Chapter 230 - FOREST OF ETERNITY (2)

Terms used in this episode:

Better a castle of bones than of stones – a Korean proverb which means that when there are two things with equivalent value, you should choose the better one or the one you prefer.

There was no exclamation mark or question mark floating somewhere in between the trees, but Jude and Cordelia were able to quickly find the owner of the voice.

T/N: In games, an exclamation or question mark usually appear when a new quest appears on the map or above an NPC (non-playable character).

The entire forest was dark because of the branches that covered the sky, but that being stood out in such a forest.

“Elf?”

“I’ll go first!”

Jude shouted and used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt.

Instead of chasing Jude who had disappeared from her sight, Cordelia continued to run and look ahead.

Platinum blonde hair and white armor.

In contrast to the female elf who stood out because of her white color, she also saw several humanoid monsters whose forms were indiscernible because they were completely black.

What should she do at this moment?

Cordelia didn’t think about that. She just instinctively released her magic.

“”

A basic magic spell.

However, the mana she consumed was not normal, so the intensity of the light was quite strong. The light didn’t stop at driving out the darkness of the forest, as it even swallowed up the surroundings with light like a flash bomb explosion.

“Aaah!”

At the blinding light, the woman tightly closed her eyes and screamed, and so did the monsters.

And Jude appeared.

Jude’s back was facing the light, so he was able to clearly identify the location and type of enemy in that white world.

‘Female elf.’

White armor.

Platinum blonde hair tied up in a bridal bun style.

Very white skin.

She somehow looked like Valencia whose beautiful face was second to Cordelia.

But it wasn’t her beautiful appearance that mattered. Jude saw a golden coat of arms painted over the white armor.

It was the coat of arms of the Prime royal family.

‘High elf royalty!’

Kelthur who became a Skeleton King after the fall of the elves was also wearing an armor with that coat of arms.

And the monsters.

Their entire bodies were covered in black smoke, and green flames burned in their eye sockets.

It was probably a Shade monster.

Then there was nothing more to examine.

Jude grabbed the arm of the struggling and screaming elf princess whose eyes were still closed, carried her in his arms and then threw her towards Cordelia.

“Kya!”

But there was no sound of someone falling to the ground. Cordelia had probably caught the elf with her telekinetic power.

So instead of looking back, Jude moved his feet. He swung his arm towards the nearest shade.

Slaaaash!

His hand filled with the black dragon’s energy was like a sword that cut the Shade’s throat. The black smoke instantly scattered, and Jude swung his arm again and split the Shade’s torso.

Bang!

The black smoke burst. But at that time, Jude had already flown somewhere else. The Shade with green flames as eyes was cut in the waist by his sharp roundhouse kick, and as for the three Shades behind it, Jude swung his sword-like hand as if he was using swordsmanship.

Slaaaash!

His sharp and huge ‘sword’ cut down the Shades and trees at the same time. A huge tree fell to the side with a rumbling sound, and because of that, branches broke and other trees fell, creating a louder noise.

And Jude realized something.

His way of combat had changed.

He was now using his martial art skills as if they were swordsmanship techniques.

‘Valencia!’

She was the sword spirit of Ultimate One.

It was her influence.

Valencia’s experience and swordsmanship had naturally fused with him who had become one with Sword Origin.

‘W-wait a minute. Valencia is one with the Sword Origin.’

And I have become one with that Sword Origin.

Jude had a very strange thought at that moment, but he soon came to his senses. Now was not the time to think about such a thing.

There were still some Shades left.

“Jude!”

The moment he heard Cordelia’s voice, three spears of light pierced the chests of the remaining Shades.

An angelic halo of light spread out and glowed above Cordelia’s head.

“Hey! You’re thinking of something weird!”

Jude flinched when Cordelia suddenly shouted, but instead of answering her, he created a black and gold gale to completely scatter the surrounding black smoke. Shades could revive themselves as long as there was smoke.

‘D-did she notice when she looked at my eyes?’

Or is this her beast-like intuition like always?

In any case, Jude shook his head to get rid of his thoughts and properly finish off the Shades.

[It’s a High Elf royalty.]

“Eh?”

When he spoke with magic, Cordelia was surprised and looked back at the elf princess lying on the ground, or to be exact, the elf princess whom Jude threw and Cordelia caught with her telekinetic power before she roughly laid the elf on the ground.

[It’s a face I don’t know.]

[All the elves in the Forest of Eternity appeared as undead anyway. It would seriously be strange if you knew their faces.]

It was as Jude had said.

Therefore, instead of thinking more about it, Cordelia helped the elf princess in sitting up, and Jude approached them after breathing a sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?”

“Human language?”

The elf princess answered Cordelia’s question with a question, and she looked at Jude and Cordelia with a blank face before she exclaimed in surprise.

“Human!”

She shouted out loud and suddenly groped Cordelia’s face with both hands, or to be precise, Cordelia’s ears, and once again exclaimed in surprise.

“Short! Short ears! Uh… but you’re pretty. The book says that humans are ugly. Why are you pretty? Are you not human?”

“Uh… um… I’m human.”

Cordelia answered with awkward smile at the response of the elf princess since she did not know if it was a compliment or an insult, and she glanced at Jude.

She wanted him to do something right away.

“Your Highness, we are humans from the S?len Kingdom.”

The elf princess turned her head to Jude when he spoke, and she was surprised again.

“You’re handsome. You’re a human, so why are you handsome?”

“…Other handsome humans exist too.”

It felt strange for him to say something like that, but it was true.

“In addition, the girl in front of you is the most beautiful and loveliest girl among the hu– ”

[Hey! You dispelled it again!]

The red-faced Cordelia hurriedly used magic, but it was useless. Jude had torn a scroll and instantly defended himself before he spoke with a warm smile.

“Please don’t think that it’s strange because she’s the most beautiful human ever.”

“Then… are you like that too?”

“Yes, that’s right! He’s the coolest, dashing, and most handsome human ever!”

Cordelia loudly shouted when she found the opportunity to do so. She was hoping that he would be embarrassed, so she even smiled triumphantly, but she was mistaken.

There was a huge gap between Jude and Cordelia’s shamelessness.

[Cordelia, I didn’t know that you usually thought of me that way.]

[Eh?]

[For Cordelia, I’m the coolest, dashing, and most handsome human in the world, huh? Pfft.]

[N-no! I-it’s not like that, okay?]

[Fufufu, no need to be shy, okay?]

Ugh, what’s wrong with him?

Cordelia almost screamed that unconsciously, but she managed to suppress it and sent a magic afterwards.

[W-what about you! For you, I’m the most beautiful and loveliest girl in the world…]

It was a land mine.

Even though she sent it with magic instead of her voice, she ended up taking mental damage from it.

Moreover, her opponent was Jude.

[Of course. You are truly the most beautiful and loveliest girl in the world.]

He smirked as his eyes seemed to shine.

But why does he look so handsome when he does that?

[Uwaah… my eyes…]

She was completely defeated.

Cordelia was completely embarrassed as she faltered and sank to her knees, and the elf princess looked at her with a face that did not understand on what was going on.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“No, she’s all right. Please don’t worry about her.”

Jude politely answered and narrowed the distance between him and the elf princess before he courteously greeted her.

“I am Count August Bayer of the S?len Kingdom. This is my fiancée, Countess August Chase.”

“Count. Noble. Are you human nobles?”

“That is correct.”

When Jude answered, Cordelia raised herself and stood next to Jude before she courteously greeted.

“I greet the Royal Princess.”

Then she pinched Jude behind his back, but it was useless.

Jude was able to shrug off the wizard’s physical attack with a smile.

[So annoying!]

Cordelia was annoyed and wanted to stomp her feet repeatedly, but they were in front of an elf princess now.

After she held herself back, she focused on the elf princess again.

“Ahem, we are the prettiest and handsomest humans.”

Ah, seriously.

Are you crazy, Jude?

In the end, Cordelia cursed him in her mind.

The elf princess seemed to have done away all her embarrassment so far, and she said in a very proper and dignified voice peculiar to royalty.

“As you may have guessed, I am an elf princess. But how did humans recognize me?”

It had already been more than 300 years since the exchange between humans and elves in the Forest of Eternity was cut off.

For elves who lived for more than 500 years, especially for high elves who lived for a thousand years, it happened within the same generation, but for humans, it was a long time ago that they had to trace the ancestors of their ancestors.

But why did humans immediately recognize an elf princess?

At her reasonable question, Jude gave a reasonable answer.

“I saw the coat of arms of the Prime royal family and understood it.”

The coat of arms of the Prime royal family was painted on the white breastplate.

“Do humans know the coat of arms of the elf royalty?”

“Because the Prime royal family is special.”

The Prime royal family were the only high elf royalty in S?len.

Just like the saying, ‘better a castle of bones than of stones’, Jude knew very well that it was better to say something that was pleasant to the ears.

“Because the Prime royal family is the only noble high elf royal family that has connections to the magic kingdom of Magellan. And there are still many people outside the forest who remember the sword of the Elf Sword.”

[Is that true?]

When Cordelia asked with wide open eyes, Jude replied without looking at her.

[No, it’s not.]

Valencia’s heyday was as far as a thousand years ago. If one generation was every 30 years, then it was 33 generations ago. And even if he was wrong, it was impossible for humans to remember her because they had lost a lot of records of ancient history.

But elves were different.

For high elves who lived for a thousand years, Valencia was someone who was their grandmother or great-grandmother.

And Jude’s prediction was right again.

The elf princess could not hide the pride in her face.

“That’s true. You’ve answered my question, so it would be polite for me to reveal myself.”

In fact, saving her life was greater than answering her question, but humans and elves were the same in that they couldn’t just complain to royalty.

Jude and Cordelia quietly waited, and the elf princess said after she cleared her throat.

“I am Leica Prime from the Prime royal family, descendant of the First King, Grave Prime, and first in line to the throne.”

The elf princess, Leica, introduced herself, and Cordelia was surprised as she sent a magic to Jude.

[First in line to the throne? What about Kelthur then?]

Wasn’t Kelthur the next king?

[Not long before Kelthur became king… I think something happened in that time.]

Moreover, the high elf royal family should have appeared as significant undead monsters in the game, but it was the first time Jude and Cordelia had heard of her name even though they had played in the Forest of Eternity hundreds of times.

‘It’s impossible that a new character who didn’t even appear in the game would appear now.’

It was only a year or so between now and the time when the elves of the Forest of Eternity would become undead.

In the course of that year, the elf princess in front of them must have died in some way.

‘Was she supposed to have died… just now?’

Princess Leica was being chased by Shades.

She was definitely in a crisis, but she was still a high elf royalty, so she wouldn’t easily die.

‘No, she’s already in trouble if she’s running away in the first place.’

Moreover, she was empty handed. She didn’t have anything like a weapon.

‘Have we unexpectedly changed history?’

[Something is coming.]

It was at that moment. At Cordelia’s words, Jude quickly turned to the direction she was looking, and he withdrew his earlier thoughts.

‘It’s not here.’

It was not the place where Princess Leica would die.

Because there were other people who could save her besides Jude and Cordelia.

“Neeeigh!”

“Lloyd!”

A white unicorn appeared through the bushes.

With spotless white fur, light bluish mane, and clear blue eyes, they thought that it was a divine creature.

“You came for me!”

“Neeigh!”

The unicorn, Lloyd, responded by rubbing its face on Princess Leica’s cheek, and soon turned its gaze towards Jude and Cordelia before its eyes began to sparkle.

“Neeeigh!”

The unicorn approached Cordelia under the guise of a very good expression before it pushed its face and pretended to be close, and soon began to lick Cordelia’s cheek.

“Kya, it tickles.”

Cordelia laughed and pushed Lloyd’s face away, but the unicorn kept pushing its face and licking Cordelia’s cheek, as if it was playing a prank.

‘This b*stard.’

Jude didn’t even count 3 seconds this time. He quickly reached out and pulled Cordelia, and sent Lloyd a murderous look like the one he once sent to First Sword.

“Neigh?”

It was a beast and not a divine creature.

Because of Jude’s overwhelming threatening look, the unicorn flinched and stepped back, and Cordelia looked at Jude with a strange expression.

[What the… Are you jealous? Are you jealous of a horse?]

It was a situation opposite from usual as a smile gradually spread on Cordelia’s face while Jude’s earlobe began to turn red.

Jude was always shameless, but he was also shy in some strange places.

[Hehehe, you’re jealous.]

While Cordelia was feeling happy, Jude coughed for no reason before he turned to Princess Leica.

“It’s a unicorn.”

It was scared of Jude’s murderous look for a moment, so it had stepped backwards, but a unicorn was not weak.

In particular, the unicorn in front of them seemed like a completely different creature from the Bicorn they had encountered in the past.

“He’s a friend I grew up with since I was a kid.”

Princess Leica stroked Lloyd’s mane with a happy face as if she did not notice Jude’s murderous look earlier. She then quickly climbed onto the unicorn’s back and said.

“But why are there humans inside the Forest of Eternity? I mean, how did you get in?”

There was a barrier outside the Forest of Eternity that blocked the outside from entering.

After a brief thought, Jude took out the flower he had on his waist and replied.

“I’m a human being who inherited the sword of Valencia Prime, the Elf Sword. In addition to her swordsmanship, I’ve also learned some secrets.”

“The Elf Sword?”

“Yes, she also had several human disciples.”

It was actually not possible for them to know if she had any human disciples or not, but Valencia was someone who sat down and chatted with a dwarf artisan, so she would have gotten along well with humans too.

“Hmm… I see. Then what is your purpose for entering the Forest of Eternity?”

“We had no intention of going inside the forest. We tried to move along the outer part of it but… we heard the voice of the princess and came running.”

At Jude’s explanation mixed with truth and lies, Princess Leica pondered for a while before she slowly nodded her head.

“As I thought… it this completely because of Orion’s guidance?”

Princess Leica mentioned the name of the forest god, Orion, who was worshipped by the elves of the Forest of Eternity. Afterwards, she talked to Jude and Cordelia again.

“Humans, I need your help. Can you lend your strength to me and my knights?”

Jude and Cordelia simultaneously thought the same thing at her solemn question.

It was at the very least, a Legendary Quest.

It was also the plea of help from a high elf princess who was destined to die within a year.

‘Perhaps…’

Would saving Princess Leica lead to saving the elves of the Forest of Eternity from their destined ruin?

The direct cause of the fall of the Forest of Eternity’s elves was clearly the invasion of foreign enemies after the collapse of the S?len Kingdom.

But it was at that moment.

“Your Highness, with all due respect, can you please tell us on what had happened?”

Cordelia politely asked, and Princess Leica furrowed her brows a little before nodding her head.

“You’re not my servants, so I can’t ask for your help in ambiguous words. I’ll tell you then. I am now on an expedition with my knights to defeat Jabberwock, a forest monster and enemy of the Forest of Eternity. So please join our punitive force and help us defeat Jabberwock.”

Judging by the content of her words, it was like a common quest.

But Jude and Cordelia reflexively looked back at each other.

Because a name that should not be heard here was mentioned.

‘Jabberwock? The Jabberwock that we know about?’

Jude nodded at Cordelia’s gaze.

Because Princess Leica’s death could be explained if it was Jabberwock.

‘Jabberwock, a monster that could turn into any monster.’

One of the 7 major calamities that caused the destruction of Pleaides.

Jude and Cordelia turned to Princess Leica.