Chapter 5: Pleiades (5)
Terms used in this chapter:
Muan Sweet Water – a Korean meme that originated from a religious group in Muan which claimed that their “sweet water” was miraculous. However, it was not sweet tasting, and upon actual testing, it was found to be just seawater. It became a parody that if you’re suffering from troubles, just throw/sprinkle Muan Sweet Water, wish for a miracle, and voila, your troubles will end. A famous parody of it is that throwing Muan Sweet Water to a raccoon will allow it to be able to walk upright like a human. – Source: Namu.wiki, Librewiki.net
Doraemon’s pocket – To those unfamiliar with it, Doraemon’s pocket refers to the magical pocket of the Japanese character Doraemon that can store any item regardless of size.
Nobita – he is the main character who always gets helped by Doraemon with his items.
“Haa…haa…haa….”
How long had it been since they started walking?
At first, Jude was quickly moving ahead and walking besides Cordelia, but now, he was completely behind and out of breath.
Eventually, the worried Cordelia turned around and asked.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Haa… haa…not, okay. I’m not okay…haa.”
Jude bent down as he continued his words with difficulty, and he suddenly felt like vomiting.
At the sight of Jude whose whole body was covered in sweat, Cordelia said with a surprised face.
“You’re really weak.”
“Haa… Don’t talk big… Carry me, carry me on your back.”
“What?”
“Piggyback, please. We…don’t…have…much time…haa.”
Jude, who had sat on the ground, feebly stretched out his hands like a zombie.
“Haa… quickly.”
“Whoa, seriously.”
As Jude flailed his arms again, Cordelia deeply sighed and walked to the front of Jude, and then turned around and sat down.
“Here.”
“Haa…”
Jude almost fell down as he leaned on Cordelia’s back. Because Jude was covered in sweat, his smell and sweaty skin didn’t sit well with Cordelia, but she was more surprised by something else.
“Hey, you have to gain some weight. Why is a man so light?”
“Gueum…julmaek.”
“Just use Muan Sweet Water, Muan Sweet Water.”
Cordelia stood up and adjusted Jude’s position. It was difficult for her to properly carry the exhausted Jude without supporting his buttocks.
“Hey… don’t sneakily touch strange places.”
“What about you? Where are you placing your hands?”
Cordelia retorted back to Jude’s protest and strode forward again. Since there was only one path, she didn’t need any specific guidance from Jude.
After a few dozen minutes…
Cordelia stared at some distance away and asked Jude on her back.
“Hey, is that it? I think we’re almost there? Don’t fall asleep.”
“Huh? Uh… Yes, that’s right, that’s right. It’s almost the same as what we saw in the game.”
At the end of the winding path next to the cliff, there was a cave entrance large enough for several people, and though it was damaged by the rain and wind, it was a structure that was obviously made by human hands.
“Let’s go quickly, Yellow Storm. Giddy-up, giddy-up.”
“Are you serious?”
Cordelia snarled in a low voice, but she hastened her steps for now. The moment she saw the entrance, she wanted to go in quickly.
“The Temple of the Sun God…”
“The paladins protected this place two hundred years ago, right?”
“They did.”
Two hundred years ago.
The denomination of the Sun God, who had always been at the forefront in the battle against the demons, suffered a devastating blow from the Great Demon Anguirus and was virtually destroyed.
Because of that, even a temple that sealed the powerful demon, Leisegang of the Red Moon, had been forgotten and became ruins now.
“You can let me down now.”
“Should I go inside more first?”
“No, it’s okay.”
“If so, then.”
Cordelia let down Jude from her back, cast magic, and entered the cave first.
And at that moment…
“Oh…can you feel it?”
Cordelia turned to Jude and asked, and he nodded with his eyes wide open in surprise.
“Yes, I can feel it. You too?”
“Yes, me too.”
The moment they passed through the cave entrance, the air around them changed.
To be precise, it felt like ‘divine power’ filled the cave.
‘So this is how it felt.’
In the game, there was a line that said, ‘I can feel the divine power of the sun god.’, but now that they were here, they couldn’t express their feelings into words.
“I think my mind is being purified.”
As Cordelia looked around and spoke with sparkling eyes, Jude also nodded.
“I think it’s going to be the same as in the game. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about monsters.”
The divine power of the sun god had the power to drive out demonic monsters.
As Jude said that, Cordelia agreed, and he took the lead again.
“From here onwards, I know the way, so I’ll take the lead.”
“But just in case, be careful.”
“Okay, be careful too.”
The inside of the cave was wider than expected, but there were sculptures of the sun god everywhere, which startled and surprised Jude and Cordelia.
“W-why do these divine creatures look scary?”
Cordelia, who had taken the lead, said in a trembling voice. It felt like she was in a haunted house because of the terrifying sculptures of the divine beings inside a dark cave.
“Hang in there, we’re almost there.”
Unlike the divine being’s sculptures, Red Moon Leisegang was a real demon. Even if it was trapped in a seal, the fear would be incomparable to that of a divine being’s statue.
“We’re here.”
They arrived at a fairly large hemispherical room after going through a winding path.
It was the place where Red Moon Leisegang was sealed.
Strangely enough, unlike other places, there was a soft light that lit up the whole room, so it wasn’t dark at all.
“The whole room is a facility for sealing.”
Cordelia said, squinting her eyes. As a wizard, she was much better than Jude at detecting paranormal energy.
However, Jude had knowledge of it in Legend of Heroes 2. After a nod, he looked at the magic circles engraved on the ceiling and the floor.
“Okay, it’s the same as what I saw in the game.”
Before they came here, Jude was frankly uneasy.
Install a magic circle and summon the demon.
It was so dangerous and special that it was incomparable to checking the geography or maintaining human relationships.
‘Let’s be confident. I’ve already checked several things on the way here, haven’t I? Moreover, Cordelia can use magic. So, it’s possible. Because magic exists in this world.’
Jude thought as he steeled himself, before he looked back at Cordelia.
“Cordelia, the preparations.”
“Look over there and wait.”
All of their preparations were inside her skirt.
When Jude turned around awkwardly, Cordelia removed the skirt itself, and laid out the items she had tied to her thighs and calves on the floor.
“I’m done.”
“Wow, you’ve been hiding all this in your skirt? It’s like Doraemon’s pocket.”
“It was so hard, so be grateful. Don’t be ungrateful like Nobita.”
The two exchanged some nonsensical talk as they began preparations for drawing the new magic circle.
“The best method is to draw it on the ceiling and the floor, but that’s difficult. So, let’s draw a magic circle using a magic potion made by mixing catalysts.”
“Here, the magic potion.”
Cordelia poured a red liquid into a wide paper bowl. At first glance, it looked like blood, but it was purely a magic potion made by mixing various ingredients.
‘I’m glad that Cordelia’s from a wizard family.’
Otherwise, it would’ve been difficult to get the ingredients to make the drug.
“Give me a pen.”
“I secretly took it from my father, so don’t break it. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
Cordelia checked her items and brought out a pen made of griffon feathers.
‘We’re definitely Jude and Cordelia.’
Yellow Storm did not possess Cordelia’s body. Cordelia had remembered her memories when she was still Yellow Storm.
What proved it was Cordelia’s current worried appearance and her fear of being scolded by her father.
“You’re not taking it?”
“I’m taking it.”
Instead of making fun of Cordelia, Jude meekly took the pen.
No matter how fun it was to tease Cordelia, he had to consider the time and place.
“I’ll begin.”
“Yes, fighting.”
From now on, this was Jude’s stage.
Cordelia pumped her fist as she cheered ‘fighting’, sat down in a corner and watched Jude.
He had to draw a large magic circle that took up almost the entire floor, so he shouldn’t be disturbed.
One hour after…
Jude gestured to Cordelia as he sweated after having finished drawing the magic circle.
“Let’s get started. Come here.”
“Huh? Ah, yes!”
At Jude’s call, Cordelia was startled but quickly approached him.
“Why?”
“No, it’s nothing”
Actually, it wasn’t nothing. Cordelia was seriously in admiration of Jude, or to be exact, of Outboxer009.
‘As expected of Outboxer009.’
It was obvious that he had prepared something since they had come this far, but she never thought that he really memorized Bellastin’s magic circle.
“Why? Have you began respecting me? This is how I became 1st place, okay?”
“No, it’s not? Because I can do it too? You’ve always lived idly so I stepped back to give you a chance to work hard, okay?”
“If you say so.”
Jude mischievously smiled, and the embarrassed Cordelia pouted her lips.
“Let’s start then. I need your help again. I’m afraid I don’t have much mana in my blood.”
“Huh, okay. I just drop it over there, right?”
“Yes, I don’t need a lot, so don’t hurt yourself too much. Scars will remain.”
“Wow, were you worried about me?”
“Yes.”
In reality, Jude and Cordelia were extremely tense.
Red Moon Leisegang was a powerful demon that could only be defeated in the middle to late part of the game.
No matter how many times they had done it in the game, their hands and feet trembled when they were trying to do the same thing in this world.
That was why the two engaged in trifling talk more than usual.
“Alright, let’s do it.”
“Yes, let’s do it. I’m sure we can do it.”
Cordelia steeled herself and stood in the area corresponding to the ‘entry point’ of the newly drawn magic circle, and then took out a large needle and poked her finger.
“Activate, Bellastin’s magic circle.”
There was a reaction as soon as Cordelia dropped her blood and chanted in a low voice.
The magic circle drawn by Jude glowed red, and the entire air inside the seal began to fluctuate.
“Cordelia! Get back!”
Jude shouted out loud as he looked at the center of the seal, and Cordelia stepped back and stared at the seal’s center too.
The seal was opening.
In addition to Jude’s magic circle, the magic circle on the floor and ceiling of the seal began to shine too. It was a brilliant golden glow that was reminiscent of the sun.
“Jude! Get back!”
Cordelia cried out this time. This is because the mana density of the seal rapidly increased. The air inside the seal would’ve been poison to the current Jude, who was worse than villager A.
But Outboxer009 wasn’t a rotten water for no reason.
In the first place, Jude had predicted the current situation, so he quickly took out a mask he had prepared at home and then used it to cover his mouth and nose.
It was an item that was similar to a simple oxygen respirator used on airplanes, but the Bayer family had a few items like that since they frequently fought against monsters.
“Here it comes!”
Jude shouted.
At the same time, the space at the center of the seal began to break. A crack appeared in the air, and soon, a huge presence emerged with dazzling light.
Red Moon Leisegang.
Among the undead, he was a mighty demon of blood who led the vampires!
The red and giant being with a bat’s head and wings gazed at Jude and Cordelia with its piercing red eyes.
Jude’s so weak that he got piggybacked by Cordelia, hahaha!
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