Chapter 222: Jabberwock (3)
Terms used in this episode:
Bugbear – a legendary creature or type of hobgoblin comparable to the boogeyman and folklore creatures that were historically used in some cultures to frighten disobedient children.
The life of Penelope, the Spring Fairy Queen, was very peaceful.
Born as the only daughter of the former queen, she ascended to the throne smoothly, and with the help of Fairy Knight Venelotte whom she admired, she managed the small and big affairs of the fairy realm without any problems.
“Your Majesty! The honey from red tulips are the most delicious.”
“No, Your Majesty. The honey from yellow tulips are the most delicious.”
“That’s ridiculous. Aren’t you an idiot for knowing nothing about honey?”
“W-what?! I’m an idiot? How can you say such a harsh thing? And I know nothing about honey? Honey from yellow tulips are the best!”
“No, it’s not. Honey from red tulips are the best!”
“No, no. Honey from yellow tulips are the best. You know nothing about honey.”
The Fairy Queen briefly recalled the ‘honey debate’ in the early days of her enthronement.
Among the numerous events that happened since the establishment of a realm for spring fairies in the Lake of Eternity, it was one of the most intense and difficult to resolve cases that drew the attention of all the fairies in the realm.
But what had happened before her eyes now was incomparable to that.
To the point that she missed the honey debate.
“Your Majesty, please come out! Your Majesty, please come out!”
“I-I’ll be there! I’m Spring Fairy Queen Penelope!”
As soon as she received the report of the Fairy Knight, the Fairy Queen hurriedly flew and shouted.
It was as the Fairy Knight reported.
‘So pretty!’
Her hair was so soft and shiny. Her skin was smooth, but her body was also pretty. In addition, her face was the best.
She had jewel-like eyes, moist lips, and soft cheeks!
‘N-no. I shouldn’t be focusing on that.’
That wasn’t what mattered now.
The problem was that an incredibly pretty human girl whom the Fairy Queen herself had seen for the first time in her life was now holding in her hand one of the citizens of her realm.
“Your Majesty, help me!”
“Help!”
The fairy trapped in the pink-haired girl’s hand cried out, and the fairies around them also raised their voices.
‘But why are they smiling?’
It feels like they’re enjoying the situation though?
Besides, they haven’t been caught. They’re not trapped either.
Except for the fairy held by the girl’s hands, the others were just flying by the side and crying out.
And it was the truth.
In fact, the fairies were enjoying the situation.
It was an exciting situation that they had experienced for the first time in their lives.
“A-anyway!”
In any case, Penelope was the queen of the spring fairies. So she needed to settle the current situation.
“Who in the world are you! Why are you doing this? And how do you treat your hair? Were you born with such hair?”
The fairies who were watching were also interested in the hair of the girl – Cordelia, and Princess Leica who was watching form the side had a strange expression because she couldn’t understand the current situation.
‘W-what’s with this flow?’
Aren’t we holding a fairy hostage now?
But unlike Princess Leica, Cordelia had already mastered fairy psychology.
She clarified her purpose without being swayed by the words that the fairies blurted out.
“Fairy Queen! And the fairies around me! Check this out!”
Cordelia loudly announced and pulled out a box she had prepared in advance from the space expansion bag in her waist.
“Look!”
“What’s that?”
“What is it?”
“Is it something edible? I like honey.”
The fairies had already become spectators and spoke one after another, and Cordelia opened the box while Princess Leica felt dizzy.
“This is chocolate!”
“Chocolate?”
“Is it edible?”
The Fairy Queen didn’t ask any questions, but it seemed like she was curious because her eyes were sparkling.
Therefore, Cordelia didn’t hesitate to proceed with her act.
“Now, come and have a bite.”
“Yes!”
When Cordelia gave a piece of chocolate to the fairy she was holding in her hand, the nearby fairies stomped their feet and became envious.
“You always eat the good things yourself!”
“So mean!”
And the fairy caught by Cordelia, who became the center of attention in her 17 years of fairy life, took a bite of the chocolate piece.
And one second.
Two seconds.
When all the fairies swallowed hard as their palms sweated from the tension.
“Delicious!”
The fairy shouted with wide eyes, and the surrounding fairies grew even more restless.
“I want one too! I want one!”
“I want to eat it too!”
It wasn’t just the spectators. Even the fairy who had a bit also fretted and said.
“P-please give me one more bite! One more! Okay? Please!”
She had a desperate look, but Cordelia firmly shook her head.
“No, I won’t. I’ll eat it all myself.”
“What?”
It was necessary to lower one’s mental age when dealing with fairies. Cordelia opened the box wide, and the fairies felt dizzy from happiness at the box filled with chocolate.
That was exactly what Cordelia wanted.
“Fairy Queen! If you don’t meet my requirements, I’ll eat all of these chocolates! All by myself! I’m not giving you a single one!”
“W-what?!”
The Fairy Queen shouted in surprise, and Cordelia really took out a handful of chocolate and poured it in in her mouth.
Munch, munch.
It was a bite that seemed to be enough for seven fairies to eat!
“NOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“How mean! That’s cruel! Demon!”
“How could you do that?!”
“Your Majesty! Please do something!”
Each of the fairies screamed and became restless, and in fact, the Fairy Queen was the same as them.
“W-wait! What are your requirements! Tell me what you want!”
“This one is delicious! I’ll eat it all by myself!”
“PLEEEASE! Please tell me your requirements! Please!”
When all the fairies headed by the Fairy Queen began to plead to her, Cordelia smiled triumphantly while Princess Leica felt dizzy as she watched them.
Because she couldn’t really believe the sight that was happening in front of her.
“Okay, so you’re going to do what I tell you, right?”
“Yes, I’ll do it!”
“Then give me the Spring Protection!”
“I-I’ll give it to you!”
The Fairy Queen quickly approached Cordelia and gave her the Spring Protection, but that wasn’t enough.
Cordelia raised two of her fingers and shouted.
“For 2 people! Put one here!”
What Cordelia offered was the Fairy’s Bonds.
The Fairy Queen exclaimed in surprise when she realized that there were already other fairies’ protections in it.
“D-don’t tell me that the other fairies too?”
“Yes, everyone enjoyed eating the delicious chocolate. Much earlier than you!”
“Eueue. I-I shall give it. So that we can have chocolate too!”
The Fairy Queen spoke politely before she knew it, and she quickly cast the Spring Protection on the Fairy’s Bonds.
“Is this enough?”
“Oh, yes. Here you go.”
Cordelia gently handed over the box of chocolates, and the Fairy Queen and her fairies rejoiced with sparkling eyes.
“Your Majesty, please eat it first.”
“Yes, because you are still the queen.”
historical
“Huhu, thank you, everyone.”
Having felt the love of her citizens, the Fairy Queen took a bite of the chocolate and experienced a heavenly taste that she felt for the first time in her life.
But it was not yet over.
Cordelia waited for the Fairy Queen and the other fairies to taste the chocolate before taking out a second box.
“Look here! I have a box again!”
“Is it chocolate again?”
The fairies began to look at Cordelia with anticipation, and Cordelia purposely opened the lid of the box slowly.
It was chocolate again this time.
But it was a completely different kind from the previous one.
“Everyone, look closely.”
Cordelia took out a piece of chocolate, and instead of taking a bite, she split it exactly in half to reveal the cross section.
“What do you think is in this?”
The cross section of the chocolate.
There was some white liquid in between the soft brown chocolate.
Cordelia deliberately let it slowly flow down her mouth while everyone was watching and then licked it with her tongue.
She then said with a deadly smile.
“It’s called cream. It’s soft, sweet, sticky, and smooth.”
It was actually close to a syrup and not just cream, but Cordelia didn’t know much about that.
What mattered now wasn’t the exact name of that white filling.
“From now on, I will drop this to the ground.”
“W-what?!”
“I won’t eat it. I’ll just drop it all on the ground and trample it. I’ll make sure no one can eat it!”
“NOOOOOOOOOO!”
“That’s cruel! Demon!”
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please do something! Please!”
The fairies began to cry, and the Fairy Queen who was already crying with them, shouted at Cordelia.
“Why are you doing this! I already gave you the Spring Protection!”
The Fairy Queen screamed as if she was a parent whose child was taken away, but Cordelia had a rather cold smile.
“The Spring Protection is not enough.”
“T-then? What can I give you? What is it? I’ll give you anything!”
“Really? Anything? Can you promise that?”
As Cordelia stepped forward, the Fairy Queen flinched for a moment, but she soon nodded her head.
Because Cordelia tilted the box as if she was going to spill its contents.
“Anything!”
“Deal!”
Contract established.
An answer that would never have been possible if she had simply given them a box of chocolates.
Jude would have been so proud if he had seen this scene.
Cordelia remembered Jude’s face for a moment before she saw the restless Fairy Queen lightly trembling.
She approached the Fairy Queen with a dark smile.
***
I-want-to-kill-the-princess-I-want-to-go-outside-there’s-not-enough-blood-there’s-not-enough-blood-I-want-to-eat-you!
The screams of Jabberwock weren’t just cries.
It was a kind of magic that affects the mind.
The elves who fought the Shades complained of pain every time Jabberwock cried. Their hands and feet trembled, and they were unable to properly use their skills every time.
“Don’t overdo it! Get back to your formations! Fight with your colleagues!”
Half of the elves in the punitive force were still young, so they were now experiencing a real battle, but not for the other half.
The other half were master swordsmen who had trained for more than two hundred years.
But none of them performed like usual. Rather than breaking into the enemy’s formation and showing off their sword skills, they were in a hurry to protect their lives.
“Master!”
“Maintain your positions! We’ll hold out until the princess returns!”
Midas said to Vanessa before he looked straight ahead again.
He thought as he stared at the back of the human fighting Jabberwock alone.
‘It’s impossible.’
The situation was very different from their last subjugation.
The number of Shades had multiplied by several times, and Jabberwock’s mental attacks were incomparable to before.
Why did this happen?
No, can we even overcome this situation?
Now that I myself cannot fight properly because of that monster’s screams?
“Black Dragon Cross Strike!”
A huge black cross pushed away Jabberwock. The monster who had been transformed into a giant bat then screamed in pain, but it changed its shape at that moment again. After it healed all its injuries, it screamed again.
“Ugh.”
Midas groaned as he looked around. The knights were somehow enduring the pain and blocking the Shades in front of them, but if it continued like this, the only thing left for them was annihilation.
“Sky Shattering Black Dragon! Link!”
At that moment, the black energy burst again and struck the Shades that were pressuring the elves.
And lightning struck one after another. Jude was instantly behind Jabberwock, and he tore its body with his sharp ‘sword.’
I-hate-you-I-hate-you-it-hurts-I’ll-kill-Cordelia-I’ll-kill-her-and-tear-her-up-I’ll-kill-you-aaaaah!
The split body of Jabberwock quickly became one again.
It became a giant ghoul this time and then swung its poisoned nails towards Jude.
Jude calmly faced such a ghoul.
After dodging its attack by just a finger’s breadth, he narrowed the distance with just a few moves. He used the Power of the Sun in its abdomen and smashed the monster’s guts.
Keuaaaaaaaaaah!
Jabberwock screamed in pain and stepped back. But it changed its shape into a Bugbear and let out screams filled with hate instead of pain.
Midas let out his breath.
Then he looked at Jude again and felt both bewilderment and astonishment.
Aside from Jabberwock that has suddenly become stronger, what is that human?
He has continued to push that monster one-sidedly. And it’s even more surprising that he isn’t yet tired.
His movements are incredibly fast even among us elves. Is it really possible to move like that while not taking a single breath?
And one more thing.
That human in front of me, Jude, isn’t shaken by that monster’s mental attacks. No, it doesn’t seem like he’s affected at all.
Is it not effective against humans? Is that why they say that only humans can defeat Jabberwock?
He didn’t know.
But Midas was sure that the human in front of him now was their only hope.
“WOOOOOOOAH!”
Jude suddenly roared.
He pushed Jabberwock with more power and speed than before.
Why is he suddenly doing that?
And Midas realized why.
Vanessa shouted.
“Princess!”
The sky turned black after Jabberwock’s appearance, but beyond that, a creature with white wings was approaching at a high speed.
An angel with pink hair.
And Princess Leica who was in her arms.
Die-die-die-die-die-just-die-aaaaaaaah!
Jabberwock turned into a Mountain Giant and struck Jude with its huge fist.
The attack tremendously shook the ground, but it was useless as it did not hit Jude. Using the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, Jude went back to his original starting position at once and sensed Cordelia. Instead of looking back, he stared straight ahead and shouted.
“Cordelia!”
“Get out of the way!”
Cordelia yelled at Jabberwock she threw Princess Leica towards Vanessa. When the elves and Princess Leica screamed, she revealed her angelic wings and rushed towards Jabberwock like a falcon catching its prey.
F*ck-you-b*stard-die-you-piece-of-sh*t-Jude-is-mine-he’s-mine-I’ll-grab-him-and-eat-him-aaaaaaah!
“F*ck you! F*cking b*stard!”
The sky shook as Jabberwock and Cordelia exchanged swear words. Dozens of lightning bolts poured from the sky and aimed at Cordelia, but instead of panicking, Cordelia unleashed the magic that she had prepared.
“Shield!”
Babababababababang!
The black lightning continued to strike Cordelia’s translucent shield. Jabberwock turned into a Thunder Giant and put lightning into its fist as it tried to hit Cordelia.
“Out of the way!”
Jude yelled. With a sharp roundhouse kick, he cut the left leg of Jabberwock and knocked it down before he flew towards Cordelia. He carried her by the waist at once and arranged their positions.
“Jude! This!”
Cordelia put on Jude’s arm the Fairy’s Bonds that was in the form of a bracelet.
And at that moment, the power from the bracelet spread throughout Jude’s body.
‘The Great Protection of the Four Seasons!’
Spring, summer, fall, and winter.
The power of the four seasons protected Jude.
The power of spring healed Jude, the power of summer infused a new power, the power of fall strengthened his energy, and the power of winter made Jude’s mind clearer.
But the Great Protection of the Four Seasons weren’t only that much.
Die!-Die!-Die!-Die!-Just-die-aaaaaaaaaah!
Jabberwock became a black and gigantic slime again before opening its mouth wide. Jude and Cordelia looked straight at the monster trying to swallow them. Cordelia then cried out.
“Your Highness!”
What Cordelia told Leica on their way here.
Cordelia believed in Princess Leica. So she imagined as she leaned her body while on Jude’s arms.
Jude did the same thing.
What she had told Princess Leica in advance!
“Imagine!”
Princess Leica barely landed on the ground with her wind magic and then unleashed a new magic at the same time she ordered.
One image was shared to all the knights.
And a change occurred.
Jabberwock’s body suddenly twisted and transformed into a huge and mighty existence.
Burn-burn-burn-burn-burn-burn-everything!
A huge being that breathed out flames.
Ifrit, a fire monster whose entire body was covered in flames!
The flames it emitted were so strong that it felt like one could choke and die from just the heat.
Therefore, Midas could not understand it.
Why would you turn Jabberwock into such a powerful monster when it’s already hard to defeat it!
“Your Highness!”
“Just believe in them!”
Princess Leica shouted again and tried to maintain the image in her mind.
And Jabberwock roared and pulled its fist. It poured out a rain of fire towards Jude and Cordelia.
“Jude!”
“Here it goes!”
Cordelia stretched her hand forward.
Jude took her hand.
There was another way to defeat the endlessly regenerating Jabberwock.
Stab its weakness.
Send out an extremely powerful attack that would cut off its breath!
“Almas!”
The moment Cordelia shouted, a sword appeared in her hand.
A sword that was hidden in the Lake of Eternity.
An ultimate sword that was used the Winter King in the past!
An immense chill was released from the tip of the sword, Almas. It did not only extinguish the flames of Jabberwock, but even froze it.
Aaaaaaaaaaah!
Jabberwock screamed. It tried to change its appearance.
But it was impossible.
Jude and Cordelia simultaneously activated the Great Protection of the Four Seasons.
The power of winter amplified the chills of Almas several times more.
Kiaaaaaaaaaaa———–!
Jabberwock’s screams lost its sound again. Because its entire body made of flames had now frozen.
“I can see it!”
Jude saw it with the see-through ability he got when he opened the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.
So Jude could see it.
He saw through the core of Jabberwock and released his hold on Almas. He ran on the ground as he left Cordelia to hold the sword.
“Finish it!”
Cordelia exclaimed. Jude twisted his body in the air and smiled. He used Valencia’s sword that was actually martial art skills in order to fulfill Cordelia’s wish. He pierced the core of Jabberwock like a bolt of lightning!
—————!
The ice shattered. The moment Jabberwock’s core broke, the frozen flames shattered and fell on the ground.
Craaaash-!
Amidst the falling ice, Jude turned around and saw.
Cordelia was surrounded by a ring of white light and raised Almas high as she jumped in place and cheered!
“We won!”
Jabberwock is permanently dead.
Jude smiled as well. He landed on the ground as a ring of light surrounded him.