Ending Maker

Chapter 189: Intensification (1)

Chapter 189: Intensification (1)

2nd chapter of the day?! Well, this is just how hyped I am for this arc. Anyway, tomorrow is the day of the Genshin update, so be prepared for some delay. I lost to the 50/50 when Venti was first released, so here’s hoping I’ll get him tomorrow since I got Mona from my 50/50 of the Hu Tao banner.

Count Bayer.

Jude Bayer’s father.

One of the Ten Great Swordmasters.

A powerful swordsman with the title Sword General.

But despite being the father of Jude, one of the playable characters, his presence in the game was not very strong.

‘He doesn’t appear much.’

Moreover, the Sword of Wind that he used – Count Bayer’s swordsmanship and martial arts, did not receive much attention.

‘There were no practitioners.’

To be exact, none of the playable characters could master Count Bayer’s swordsmanship.

In the game, Jude immediately disappeared after training to some extent when his illness was resolved, as he left for the north in order to search for the missing Cordelia, so he wasn’t able to properly learn Count Bayer’s swordsmanship.

In addition, not long after he left, a major event called the northern barbarian invasion occurred, and Count Bayer as well as his successor, Ga?l, were killed during the war by the great demon Kriemler, so Count Bayer’s swordsmanship was more or less disappeared.

‘Although there were some knights of Count Bayer who survived…’

All they had learned were basic techniques, such as Gale Steps and Lightning Punch.

It was only the direct descendants of the count who could properly learn the ‘Sword of Wind.’

‘Count Bayer’s strength.’

He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, so he was definitely strong.

But how strong was he?

Would his sword, which had no record in the game other than the fight with the great demon Kriemler, be able to reach the Sword of Light?

Wind and light crossed.

The cries of their swords burst out once again.

***“Jude!”

On the floor.

Cordelia called him.

A spectacular battle took place before his eyes.

The wild wind and the brilliant light.

Babababababang!

The place was filled with loud sounds that could not be imagined from clashing swords.

The surroundings were destroyed in the aftermath of their skills.

This was a battle between two great swordmasters.

No, this was a battle between sword saints!

‘The Sword Saint of Wind.’

Jude had not fully heard of it.

He didn’t know the full story.

If Count Bayer was indeed a sword saint, why did he return that title?

‘No, before that.’

Is that really Count Bayer’s swordsmanship?

He had only seen it a few times.

But it seemed like he was seeing a completely different kind of swordsmanship from the swordsmanship of Count Bayer that Jude had known so far.

And Jude realized it.

Count Bayer’s swordsmanship, the Sword of Wind, was not that strong in the game.

There was no opportunity for it to be revealed in the game, but the true Sword of Wind was really powerful.

First Sword burst out laughing.

He laughed and laughed again as he enjoyed the current fight.

It had become possible.

Originally, the Ten Great Swordmasters were forbidden to duel each other.

If one of the Ten Great Swordmasters used their full power, one of the two was bound to die or be fatally wounded.

The power of their Aura Blades was too powerful for a body made up of bones and flesh that even a wound from a missed attack could cause fatal injuries.

Therefore, the Ten Great Swordmasters were prohibited from fighting each other.

The empire also strictly prohibited fights between their country’s swordsmen who were equivalent to the Ten Great Swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom.

But now, a duel between two great swordmasters was taking place at full strength.

“Hahaha!”

First Sword uncontrollably laughed.

Because he enjoyed this very much.

It had already been 6 years since he became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. It had already been 3 years since he became a sword saint.

In those six years, he didn’t have a proper battle.

He couldn’t fight anyone with his full strength.

Unlike in the heyday of the Lord Protector, the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire were now only growling at each other and not engaged in war.

It was forbidden to compete with the other Ten Great Swordmasters within the S?len Kingdom.

“This is it!”

How long had it been since he fought against a swordsman who could match his sword in this way?

There was a separate reason why he held hands with the Devil’s Hand, but at this moment alone, he thought that it was worth it.

Count Bayer wasn’t as crazy as First Sword.

But he also felt his blood boil.

His sword was faster and stronger than usual.

‘Jude.’

Jude had talked about a possibility of an attack around the time of the founding anniversary celebration.

In addition, Jude gave him an artifact that could help him know Jude’s location, and was asked to save them in case a situation arose.

As parts of the palace collapsed and the zombies ran wild, an emergency signal came in. After leaving the situation to Count Chase, he reached this place through the half-open secret door.

What he had seen on the way.

The torn apart bodies of the royal family members.

And as soon as he left the secret door, he witnessed First Sword attacking Jude and Cordelia.

He blocked it reflexively.

And he realized.

He didn’t know the exact situation, but he understood that First Sword was an enemy.

If so, he had to stop First Sword with all his power.

He must do his best to defeat the enemy in front of him!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Count Bayer’s sword was usually very gentle.

But not now. He entered into a mad frenzy and pushed First Sword.

If First Sword had a sharp and quick sword, Count Bayer’s sword was a wild and strong gale.

Jude himself was unconsciously drawn to the Sword of Wind.

But now was not the time.

After he came back to reality, he looked back at Cordelia.

She was the same as always.

She was instinctively focusing on what she had to do right now.

Jude’s own treatment.

Although he had regenerative abilities due to the Sphere of Life, it was not at the level of a werewolf.

Cordelia cast a powerful recovery magic by adding the power of an angel to the Tiara of Life’s power, and Jude’s arm healed in an instant.

So Jude did his job too.

He sought a way to overcome their current situation.

‘The situation.’

He didn’t even have the time to think about it as a whole.

Therefore, he only thought of the most important thing.

In front of us is First Sword while the Lord Protector is running towards the shelter in order to massacre the royal family.

My father is blocking First Sword.

Then, the remaining problem is the Lord Protector.

We have to stop him.

We have to do something about him.

But how?

He already left.

So how do we catch up to him?

If we catch up to him, how do we stop him?

Should we go to the banquet hall and move after Count Chase joined us?

No, that’s impossible.

Even if I get up and run right now, it’s highly likely that we won’t be able to catch up to the Lord Protector.

It’s also impossible to help my father in defeating First Sword.

Aside from whether we can intervene in a fight between sword saints, everything will be over at the moment the Lord Protector massacres the royal family.

We don’t have time.

None of the options can give us enough time.

I don’t even know if thinking like this even now is a waste of time.

Then, what can we do?

What should we do?

‘Victory conditions.’

Always remember the victory conditions.

Killing doesn’t always work.

Alexei’s teachings came to his mind.

It was as he said.

Victory conditions.

Our goal is not to kill the Lord Protector.

Our goal is to save the royal family.

There is no need for us to defeat the Lord Protector.

‘If we arrive first.’

It’s impossible in this difficult situation to even catch up to the Lord Protector, but if we can.

If we can reach the shelter before the Lord Protector.

If we can get in touch with the royalty who are standing blankly while waiting for the Lord Protector to arrive.

There will be a way.

We can fulfill the victory conditions.

But how?

“Follow me!”

Cordelia cried.

She grabbed Jude’s hand and ran.

How?

Did she see my eyes and read my thoughts?

Or did I speak out my thoughts without realizing it?

No, where are we going right now?

Jude recalled the map of the royal palace.

And he realized where Cordelia was heading.

The grand banquet hall.

A secret passage.

The corridor over there.

And one of the many rooms connected to that corridor.

Bababang!

The walls and ceiling collapsed due to the battle between Count Bayer and First Sword.

But Cordelia ran without looking back and almost broke the door with her telekinetic power.

“Found it!”

Cordelia exclaimed and Jude saw.

A large bathtub in one side of the room.

One of the bathrooms set up all over the royal palace by the previous king because of his love for bathing.

“Quickly!”

Cordelia ran holding Jude’s hand, and the confused Jude entered the bathtub with Cordelia.

And he realized it.

What Cordelia was trying to do now.

The gamble she did.

“”

Water fell down over their heads. It made Jude and Cordelia wet, and she opened her mouth. Jude did the same, opening his mouth to do what she was trying to do.

“Twinkle twinkle little star!”

“Shining beautifully!”

It was almost like a yell and not a song, but now was not the time to think about that.

The Plan B Jude himself had prepared.

It was different from that.

There was a separate place that they had agreed on in advance.

But Cordelia ignored it. She revised the plan with her beastly senses.

Would it work?

Even though they were within the royal palace, it was still quite some distance from the outdoor hot spring area.

But could they do it here too?

Would the fairies appear here too?

Jude looked at Cordelia. Cordelia looked at Jude.

They opened their mouths at the same time to say the next lyrics, and a third voice came at that moment.

“Did you call?”

The Summer Fairy Queen.

She received a box of fairy chocolates and accepted the deal.

Jude hugged Cordelia. He couldn’t help it.

“You’re a genius!”

Cordelia screamed for a moment because he hugged her too tightly. But she tightly hugged Jude back.

And what he wanted to do from now on.

He wanted to kiss Cordelia’s forehead and cheek while whispering words of love, but they had something to do before that.

Jude turned to the Fairy Queen.

Sitting on a large box, she was grinning with her hands on her chin as if she was watching the two.

“Continue. The two of you will be kissing now, right? Like the love story of the Archwizard and the Fairy Queen?”

At her question asked in anticipation, Jude shook his head instead of saying yes.

“The plan has changed.”

Their deal with the Fairy Queen was to take the royal family outside.

But things had changed.

The destination had changed.

Instead of moving outside the royal palace, the two would be moving to the shelter.

If she had been a human merchant, she would have charged a new fee here, but she was a pure and innocent fairy. With a big smile, she accepted Jude’s request.

***

Flames soared from all over the royal capital.

The demon followers released zombies everywhere to increase the infected, and fierce battles occurred between the fighters of the Devil’s Hand and the Royal Guard members at the east and west gates.

At the west gate.

In one of the bases of the Royal Guard Magic Corps.

“”

Adelia shouted loudly and threw a ball of flame, but it did not hit its target who was fighting Ga?l.

Saluzia stopped Ga?l by swinging like a sword the two pairs of wings from her back, and at the same time, splitting the ball of fire thrown by Adelia.

“Ga?l!”

Adelia shouted once more and tried to support Ga?l with magic, but Saluzia’s guards who were mid-ranking demonic humans did not allow it.

Apart from the fighters who were likely to be a hundred in number, there were three people who penetrated inside the Royal Guard Magic Corps base and ran wild, so Adelia was in a hurry to protect herself and her subordinates.

‘Too strong!’

A female demonic human with deer antlers on her head.

Her magic power was terrifying.

Moreover, her magic power wasn’t the only strong part of her. Her skill in hand-to-hand combat that pushed Ga?l was truly amazing. Despite it only being a few minutes, Ga?l’s body was full of wounds.

How much longer could Ga?l endure?

How much longer could Adelia herself stay on the front line?

‘We have to hold on.’

Until the other commanders arrive.

She wondered how many commanders would gather here when the royal capital was in chaos, but at least three, or even two!

“”

Adelia cast a wall of fire.

She lit up the night with a 3-meter high flame, creating a wall for her subordinates that could support them even for a moment, and then she turned to Ga?l. She screamed at the sight she saw.

“Noooo!”

Saluzia’s wings headed straight towards Ga?l’s head.

***

At the same time.

On top of the drawbridge leading to the south gate.

Koros and Seryu clashed.

The attack of Koros, who was the strongest among the high-ranking demons of the Devil’s Hand, was truly destructive.

The air burst out as if it were exploding, and a part of the bridge was on the verge of falling.

But Seryu responded calmly.

She was a master of counterattacking, attacking back when the enemy attacked.

Koros in his demonic human form was around 3-4 meters.

On the other hand, Seryu was only 160 cm tall, so their difference in size was almost thrice.

It was clear that if she allowed even a single blow to hit her, it would crush her slim body.

But she was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.

Koros’ attacks hardly reached Seryu.

Her skillful swordsmanship combined with her unique light and flexible physical abilities deflected all of Koros’ attacks.

But Seryu was also seldom able to counterattack. Because Koros’ attacks continued without a pause.

How long would she be able to deflect Koros’ attacks?

How long would Koros be able to continue his onslaught that did not even give her a chance to counterattack?

Koros laughed.

Seryu clenched her teeth.

Once again, fist and sword crossed.

***

‘Pink Bomb!’

Running on the rooftop, Scarlet was anxious.

The royal capital was burning.

The royal palace was also on fire.

Scarlet’s reasoning said this.

This is the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom.

Even though it may seem dangerous right now, the situation will be solved over time. It’s a place with that much power.

But she felt anxious.

Will that really happen?

No, even if it did, what about the damages that will occur in the meantime?

‘Was it this? Was it this?’

Pink Bomb said that on the day of the founding anniversary celebration, an incident might occur in the royal palace, so she had to be careful.

So Scarlet did not hide in the royal palace. She decided to enjoy the festival on the streets.

But it happened.

It was a lot bigger than what she had imagined.

She was worried about Pink Bomb. Lucas’ brightly smiling face also kept coming to her mind.

However, Scarlet was forced to stop running towards the royal palace.

“Heeelp!”

“Mommy!”

Under a roof.

A roof had fallen on a woman, and her child was crying, but people were too busy running away and didn’t have the time to help the two.

And zombies flooded in between the flames and smoke.

Scarlet cursed and drew her sword. She took a final look at the palace before she threw herself at the horde of zombies. She began her fight to protect the people.

***

At the southwest side of the royal capital.

Someone stopped running and gazed at the burning royal capital.

He had a weird look.

His entire body was covered with a black robe, and his entire face was covered with a mask reminiscent of a bird’s beak.

The burning royal capital.

The burning city.

The past and present crossed.

Because the sight in front of him brought back memories of the past.

The Paragon Kingdom.

A city destroyed by demons.

And another one.

The masked man could feel it.

Death was spreading on the royal capital. Dead people were being mass produced.

“Giddyap!”

The man did not think anymore. The closer he got to the royal capital, the stronger the barrier worked, but not all necromancy came from the power of demons.

Life Magic.

The horse the man was riding on revealed its true nature. The eyes of the ghost horse – a Phantom Steed, glowed green, and smoke rose from its hooves. Its harrowing ghostly wail shook the night sky.

Necromancer Velkian.

One of the Paragon Kingdom’s five heroes.

He headed for the royal capital.

He crossed the night sky with his Phantom Steed.