Ending Maker

Chapter 32 – EPISODE 32 – WITCH’S FOREST (5)

While wandering through the witch’s forest, Cordelia hears the voice of the witch and reaches the seal under her guidance.

In other words, hearing the voice of the witch was like getting a ‘navigator’ to their destination.

‘However…’

Jude frowned unconsciously.

It was not because Cordelia found the wrong way, or the witch’s directions were unclear.

Cordelia steadily moved forward, even if she sometimes stopped halfway.

[Come to the direction of the large tree with exposed roots.]

A clear and pure voice was echoing in his head, though it was somehow faint.

‘The witch’s voice…right?’

As Jude glanced back at Cordelia, she was looking around and saw a large tree with exposed roots as mentioned.

‘It’s correct, but…’

Why is Jude himself hearing it too and not just Cordelia?

‘Can you hear it even if it’s not necessarily Cordelia?’

In the original story, Cordelia heard the voice because she was alone.

But it didn’t seem to be the reason.

The whole time Cordelia was looking for the way, Lucas was just standing with a blank expression.

‘Hmm…for the time being, let’s keep this a secret.’

It was very clear on what would happen if I told them that I could also hear the voice of the witch.

Cordelia would be pouting, and Lucas would be feeling gloomy because he was the only one who couldn’t hear the voice.

“This way.”

“Oh, okay.”

Cordelia had small smile on her face as she spoke in short words and pointed the direction.

She seemed to like the current situation in which she became the main character of the episode, as it was in her nature to like getting attention.

‘Hmm…yes, I should hide it.’

I didn’t have to reveal the truth and break that smile.

‘But why am I really hearing it?’

Is there a separate condition on why I could also hear the witch’s voice?

What does Jude himself and Cordelia have in common.

A characteristic that we do not share with Lucas.

‘Beautiful…and handsome?’

Although Lucas was a handsome man of the manly and gallant type, he couldn’t compare to Jude and Cordelia, whose looks are always described as ‘incomparable.’

‘Well…no way, right?’

The witch is not a Fairy Queen.

There must have been something else.

‘Age? Memories of the previous life…though if you say this, it doesn’t explain why Cordelia hears it in the original story.’

As I stepped forward while considering these and other hypotheses, the fog began to fade at some point.

“There’s a seal in that cave.”

Rather than a small and narrow proper entrance, Cordelia had pointed to a crack that had risen from the passage of time. As she explained to Lucas, Jude looked around.

He saw the dense trees that have grown more than 10 meters and have completely obscured the sky.

Beyond the small rocky mountain where the cave was located, a demonic monster was guarding the seal.

‘We’re almost there though.’

Now, if we go in and release the seal, it would be the end of the mission.

The soul of the witch released from the seal will solve the problem of the monster.

‘Cordelia gets the power of the witch, and I get some of the by-products.’

Like the Bicorn, the demonic monster will also leave a body.

As Jude had a delighted smile, Cordelia looked at him suspiciously as she approached him and said.

“You look like a pervert.”

“…which side?”

“Just…in many ways.”

Like always, Cordelia said some silly things before she took the lead and went into the cave.

The crack was small and narrow but there was no problem with Cordelia, whose build was small and slender, and Jude, who was still quite thin.

Lucas struggled, but he also somehow passed.

[You’re almost here. Come this way.]

Upon entering the dark cave, he not only heard the witch’s voice, but also saw a bunch of green lights, that looked like a group of fireflies, appearing in front of them.

[This way.]

It was a small cave, so after walking for a minute or so, a fairly large cavity appeared with huge steel doors on one side, and on the center, the party was able to discover the witch’s seal.

On a large stone pillar in the center of the cavity was a block of ice that was almost the size of a human being. Inside the ice was the naked body of a beautiful black-haired woman, though it looked blurry.

[Children, release my seal. To unlock the seal…]

“We weaken the sealing stones at the corners with holy water and draw a magic circle of unsealing in the center, right? Okay, witch.”

[Eh? Uh…yes. How did you know?]

When Cordelia answered quickly, the witch responded with a flustered voice. Lucas, who didn’t know the conversation of the two, let out an ‘oooh’ in admiration.

Cordelia grinned and then approached Jude and said.

“I’ll sprinkle the holy water on the sealing stones, so I’ll leave the magic circle to you.”

“Okay, ma’am.”

Jude and Cordelia had already obtained holy water at Langesthei.

Unlike the original story, they didn’t have to wander through the forest to collect the things that the witch needed for her rescue.

[The figure of the magic circle…are you a wizard specializing in seals?]

The witch didn’t even explain what kind of magic circle it was, but Jude was drawing it well already.

Instead of answering the witch’s question, Jude quickly completed drawing the magic circle.

[Uh…next…you already know, right?]

Jude and Cordelia replied in actions to the slightly quivering voice of the witch. Jude took Lucas as they withdrew to the outside of the magic circle, and Cordelia drew a knife and wounded her palm.

“Ugh.”

She groaned with tears in her eyes, clenched her fists, and finally dropped the blood on the magic circle.

Blood was needed to get through to the soul.

Cordelia’s mana was transmitted to the magic circle through the drop of blood and soon, a bright blue light filled the cavity.

And it was at that moment…

“Kuooooo!”

A terrifying roar came from outside the cave.

It was evidently the roar of the demonic monster guarding the seal.

The tense Lucas hurriedly pulled out his sword spontaneously, but Jude and Cordelia only focused on the witch’s seal.

The witch would solve the problem if the seal was released anyway.

[Aaaah! Aaaaaaah!]

The witch screamed as if to match the monster’s roar. The ice that was sealing her quickly cracked, and the entire cave shook.

“Kuooooo!”

The sound of the monster’s roar grew louder and closer.

Cordelia’s lips felt dry as she placed her palms directly to the magic circle and poured more mana into it. And finally, the ice that was sealing the witch broke into hundreds of pieces and scattered.

Bang!

The doors let out a loud noise.

The steel doors, which were actually the front doors of the seal, became largely indented. The steel doors couldn’t be opened because it was originally intended for sealing, but the demonic monster was now trying to destroy it.

Jude recoiled at the deafening roars, but soon braced himself.

It flowed similarly in the original story.

[It was an excessively long time since I was sealed. Thank you for releasing my seal, children.]

The witch’s voice was clearly heard through the banging sounds of the doors.

At the center of the seal, a beautiful woman, whose naked white body was covered by her long black hair, floated in the air. She was in a semi-transparent state because she was a soul, and she looked down at Cordelia affectionately.

Bang!

The doors let out a loud noise again.

Through the dented steel doors, they could see the monster’s red eyes.

Jude nervously gulped as he recalled the original story.

Right after breaking the witch’s seal, the witch without a body temporarily descends to Cordelia, defeats the demonic monster, and then clears the barrier.

Through Cordelia freeing her by breaking the seal, the witch’s soul that was sealed for hundreds of years finally ascended. And Cordelia, who harbored the witch’s soul for a while, learns a part of the witch’s power called the ‘Witch Transformation.’

It was a great scene that most users who played Cordelia remembered, because the production crew gave all their effort to that part by expressing the series of situations into a cinematic video.

And now…

[Danger is upon you. Dear child, I’ll lend you my strength to get rid of the crisis.]

It was flowing like the original story.

When Cordelia nodded as if she knew, the witch closed her eyes and recited the spell. The demonic monster seemed to be stimulated by the witch’s actions and thrashed the steel doors more violently.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just before the steel doors was torn off, the witch’s soul was scattered with a green light. At the same time, a green light glowed all over Cordelia’s whole body, and her clearly bright red hair turned black. Her sky-blue eyes also became a mysterious green like that of Jude.

It was the witch’s advent.

Now, all she had to do was to defeat the demonic monster with the witch’s power.

However…

“Eh? Eeeeh?!”

Cordelia looked at herself and was stunned as she blinked her eyes, and Jude realized it at that moment. He understood what happened.

‘Reproduction of the event!’

In a broader sense, it was like the bathing event in the valley.

In the original story event, the fight to defeat the monster by using the witch’s power was expressed in a video.

That was why not only Cordelia, but even Jude, missed this detail.

She wasn’t a witch.

Cordelia, who acquired the power of the witch, was supposed to defeat the demonic monster.

“Fu-f*ck?!”

So Cordelia understood the situation and was embarrassed.

She didn’t know how to fight. She didn’t know how to exactly use the witch’s power!

Bang!

The steel doors were finally smashed to pieces.

Two crumpled doors were scattered on the floor, and Asmodeus’ demonic monster, which looked like a huge red gorilla with horns on its head, came into plain view.

Despite being in a crouched position, it was as tall as 4 meters as the monster violently smacked its fists.

Cordelia looked at Jude, and he looked back at her.

The alone Lucas looked at the two as he grasped his sword tightly.

It was an unexpected situation.

This time, there was no Bellastin’s magic circle.

Neither was it a battlefield that was prepared in advance.

But they still had to fight.

“I believe in you!”

Jude raised his pure white sacred battle aura as he rushed towards the monster.

He used the Thirty-Six World Steps, and Lucas also added light to his sword with the Sage King’s Cross Sword.

I believe in you.

I believe that Cordelia can use the witch’s power.

So she had to find a solution before we get crushed by the monster.

“Kuoooo!”

The monster roared as if the rushing Jude was just an insignificant existence. It kicked the ground, and it seemed like it teleported as it had suddenly appeared in front of Jude, and then swung its fist.

Smash!

The ground was smashed in one blow. Jude barely avoided the attack by rolling on the floor, as he added Solari’s power to his knuckles. He then flew towards the broken steel doors, trying to lure the monster to him.

Lucas roared loudly to also draw its attention and ran towards the opposite of Jude.

The monster kicked the ground again.

It attacked on Jude’s side again.

“Cordelia!”

Jude used Thirty-Six World Steps again. After narrowly avoiding the monster’s fist, he yelled as he struck the monster’s arm with the Holy Cross Punch.

“Kuoooo!”

The monster shrieked in pain, but its steel-like forearm did not budge. Instead of attacking again, Jude kicked the ground and quickly pulled back.

At that moment, Cordelia closed her eyes and tried to focus.

She tried to use her instinct or whatever to utilize the witch’s power.

However, it wasn’t easy. Although she had closed her eyes to block the view, she was still nervous as she could hear the continuous roars and kept thinking of Jude’s current crisis.

‘Please, please!’

Guide the mana.

Use it naturally.

It was right at that moment…

[What? Don’t you know how to use it?]

Cordelia heard the small and tranquil voice of the witch, and she opened her eyes. She shouted spontaneously.

“Tell me!”

What to do.

How to use the power of the witch.

Before Jude dies.

No, before Jude gets hurt!

[This is how you use it.]

The moment the witch spoke, the witch’s power moved inside Cordelia’s body and soul.

Through it, Cordelia understood. She realized it instinctively.

She realized how to use the power of the witch.

Cordelia’s eyes glistened and flashed green.