Ending Maker

Chapter 184 - EPISODE 184 – FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (1)

Terms used in this chapter:

Forward operating base?– a secured military base used to conduct further operations and act as a strategic center. They are supported by the main operating base.

Seven-Killings?– An ancient Chinese deity and one of the 10 Gods used in BaZi, a Chinese astrology thing. It also refers to a warrior or general. In this series though, it is mostly used as an alias of a character.

Deep-rooted trees are not shaken by the wind.

This was a common saying used to describe the country since the S?len Kingdom was indeed a great and large country with a vast territory and immense national strength. To the extent that it wouldn’t even budge if it got pushed a bit.

‘That’s why they raised the scale.’

Even deep-rooted trees could shake.

‘Just like how even a healthy person wouldn’t survive if they suffer from a series of serious illnesses.’

The demon followers prepared three events to destroy the S?len Kingdom.

‘One is the barbarians’ invasion of the north.’

The horrors of war engulfed the wild lands and the north, causing great chaos.

They directly destroyed the north.

‘The other is the annihilation of the royal family.’

They erased the royal capital and the royal family, turning the S?len Kingdom into a headless nation.

At the same time, they destroyed the barrier of the royal capital and opened the Hell Gate to maximize the confusion in the center.

‘The last one.’

Their final plan to plunge the south into the depths of destruction.

All three of these were successful in the game, which led to the disastrous fall of the S?len Kingdom.

‘And the seven major calamities that followed.’

Their nightmarish scheme to destroy the Argon Empire after the S?len Kingdom.

After a long adventure in the mid-to-late half of?Legend of Heroes 2, the protagonists eventually succeeded in defeating all the seven major calamities.

However, their victory was nothing but a painful victory.

The Argon Empire had already been destroyed, and the entire continent was burned to ashes by the flames of war.

‘It would have been a good thing if it had ended there.’

But that didn’t happen.

Because the Great Summons began.

A gate linking the three worlds of hell, earth, and heaven was created, and through this, the demons of hell and the angels of heaven appeared directly on earth.

The overlords of hell tried to conquer the earth and make it a forward operating base to strike the heavens.

The archangels of heaven tried to keep the army of hell on earth, and not get to heaven.

The life of humans, who were the earth’s inhabitants, did not matter to either side.

‘Armageddon.’

The Great War of Hell and Heaven.

The clash of the otherworldly beings caused the destruction of earth, and countless humans died.

Apocalypse.

Human kingdoms ceased to exist.

Compared to before the downfall of the S?len Kingdom, not even a tenth of humans survived, and those who managed to save their lives simply continued their lives amidst hunger and fear.

‘Legend of Heroes 3?took place a few years after Armageddon.’

A story of finding hope again in a world that had turned into ashes.

‘Yes, it’s good if it does not fall into utter despair.’

But even that wasn’t an acceptable ‘future.’

Pleiades was no longer a world seen on the computer monitor, but a real world where Jude himself was born and grew up in.

‘We’ve already prevented one of the three.’

The wild lands maintained its power, unlike the original, though it suffered great damage. And the northern part of the S?len Kingdom was able to literally avoid complete destruction.

‘On the contrary, the Devil’s Eye was severely hit.’

Not only did they lose as many as fifteen mid-ranking demonic humans, but even Haraken, a high-ranking demonic human, was killed.

‘And there’s the Hell Gate.’

In the Devil’s Eye, or even among all the demon follower groups, there were only a few catalysts that could open the Hell Gate, and it was not easy to increase that number either. Moreover, it was no exaggeration to say that it was a blow greater than losing demonic humans since they lost one catalyst.

‘Even Kriemler couldn’t come to earth.’

Kriemler was the great demon who killed Count Bayer and Ga?l in the game.

Jude closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Because of his relief and happiness in saving his father and older brother.

“And the genocide of the royal family.”

The flow in the game was as follows.

Right after the ball, which was the last part of the founding anniversary celebration, was over.

Black Moon, the hunting dog of the Lord Protector, caused terror throughout the royal capital, and the Lord Protector used it as an excuse to gather the royal family into an emergency shelter hidden in the basement of the royal palace.

‘And genocide.’

Not only King Henry II, but all his siblings and children.

To cut off the blood of the founder king and neutralize the barrier in the royal capital.

‘It’s more terrible after that.’

The Lord Protector did not leave the royal capital after collecting the divine sword, Claíomh Solais, which served as the core of the barrier.

He appeared in front of the nobles who were confused with the sudden ‘disappearance’ of the royal family, and while leading the search, he attracted the demon followers to the royal capital where the barrier had disappeared in order to create a bigger disturbance.

‘He’s eventually killed by a playable character though…’

It was after the royal capital had already lost all its functions as a capital.

‘We have to stop him before that.’

They had already done all the necessary measures they could do.

They neutralized the Black Moon, the main culprit of the terror attacks, and also made the Lord Protector’s close allies, the ones who helped him in the royal family’s genocide, withdraw from the front line.

‘It’s impossible to stop the Lord Protector in advance.’

Although they had become close to the royal family, it was only a friendship that began a month ago.

The Lord Protector had dedicated his entire life to the S?len Kingdom, so it was impossible for them to compete with him.

‘In the end, we have no choice but to solve it on the spot.’

The moment the Lord Protector revealed his true colors, they would instantly stop him and save the royal family.

It was an operation that was truly like walking on a tightrope.

‘But we have to do it.’

Jude took a deep breath and looked at the plan and map in front of him.

The things that the Lord Protector could do under the current situation.

And all of Jude’s countermeasures to it.

‘It’s like chess. You win if you capture the king.’

But the situation was like they needed to immediately capture the king if they wanted a chance to win.

For this reason, Jude had also prepared measures in order to capture the king- the Lord Protector.

‘Though there are a lot of conditions… and it’s not complete.’

It was impossible to set up a trap in advance at the royal palace.

Therefore, the only thing they could do was a head-to-head match.

‘In order to defeat the Lord Protector, who is one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, we need someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters too.’

Count Bayer and First Sword.

And Count Chase, who were on the same level as the two.

The problem was that none of the three could be told about this.

‘The only thing possible is to give them a few clues.’

As for the rest, they had no choice but to make the three face the Lord Protector directly on the spot.

‘I can just get anyone of them to accompany me and then face the Lord Protector.’

His colleagues who worked with him in his past life would obviously have something to say about that if they saw his current plan, but this was the best he could do right now.

‘There are a lot of strong people in the royal capital.’

Not only on their side, but also on the other side.

There were also some people in the Royal Guard Knights and the Royal Guard Magic Corps who were on the Lord Protector’s side.

In particular, the Lord Protector had many disciples in the Royal Guard Knights.

‘Four out of the Ten Great Swordmasters would be in the royal capital on the day of the founding anniversary celebration.’

The remaining six were not present for reasons such as keeping the border, like Count Hr?svelgr did.

‘My father and First Sword will be on our side, and the Lord Protector would be on the other side. And having Seven-Killings Sword is better than nothing.’

One of the Ten Great Swordmasters was Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu.

Born in the far eastern continent, she was someone like the wind.

She had a habit of wandering around, so she couldn’t settle in one place and wandered all over the S?len Kingdom. Unlike First Sword who belonged to an organization called the Sword School, Seryu did not belong to any group.

‘She’s known for her random encounters since you can’t even guess where, when, and how she will appear.’

First of all, given that her name was on the guest list, it seemed that she was in the royal capital, but it was unclear whether she would appear at the ball.

‘I tried to contact her in advance, but it was impossible.’

After spending time with First Sword, whom they clearly knew his location, they had been busy with tea parties and the Rogue Master’s activities.

‘Of course, I tried to search for her but…’

It was in vain. He even put a request in the Blue Moon, but they couldn’t find Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword, in the end.

‘Well…she’s a generous person who’ll help anyway, so I’ll just let her be.’

After all, she was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters who swore their loyalty to the S?len Kingdom.

Like First Sword, she wasn’t a person who would ignore the crisis that would befall the royal capital.

‘In the end, the key is for the Ten Great Swordmasters to confront each other.’

The best thing would be his father and First Sword working together to stop the Lord Protector, but if only one of them was present, it was still possible to stop the Lord Protector.

‘Because both are likely to be stronger than the Lord Protector in a one-on-one fight.’

As First Sword had said, even if they were the Ten Great Swordmasters, a decline of their skills due to aging was inevitable.

‘If they fight one-on-one, our side will win.’

Jude took a deep breath and looked at the plan once again, checking the details.

It was a crude plan that had to rely on improvisation for almost everything because the enemy’s tactics were clearly unknown, and that they had severely changed the original course of events.

‘However.’

Even if that was so, it was still meaningful to prepare.

If ever an unexpected situation occurred, he would be able to respond to it more calmly if he had ever thought about it at least once.

“Tomorrow night.”

The night of the big fight that will determine the fate of the royal capital.

And at the same time, a night where his incredibly anticipated event will occur.

‘Founding anniversary ball.’

Jude covered his face with his hands and said to himself.

‘Yes, I know.’

I must be crazy for thinking and wanting to dance with Cordelia at the ball in the midst of all these events.

‘But… I can’t help it, okay?’

We’ll be attending a ball anyway.

The event will happen after the ball is actually over.

Then… isn’t it okay for me to enjoy it a bit?

‘Furthermore…’

It’s my first time.

To dance with Cordelia at an official event.

“I want to see Cordelia.”

Jude unconsciously spoke, and he soon smiled bitterly.

‘This is serious.’

I really am a serious case in many ways.

“Cordelia.”

Jude spoke out loud again and closed his eyes.

He imagined what she would look like tomorrow.

***

“Miss.”

Despite Dahlia’s call, Cordelia did not answer as she pretended to not have heard it.

What’s going on?

Is she suddenly going into puberty?

“Miss?”

Dahlia called again, and Cordelia slightly pouted her lips.

Seeing her reaction, it’s not that she can’t hear me, but she’s dissatisfied with something.

‘Ah, I know what she’s dissatisfied with.’

Dahlia cleared her throat and said in a small voice.

“Baroness Chase?”

“Yes, I am Baroness Chase. I’m not plain noble Cordelia, but Baroness Chase.”

At Cordelia’s response, Dahlia finally burst out laughing.

“Do you like it so much?”

“Yes, I like it.”

She was in front of Dahlia and not anyone else, so she was honest.

As Cordelia talked and snorted, Dahlia hugged Cordelia as if she couldn’t take it anymore.

“My cute miss.”

“Miss?”

“Cute baroness.”

“Ehem, ehem.”

Cordelia answered in a cute way, and then hugged Dahlia.

Dahlia was someone who sometimes felt more like her real sister than Adelia, so sharing warmth like that made her feel like she was in her mother’s arms.

“Ha, seriously. I’m so excited.”

“Of what?”

“Tomorrow’s ball. And how pretty my lady…no, my baroness will be. People will be surprised to see the baroness. I really want to see you dance with Lord Jude.”

“Ahem, ahem…”

A lot of people were indeed expecting that.

“What about Dahlia? Dahlia is also beautiful, so you’ll be very pretty if you dressed up.”

“Thank you for saying that even if it’s just empty words.”

“I really mean it. Aren’t there other knights planning to dance with you tomorrow?”

“Thank you for your words.”

“No, I really mean it, okay?”

“Yes, yes, surely, you really mean it.”

Dahlia had a mature smile and gently touched Cordelia’s cheek.

“It’s now time for my baroness to go to sleep. You know you shouldn’t stay up all night because you’re so excited from thinking of Lord Jude, right?”

“Am I a child? And I’m not excited because of Jude, so I won’t stay up all night, okay?”

“Yes, yes, if you say so. I agree. It’s not like that.”

“I hate Dahlia.”

“Really? Do you really hate me?”

When Dahlia met her eyes and spoke, Cordelia had no choice but to surrender.

“Somehow, you’re resembling Jude more and more these days, you know?”

“It’s because the baroness is so cute.”

It was an irrelevant answer but could also be called a wise answer to a stupid question.

“Anyway, you should go to bed now. See you tomorrow.”

Dahlia made Cordelia lie on the bed before she covered her with a blanket and stroked her hair.

Dahlia’s behavior and affection was definitely almost like that of a sister and not just that of an escort knight.

And that was why.

Cordelia grabbed Dahlia’s hand so that she would turn around.

Dahlia turned around to ask what Cordelia wanted, and Cordelia slightly opened her mouth when Dahlia faced her.

“Miss?”

“No, it’s nothing. Good night, Dahlia.”

“Yes, miss. Good night too.”

Dahlia had a wide smile as she left the room, and Cordelia closed her eyes after staring at Dahlia’s back for a while.

‘Dahlia.’

It’s not just the founding anniversary ball tomorrow.

A really big incident will happen.

Because there’s very little chance that the Lord Protector will back out from his plan.

The Devil’s Hand will do something too.

‘Please don’t get hurt.’

Please don’t get injured from overdoing it.

I don’t want to think about Dahlia dying.

Because it’s scary to even imagine it.

‘The genocide of the royal family.’

I’ve been preparing to stop it.

Jude and I have even stopped the ‘war’ that took place in the wild lands, so we have to stop this event too.

But why?

‘I have this slightly… slightly bad feeling.’

A slightly unfounded worry.

She began to have this unidentified ominous feeling after the Banquet of Swords, as if she was sitting on pins and needles.

‘Is it because we changed history?’

It was after the Banquet of Swords that they began to stop the Black Moon’s terror plan in earnest.

‘But it will be fine.’

We prepared a lot in advance.

Because Jude and I did our best that we could do.

This ominous feeling is just like a fear of the unknown future.

‘We’ll protect it.’

The royal family. The royal capital.

Everyone including Jude.

Cordelia closed her eyes and went to sleep. As Dahlia had said, she should go to sleep early to prepare for tomorrow.

But.

1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes…

Cordelia opened her eyes again in the end. She had no choice but to do so.

‘I can’t sleep!’

Because I’m scared of tomorrow yet looking forward to it too.

Because I keep imagining myself fully dressed up and dancing with Jude.

‘Am I a kid getting excited about a picnic?’

Cordelia scolded herself and shut her eyes again, but she soon had to admit it.

The fact that her heart kept pounding and that she couldn’t sleep.

‘Anyway, this is Jude’s fault, this is Jude’s fault.’

Unlike her, he must be sleeping well by now.

Cordelia pouted her lips for no reason and turned to the direction of Jude’s room, closing her eyes while feeling a bit annoyed.

‘I want to see him.’

No matter what. Yes. I want to see him.

‘What am I thinking?’

Cordelia suddenly laughed a bit before she took a deep breath and focused on trying to sleep again.

Because tomorrow was a very important day.

It was unacceptable if her physical condition was bad because of her excitement.

‘Sleep.’

For tomorrow.

Repressing the ominous feeling in her chest, Cordelia slowly adjusted her breathing.

She tried to sleep.

***

The morning was bright.

It was the same as always, but at the same time, it was different from the usual.

In the end, Jude had stayed up all night with his eyes open, and he smiled at Cordelia who had the same tired eyes as him.

“Did you not sleep?”

“I only slept a little… What about you?”

“I only slept a bit too.”

Jude and Cordelia eventually looked at each other and laughed, while Maja and Dahlia watched the two and thought.

‘They’re really sweet even in the morning.’

‘Oh my, she didn’t sleep.’

But Dahlia could understand it.

Even Dahlia herself was so excited that she could only sleep a bit, so Cordelia must have had it harder.

The day of the founding anniversary ball.

It was a day of the event that they were waiting for.

After having breakfast, Jude and Cordelia began their preparations.

A final review of their operation and an inspection of their combat equipment.

They dressed themselves after that.

Time flew fast and it was now late in the afternoon.

Standing in front of the carriage and looking up at the sky as the sun began to set, Jude suddenly laughed.

“Why, why, why.”

Cordelia was heading his way.

She hadn’t changed into the Fairy Dress yet, and she hadn’t even used Angel Mode, but she was still the most beautiful girl in the world.

The makeup on her face was quite elaborate than usual, and she had an expression that looked bashful yet strangely hopeful. Added to that was her beautifully arranged hair.

Jude gazed at Cordelia with an enchanted look, and Cordelia somehow felt satisfied with his reaction, oohing as she checked Jude.

Jude’s appearance, which was as well-dressed as her, made her raise the corners of her mouth.

His wise and mysterious green eyes filled with a strong-willed look.

His black hair went well with his black tailcoat suit that perfectly fitted his sculpture-like body.

‘Is it because he’s handsome?’

No, is it not just that?

Hearing the beating of her heart that began to pound, Cordelia drew closer to Jude a bit more, and Jude naturally raised his hand.

“Let’s go together.”

“Yes, Baron.”

The two spoke in a theatrical manner at almost the same time, and they giggled before riding inside the carriage.

The distance from the detached palace to the main palace was only a few minutes.

However, during that time that felt much longer than usual, Jude and Cordelia were silent instead of talking to each other.

They just held each other’s hand tightly and focused on each other.

The beating of their hearts became one.

Their breathing that was not in harmony at first had now become unified too as if they were one person.

An odd tension.

Unlike their hot chests, their heads were gradually turning cold.

It wasn’t strange.

Since the two of them were heading to the battlefield now.

“Jude.”

“Yes, Cordelia.”

“Let’s do our best.”

“You too.”

The day of the ball and the battle that would decide the fate of the royal capital had now arrived.

The carriage stopped, and the two gulped in nervousness. After glancing at each other, they smiled confidently.

“Let’s go.”

The two simultaneously spoke before they got off the carriage and gazed at the big and beautiful main palace.

Two hours before the founding anniversary ball.

The time of their decisive battle had arrived.