family members.

But he did not avoid it either.

And that was why Henry II pointed all his arrows to the demon followers.

The demon followers were the ones who corrupted the Lord Protector.

He wanted to tear apart those who turned the kingdom’s hero into a traitor.

The Ten Great Swordmasters were summoned from all over the country.

About half of those whom the two encountered were traitors or enemies, so the probability of them being on their side was like a miracle, but the two could relax now.

All the members of the Ten Great Swordmasters that had been summoned this time were definitely on their side.

Count Alex Bayer, the Sword of Wind.

Gaël Bayer, the Sword of Gale.

Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword, and Sebastian Leguin, the Sword of Swiftness.

Count Frederick Hræsvelgr, the Sword of Holiness.

‘And Ian McCline, the Golden Sword.’

There was also the ‘Guardian’ of the Cilates Plains who led the Knights of the Golden Lion.

And even Jude himself who was called the Swordless Swordmaster.

Eight members had already been identified, except for Viscountess Angela Weiss, the Immovable Sword, who guarded the kingdom’s borders with the empire, and the wandering swordsman, Musu, called the Sword of Stars.

‘The Golden Sword is definitely not a traitor.’

He was not a gentleman whose deeds were as ambiguous as First Sword.

“The six generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross will also be dispatched here, so we have no shortage of manpower.”

Eight members of the Ten Great Swordmasters and six generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.

These 14 people were estimated to be stronger than high-ranking demonic humans, and the Devil’s Hand only had 6 to 7 high-ranking demonic humans, so the former already overpowered the latter.

Attack before you get attacked.

Instead of waiting for the 7 major calamities to happen, they had to get rid of those who would cause the Great Summons.

Jude slowly began to have a dark smile, and Cordelia’s lips suddenly squirmed a bit. She said as she held Jude’s hand.

“But Jude.”

“Yes, Cordelia.”

“Since we have all these powerful people, can brother-in-law Gaël not join the fight? The wedding is just around the corner.”

“The wedding is still nearly a month away.”

“Yes, but for him, isn’t that like… setting up a flag? It’s a flag, right? They’re in that situation, right?”

Let’s get married after this fight is over.

Let’s live together after this fight is over.

At Cordelia’s remark, Jude had a small smile and said as he hugged the serious Cordelia.

“What about us then?”

“Huh?”

“Haven’t we set up flags too?”

After this fight is over.

After Gaël and Adelia’s wedding.

We’re the next ones.

“I-is that so?”

Cordelia blushed at Jude’s point, and Jude smiled again. He kissed Cordelia’s soft cheeks and said.

“Don’t worry about it. My brother and I have become stronger.”

Valencia had been reborn as an Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment, and he had also learned the Twelve Snowflake Sword Art.

And his sixth door of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors had become more natural over the past 3 months of his recovery.

Given that his level had risen after defeating Malekith, he was incomparably stronger than he was 3 months ago.

“I’ve become stronger too.”

Because she was able to achieve what she wanted to do, though it was incomplete.

Moreover, the equipment that Cassius made was really useful.

The magic wand made from a fragment of Malekith’s Dragon Heart not only amplified her mana as it also allowed her to draw huge amounts of mana from the Dragon Heart at least once a day.

“Yes, so it will be fine. After we root out the demon followers from the Sälen Kingdom, let’s do… let’s do the next part.”

Jude said ‘next part.’

Cordelia didn’t know what he meant by that. But her already blushing face and neck turned redder, and she nodded her head.

“Y-yes, the next part.”

I don’t know what that is… no, I know what it is now, but anyway, it’s the next part.

The next part is definitely something related to the dream that always gets cut off every day.

But it was at that moment. Cordelia suddenly began to snicker. She pretended to be indifferent, but doing that was hard because she saw that Jude’s face was very red.

“Cute.”

Cordelia said as she leaned her head back, while Jude understand what her action meant. So he kissed Cordelia again.

And at the time when they were being affectionate with each other again…

[Hey, I got stronger too, okay? I also had a power-up, right?]

Now, I can now create a hologram image and even use magic on my own, okay?

You hear me?

Moonlight was reborn as an Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment.

And as Melissa that was in Malekith’s Dragon Heart murmured, the night deepened.

And two days later.

Around twenty days before Gaël and Adelia’s wedding.

A large-scale raid targeting the Devil’s Hand began all over the kingdom.