Chapter 323

EPISODE 323 – THE GUARDIAN (1)

Time flowed.

It moved forward.

No one could resist the strong flow, and even those who were called gods were not free in front of time.

The witch of the west forest raised her head.

Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, was knocking on the door.

She was being ordered to come out.

“Not yet.”

No.

If the truth becomes known, then…

The witch of the west forest hugged her shoulders.

She was silent as she felt the heartless flow of time just flowing forward.

She anxiously waited for the time that was about to come.

***

It was still a half moon, but it was brighter than yesterday.

The moonlight that was broken and scattered along the starlight gradually fell on the white flowers, and the Tomb of the Star became a land of fallen stars as its name suggested.

“Beautiful.”

Jude turned his head at the voice he heard next to him.

Cordelia looked around as she lightly swung her hand that held his.

As her angel rank increased, her hair gradually turned pinker, but her skin was still white. And her blue eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“You’re right. It’s really beautiful.”

“It is, right?”

Happy at Jude’s response, Cordelia turned to him and widely smiled.

And Jude caressed Cordelia’s cheek with his hand. He so naturally kissed her forehead and spoke in a whisper.

“The most beautiful in the world. Nothing else can be more beautiful.”

Huh?

What?

Wait a second. Wait, wait.

In fact, she did not even need a second. Because she could tell by just looking at Jude’s eyes.

What he meant by beautiful and what he was referring to as the most beautiful in the world.

“How childish.”

It also feels cheesy.

But her face somehow turned red. For some strange reason, a smile kept appearing in her face.

[Oh…please. Not again, please…]

[My successor, we are here. We are here.]

It was not just the two of them.

There were others too.

Melissa and Valencia could no longer stand it and raised their voices, so Cordelia became even more embarrassed, but not for Jude.

After all, Jude was the one who acted shamelessly in the first place.

He touched her cheeks.

He stole her lips and hugged her waist.

“J-Jude?”

She was scared yet excited, hated it yet liked it, and was embarrassed yet delighted.

Cordelia’s expression and voice were filled with conflicting emotions, and Jude felt himself heating up.

Frankly, even Jude himself sensed that he was in a strange state now.

His tension eased as his mind relaxed.

Or rather, as a result of releasing his limiters, he felt that the emotions and desires he had been suppressing and repressing were exploding now.

Just being together with her was not enough.

He wanted to keep touching her, kissing her, and becoming one.

He wanted to enjoy the happiness he finally got after a series of tragedies.

“Jude, later, okay? Later. We have a lot of things to do today.”

At her kind voice that seemed to be persuading him, Jude was startled. He woke up from his old memories and emotions, and saw reality again.

Cordelia pushed Jude’s hand away.

No, she did not just push it away as she wrapped it with her own hand and guided him elsewhere.

She was a mature woman who tightly hugged and comforted her sad and crying fiancé.

“Jude?”

“Uh, no. Uh, yes. Okay. Because today is not the only day. No, there’s still a lot left today. There is tonight, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow…”

As he continued to talk gibberish, his reason gradually returned.

Therefore, he was able to say sly words like usual.

“Yes, later. I promise to do it later. Please look forward to it. Yes, look forward. It will be amazing.”

In the end, he cunningly spoke and grinned – no, he laughed out loud like a wolf so Cordelia flinched and trembled.

“S-spare me, okay?”

Jude kissed her forehead again instead of answering.

He wanted to kiss her lips again, but felt like he would not be able to suppress himself if he did.

‘He seems to have gone really crazy.’

But it could not be helped.

Even Jude himself could not control it.

“Anyway, let’s go now, okay?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Cordelia clasped Jude’s hand again and moved forward.

Jude was much taller than Cordelia, but it seemed to be the opposite when she led the way.

[Haa… Is it seriously over now?]

At Valencia’s sighing, Jude cleared his throat for no reason.

Since he became one with Sword Origin, he had prepared himself to not embarrass Valencia, but he had failed this time.

‘Let’s just thank her mentally.’

She had kept her mouth shut for the past two days.

Though it was embarrassing to say thank you to her for just silently watching.

The two walked for some time.

Suddenly, Cordelia’s fingers wiggled.

Rather than saying that her body heated up like Jude, though something like that did happen, but more than that, there was something that came to her mind.

“By the way, Jude.”

“Yes, Cordelia.”

“Do you… remember what you said earlier?”

“What I said? The one about Cordelia being the prettiest, cutest, most loveable, most bewitching, most innocent, and even the kindest person in the world?”

Cordelia wanted to give up talking to him at his shameless words, but she persevered.

With a blushing face, she spoke of something else.

“No, before that one, I mean… Ha, the words you said just before that.”

The words he whispered before going wild like a beast.

“Do you know how much I’ve endured?”

When he reflexively replied, Cordelia quickly nodded her head.

And with a red face, she said with an expression like that of a mischievous child.

“How long have you endured?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, since when have you held it in?”

At Cordelia’s attack, Jude hastily avoided her gaze. But it was already too late. Cordelia had roughly known his answer from her first question.

“I see. You’ve been holding it in since the wild lands. You’ve loved me since then. You wanted to do this and that, but you held it in.”

Even the shameless Jude had no choice but to blush at her words that she said jokingly while snickering.

Because it felt like his true feelings had been seen.

“Hohoho, hohoho, Jude has liked me ever since. No, was it even earlier than that?”

As she spoke with a bewitching yet wicked smile like that of a devil, Jude flinched again.

However, Cordelia who asked the question was the one who was surprised.

“Wait, is it true? You’ve liked me before that?”

Jude did not reply, but his silence was the answer.

From the time when they traveled to the north.

From the time when he left a letter full of love and worked hard to make it a known fact.

He obviously did not like her as much as he did now.

His love for her only grew stronger as time went by.

“Ahem, ahem. Ahem.”

Cordelia had began by asking him in a teasing manner, but Jude was embarrassed so she stopped making fun of him.

But instead of hiding her delight, she puffed out her chest.

“I won. I won.”

I don’t know about anything else, but this one is a complete win.

[But in the end, Mistress Cordelia also came to like Master Jude, so is this not Master Jude’s victory?]

Melissa did not speak out loud as she only spoke to herself in order to allow Cordelia to continue feeling triumphant.

“Ahem, that’s good. Hmm, that’s good. Good, good.”

She appeared to really like it as her shoulders were even shaking up and down.

And Jude realized.

‘There’s really nothing that I can do about it now.”

He really loved Cordelia.

Rather than feeling annoyed at her acting like that, he just found her to be cute.

[Haa… please. How long will this pink atmosphere last? Shouldn’t we be going to see the fire fairies? Right, my successor?]

Because of the pleading of Valencia who could no longer stand it, they returned to their main objective.

“Okay, let’s go now.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

The two held hands again and stepped forward along the gentle slope, and before long, they reached the center of the Tomb of the Star.

“Who are you?”

“Who is it?”

“She’s pretty, but no. This is not a place for anyone to come.”

When Jude and Cordelia approached the place, fire fairies instantly appeared everywhere.

But their reactions were a bit different from the previous fairies.

Although they still had a childish side, they were wary of Jude and Cordelia instead of showing curiosity.

In addition, they were quite serious judging from their facial expressions.

[I don’t think they’re just playing here.]

Jude also agreed with the words of Valencia.

The movement of the fire fairies which Cordelia called a Jwibulnori had a certain pattern.

It was like the patrol of sentries.

[Jude, what should we do?]

At Cordelia’s message, Jude signaled to her with a wink.

Instead of taking out chocolate and talking about playing night games, he politely greeted them.

“I am Jude August Bayer and this is Cordelia August Chase from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. We followed the guidance of the slates left behind by the Solari denomination and arrived at this place. We would like to have permission to enter the tomb of Gallus, Solari’s champion.”

If it was the other fairies, they would have stopped listening in the middle or blinked their eyes because they could not understand what Jude was saying now, but the fire fairies were different.

They seemed to be murmuring to each other, and one of them stepped forward and said.

“Please wait for a moment. The Fairy Knights will be here soon.”

It was as she said.

After around ten seconds or so, fairy knights wearing full body armor appeared out of nowhere.

Fairy Knights.

They were the guardians of the Fairy Queen. They were the only fighting force that the fairies had.

But it was not one.

Usually, there was only one fairy knight in a fairy realm, but it differed this time.

Five fully armed fairy knights had appeared out of nowhere.

“They are not just lost people.”

“They are those who had been guided by the slates.”

“They are the ones we have been waiting for.”

“Maybe the time has come to complete the mission the esteemed Solari has given us.”

“We should take them to the queen.”

Each of the fairy knights spoke something, and Jude and Cordelia silently listened to them.

[It looks like they know. As expected, the fire fairies are guarding the tomb of Gallus.]

Cordelia nodded at Jude’s message.

[Then, will the matter be resolved by just meeting the queen?]

[Perhaps it will. It would be nice if we could… receive the Fire Protection from the fire fairies.]

They had gathered four slates and arrived here, so it was unlikely that the Fairy Queen would drive them out.

“This way please.”

“Please follow us.”

After the fairy knights’ meeting, they pointed their weapons into the air and a door large enough for Jude to enter immediately opened.

The way of moving itself was different for the fire fairies.

“Her Majesty the Queen is waiting.”

“Don’t be afraid and follow us.”

“If you arrived through the proper procedure, there would be no reason to be afraid.”

Their words carried some weight unlike the other fairies.

Jude quickly nodded and gently pulled Cordelia’s hand. Cordelia walked towards the door that appeared.

And in an instant.

Jude and Cordelia stood in the middle of a beautiful palace.

A place filled with red lotuses that scattered around as if dancing.

But it was not hot.

It was a warm and friendly light like that of the morning sun.

“We greet the Fairy Queen.”

In front of Jude and Cordelia.

A fairy sat cross-legged on a flaming throne.

To her left and right were fairy knights who had suddenly appeared, and the fairy with white and red hair and wore a crown looked down at Jude and Cordelia who were politely greeting her.

The Fire Fairy Queen.

She exhaled a long and warm breath and crossed her legs in the opposite direction.

“Raise your heads and face me. The two people of destiny that Solari spoke of.”

Her words were normal in a way.

But her last sentence startled Jude and Cordelia.

Two people of destiny.

An expression they had already heard in the Sälen Kingdom.

The words of the heavenly voice that referred to them.

But the Fire Fairy Queen had once again said those words.

Moreover, she mentioned the name of Solari.

“Allow me to greet you again. Jude August Bayer and Cordelia August Chase.”

The Fire Fairy nodded and said when Jude slowly raised his head. She softly spoke as she smiled.

“I already knew. It’s a little different though.”

Jude narrowed his brows at her soft voice.

What does she mean that she already knew?

What did she mean by saying it’s a little different?

Is she merely bluffing?

But he did not know the answer. Because from the very beginning, it seemed like the Fairy Queen had no intention of speaking to them any longer. She stood from her throne, stretched out her hand towards Jude and Cordelia, and uttered an incantation.

“The two people of destiny who arrived with the guidance of the slates. I will guide you along the way in accordance with my oath.”

The space distorted.

There was no time for them to take out the chocolate as a splendid flame rose, forming the shape of a huge door.

A wide open door.

A dark and black space existed beyond that.

But it was not just darkness. The pure white door shone lonely like the moonlight that shone in the deepness of the night.

“Go. This is the way after collecting the slates.”

The Fairy Queen said that and sat back on the throne as if she had nothing to say anymore, and the fairy knights also kept their mouths shut, simply fixing the position of their weapons.

[Jude?]

[Let’s go.]

He could tell by looking at her eyes.

The Fairy Queen had no desire to speak to them any longer.

They would have to go to the tomb of Gallus beyond that door in order to hear more.

[Okay, let’s go.]

Cordelia gulped and took Jude’s hand, and Jude took a deep breath.

A pure white door that stood alone in the darkness.

The tomb of Gallus was beyond that.

“We will be going.”

After speaking to the Fire Fairy Queen, Jude looked back at Cordelia for the last time.

Cordelia also turned to Jude.

“Shall we go?”

“Let’s go.”

The two exchanged smiles like always.

They looked straight ahead at the same time. And together, they moved forward.