EPILOGUE 4
Jude and Cordelia had returned.
The crazy – no, the fantasy couple.
Demon Slayers.
The guardians of Pleiades.
It was not a lie to say that the entire continent was shaken by the return of the two.
It was an undeniable fact.
Few people knew that Jude was now the guardian G.o.d of Pleiades when he opened the ninth door of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors, and that Cordelia was now an archangel after completely inheriting the power of Solari. But even for those who did not know that the two became G.o.ds, the return of the two was a huge shock.
Especially for the empire and the demon followers.
“That’s crazy! Are you saying that we’re completely overpowered?!”
The empire had lost a lot of asymmetrical forces due to the Calamity War.
However, new asymmetrical forces were added to the Sälen Kingdom.
The strongest asymmetrical forces in the continent.
Everyone knew that Jude and Cordelia played a decisive role in the fight at the imperial capital.
Some argued that most of the work was done by the five heroes of Paragon especially Landius because no matter how great those two were, they were still teenagers. But few took this hypothesis seriously.
Because the group who were involved in the fight, that is, all the five heroes of Paragon, proclaimed the contributions of Jude and Cordelia first.
“He has transcended the Sword of the Sky.”
He had not only reached the horizon, but had gone beyond it.
It was as the Sword G.o.d had said.
Jude had reached a point that no one ever had since the birth of Pleiades.
Even if he did not use the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors, Jude had the Absolute Truth of the Sword.
Defeating him in swordsmanship was impossible.
He was the strongest swordsman in the world recognized by the Sword G.o.d, Iron Man Landius, and Ghostblade Kamael.
The one who killed the mad G.o.ddess and saved Pleiades.
But what was crazier here was the fact that it was not only Jude.
“The Explosion Witch…”
In the Sälen Kingdom, she was called the Explosion Angel.
Either way, the return of Cordelia August Chase, who had the word ‘explosion’ in her nicknames, was like a disaster for everyone who was hostile to the Sälen Kingdom.
If Jude was the strongest swordsman in the world, Cordelia was the strongest wizard in the world.
Unlike Jude who had potential rivals such as Iron Man Landius, Ghostblade Kamael, or Sky Sword Saint Lucas Hræsvelgr, Cordelia had no rivals at all.
She possessed an immense magical power that even a few archwizards could not surpa.s.s.
An ability to control magic that was beyond common sense, a transcendent spatial perception ability, and so on.
The existence of her signature move, Golden Storm, was a mystery itself among wizards.
“144,000 magic missiles? And she can control all of that?”
It was meaningless to discuss it further.
Rather, it was a bit more productive to discuss on who between the two was stronger, Jude or Cordelia.
“There is no way.”
When there were two such powerful people, it was normal to try to somehow make those two alienated, but that was impossible against those two.
Because the reason the two became initially famous was truly extraordinary.
Even though they were already engaged, the two ran away at night.
The two had gone on a honeymoon trip after running away from home several times despite their families and everyone around them recognizing the relationship of the two.
The fantasy couple.
The couple of the century who loved each other to death.
It was impossible.
It was absolutely impossible for outsiders to force the two to separate, unless those two break up after fighting each other.
“There’s no such thing as absolute! If you try to seduce one of them by putting a handsome man or a beautiful woman in between them…”
Count Matoa, a loyal follower of the emperor, shouted in an exasperated voice, but the end of his words trailed and he sat down.
Because he recalled the other nicknames of Jude and Cordelia.
The most beautiful woman in the world.
The most handsome man in the world.
The most beautiful and handsome people in the world became a couple, so was there anyone else who could seduce them?
Obviously, being physically beautiful was not everything that dictated what was beautiful, but there was still something called degree.
“Aren’t their love filters amazing in the first place?”
Crown Princess Daphne was right.
Jude would only see Cordelia regardless of anyone who comes in between them.
And so was Cordelia.
“We can only hope that they won’t be active.”
“Haa… That’s the only way.”
Defeating them in the field of beauty was impossible, but it was also unfeasible to bribe them with money.
Because both of them were incredibly rich.
Human greed definitely had no limits, but there was no one in the empire who had enough wealth that could tempt the two who were already very rich.
They could not even do that, so it was better to just leave those two alone.
If the people of the empire knew of one more truth, that is, if they had known that the two had already became G.o.ds who were forever immortals, they would have seriously considered exile to the Sälen Kingdom, but fortunately, no one knew of that fact.
“At least the empire is fortunate.”
Fran giggled and continued.
“Because the empire has nothing to do with the two unless they touch the kingdom. But there are groups who are hostile to the very existence of the two, right?”
The demon followers.
Those two who had invaded h.e.l.l and returned after beheading an overlord could not be left alone.
From the perspective of the demon followers, it was like the two suddenly became ‘G.o.ds who kill demon followers.’
“It’s somehow amazing. What’s good is good, but it’s a bit disappointing…”
The reason for Velkian’s sentiments was simple.
Because the Devil’s Mouth that had been constantly hara.s.sing the eastern part of the empire had began withdrawing to the eastern nations the moment they found out that Jude and Cordelia had returned.
“Even the five heroes of Paragon fade in the presence of the guardian G.o.ds of Pleiades.”
Fran spoke with a bit of self-scorn, and Velkian had a bitter smile as he nodded his head.
“So, what are we going to do now?”
Lena nodded her head at the question of Kamael.
Because the archangel and overlord problems had both been solved.
Peace had now come to Pleiades.
“We have to continue.”
We have to do our job.
We have to show this peace to everyone in the world.
“Don’t you think so?”
At the question of Lena, Landius responded with a chuckle like usual.
***
“I’ll cut it short. Get married.”
“Yes, father-in-law.”
“Yes, father.”
Jude and Cordelia politely replied to the order of Count Chase, and everyone who were watching them smiled happily.
Everyone in the world knew that they were the couple of the century, but they still had to do that.
When the marriage between the two was decided, the location became a problem.
Because it was not something that could be resolved quietly(?) in the family like what happened to Gaël and Adelia.
“The wedding must be held in the royal capital. I will lend you the royal palace.”
Henry II’s bombsh.e.l.l declaration was something that would shock many people.
Because it was a situation where the royal palace was rented for the wedding of ‘mere va.s.sals.’
“Is that really okay?”
When First Queen Justina asked a test-like question, Henry II firmly nodded his head and replied.
“It’s okay. Because… that’s the right thing to do.”
Because he had to do this much for them.
At the words of her husband and king, First Queen Justina eventually burst out laughing.
“Your words are cool, but it has become awkward.”
Because that’s the right thing to do.
Because doing that was the right thing to do.
It sounded really cool the last time she heard it, but she could not help but laugh out loud now.
“Because that’s also the right thing to do.”
Henry II laughed cheerfully, and First Queen Justina kissed his cheek.
In any case, the will of the king was strong, and surprisingly, no one expressed opposition to the decision of the king.
It was definitely a bombsh.e.l.l announcement, but it did not feel like a bomb.
“They’ll stay in our kingdom if we do that much.”
Jude and Cordelia had become too prominent.
Even if the 12 northern families and the 6 southern families were strong, they were va.s.sals of the kingdom in the end.
They had an obligation to be loyal to the kingdom.
But when it came to loyalty, one must also pay a kind of price when receiving something.
In other words, it meant that the giving and receiving part had to be balanced to some extent.
Jude and Cordelia had already done too much for the kingdom.
And the power of the two had already surpa.s.sed the power of the kingdom.
So they had to be given special treatment.
They had to be given more.
So that they would continue to feel a sense of belonging to the kingdom, cherishing and loving it as their own country.
“The wedding will be held in the royal capital. Declare this fact throughout the continent and gather the guests!”
The whole kingdom moved at the spirited command of Henry II.
It was like the kingdom were the ones watching from the side of the to-be-married couple and not the families of the couple, but no one was offended by this.
Everyone just laughed and enjoyed this national – no, this world-level celebration.
Time pa.s.sed and people gathered.
The imperial side also officially sent envoys while finding all those who had any relation with Jude and Cordelia in their country and sending them to the royal capital where the wedding was to be held.
Because of that, Kaplan did not have to worry on how to cross the border, and Leon and Sarah were able to head to the royal capital without garnering much attention.
Many people headed to the royal capital even within the kingdom.
Both the 12 northern families and 6 southern families sent people to the royal capital, so naturally, Sylvia and Viola who were close friends with Cordelia were also among those people.
“Can people like us go?”
“Why not? The king and everyone is going. And we’re pretty close, right?”
Fabian, an unauthorized transport dealer in the Hræsvelgr county, laughed out loud, but what she said was true.
After all, she had kept in touch with Jude and reported on the movements of the Devil’s Eye.
“Finally, the love between the two have borne fruit!”
When Princess Darianne spoke with a face of a girl who admired romance, Duke Spencer warmly smiled and Sir Cornwell, who was the escort leader this time again, brightly smiled.
“Of course, we have to go.”
Princess Leica who had already left the Forest of Eternity to partic.i.p.ate in the expedition decided to continue staying in the royal capital, and so did Elune.
And there were more people.
“We can’t help but congratulate you.”
Siren Queen Iliana led her va.s.sals ash.o.r.e.
Fairy queens from all over the continent gathered in one place after a hundred years – no, a thousand years.
“Chocolate is delicious.”
“You’ve never tried this, haven’t you? It’s Fairy Chocolate.”
“What? What’s that? There’s something like that? Give it to me. Give it to me too!”
Fairy queens were still fairies after all.
Moreover, they were with the other fairy queens rather than their subjects, so they acted like fairies.
“We must not be late. Hurry up!”
Violent Avalanche said as he walked in toddling steps, and Great Storm sighed once before moving his finger to turn the wind around Violent Avalanche into a strong wind. Gentle Snow Breeze watched from the side and softly laughed as she made the wind of Great Storm stronger.
Everyone gathered.
At the royal capital.
To bless the marriage of the two.
“Finally, I’m not looking after the house and can come this time!”
At the words of Edward Chase, the good-natured Gaël applauded in moderation while the bride and groom were facing their precious people in their respective waiting rooms.
“Dahlia.”
“Maja.”
They were in different places, but they spoke almost at the same time.
Dahlia cried and laughed, and so did Maja.
“It feels like yesterday when you asked permission to go on a carriage date near the cliff…”
The cheeks of Cordelia turned red at the words of Dahlia.
Because she remembered the time when she jumped off the cliff after the carriage date.
‘I’m the only who had to say those embarra.s.sing things!’
It was also Cordelia’s task to carry Jude at that time.
But it was fine now.
Because Jude had said much more embarra.s.sing words.
Because he carried her a lot like he promised back then.
Cordelia spread her arms, and Dahlia hugged her.
Jude also hugged Maja who could not hide her tears.
“The time has come.”
The voice of a palace attendant was heard from outside.
As he had said.
The time had now come.
***
The wedding was held in the Grand Plaza.
The Grand Plaza was already full of people from all over the continent as well as from the royal capital.
If even the people who filled the buildings were added up, perhaps hundred of thousands, or even a million people were present.
Jude and Cordelia were scheduled to hold the ceremony on a high and large balcony connected between the Grand Plaza and the royal palace.
Henry II and First Queen Justina stood together and waited for the two.
Royalty such as Crown Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne were present, but there were also people who were allowed to stand on the balcony.
Count Bayer and Count Chase.
Gaël Bayer and Adelia Chase, and Edward Chase who somehow succeeded in sitting between the two.
And even Dahlia and Maja.
“Why? Are you nervous?”
“Yes, I’m nervous.”
At the whisper of Jude, Cordelia honestly answered with a stiff expression.
Because she was originally a shy person.
[It’s okay. You’re the prettiest. Everyone is happy. Even if you make a small mistake, no one will say anything.]
At Melissa’s encouragement, Cordelia swallowed hard and Jude tightly held her hand.
[We defeated the archangel and overlord together, right? This wedding is nothing to that, so don’t be nervous. You can do it.]
Jude smiled at the cheerful remarks of Valencia.
He wanted to mischievously ask if Valencia had ever been married, but held himself back.
‘And I roughly know what answer will come back.’
She was a woman who loved the sword so much that she became one with the sword itself.
Just then, the music changed.
Henry II shouted again, and the sound of trumpets and other musical instruments spread throughout the Grand Plaza.
It was now time.
Now was really the time to go out.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
It would not be a lie to say that she was more nervous now than when she walked into the h.e.l.l Gate.
Cordelia let out a long breath. She then raised her head and peeked at Jude’s face.
‘I can do it.’
Because Jude is with me.
The two of us will be together as always, now and forever.
Jude kissed the forehead of Cordelia.
The two looked in front again and stepped forward.
The wedding was held with cheers that shook the entire plaza.
***
Night fell.
It was a cold and dark night.
But it was different from the nights in h.e.l.l.
The starlight was abundant, and there were two white and beautiful moons.
Jude and Cordelia lay side by side on the bed and looked out the window.
Jude hugged the shoulder of Cordelia.
Cordelia leaned her head against the chest of Jude.
“It’s somehow… amazing.”
At the whisper of Cordelia, Jude lowered his head.
Cordelia looked up at Jude and continued.
“Everything. Yes, everything.”
They met Ca.s.sius and the witch of the west forest in h.e.l.l.
Jude seriously tried to drive a wedge between the overlords, and eventually succeeded.
They defeated an overlord and archangel.
They saved Pleiades.
A world where the fated destruction had disappeared.
But these were not the only amazing things.
“We always meet again… and love each other…”
Cordelia’s cheeks lightly blushed, and Jude pressed his lips to hers.
He gently tickled her back, making his embarra.s.sed wife laugh again.
Jude had always loved Cordelia.
Despite the fact his memories did not continue, despite that fact that they ended up in a slightly different way.
“What about our past life? On Earth.”
Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee, and not Jude and Cordelia.
Both of them knew now.
The reason why they had no memories after logging out of Legend of Heroes 2 was not because they had no memories after that.
Their souls were split.
After all the necessary information was collected and it was time to put them back in Pleiades according to the plan, the souls of Jude and Cordelia were separated from Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee.
In short, their souls were split into two.
Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee remained on Earth.
Jude and Cordelia were reincarnated in Pleiades with their memories from Earth.
“What happened to those two?”
Are they still growling online and playing games?
Or have they met each other by chance and fell in love like what always happened to us?
“Maybe they only found out about each other after they fell in love.”
You’re Yellow Storm?
Oppa is Outboxer009?!
Cordelia burst out laughing when she imagined that scene for a moment.
“Well, we’re neighbors. Still, there’s a huge age gap, right?”
“That’s right. Around nine years.”
“Wow… you’re a real thief. The king of thieves.”
T/N: There’s a joke in South Korea that if a person dates or marries a younger person with a huge age gap, they are called a ‘thief.’
There were several more possible scenarios.
They quarreled and agreed to meet each other offline for HyunPi, and then ‘Eh, you?’ and ‘What? Why is oppa here?’
T/N: HyunPi is a Korean slang which came from the words Hyunsil (reality) + PK (Player Killing). In HyunPi, two players who get into a quarrel sometimes agree to meet each other offline to settle it.
Or they met each other in an offline gathering and began dating after their hearts pounded.
As the two made a.s.sumptions and talked about this and that, Cordelia suddenly laughed again.
Jude asked what was wrong, and she replied with a broad smile.
“Well, no matter what we come up with, the only conclusion we arrive at is that the two end up dating each other, right?”
At the words of Cordelia, Jude said with a very nauseating expression instead of smiling along.
“Yes, it’s always the two of us. In the end, we are destined to meet and love each other.”
“You look nauseating.”
“But you like it, right?”
Jude spoke more brazenly, and Cordelia frowned before nodding her head.
“I must be crazy too. Why did I like this kind of guy?”
Cordelia’s complaints did not continue.
Because Jude covered the mouth of Cordelia with his lips and tongue.
The two once again pa.s.sionately made love.
There were things they wanted to do in the future.
They had to drive out the demon followers, further develop their territory, and visit Earth once.
Night pa.s.sed and dawn came.
Having stayed up all night, the two leaned against each other and watched the rising dawn from afar.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They matched lips again and thought of the same words.
The two spoke it aloud as if it were a magic spell.
“For a perfect happy ending.”
A happily ever after like in fairy tales.
Cordelia looked at Jude.
And smiled brightly.
h.e.l.lo, I am Chwiryong.
This is the story of two people, Jude and Cordelia.
The story of Ending Maker is now complete.
I’ve felt this every time I finish a story… My heart is full in many ways.
All of my previous works are meaningful and special to me, but this time seems to be especially overwhelming.
Of course, you could say that it’s because it’s my latest work.
This time, I’m going to write a long postscript just like the long epilogue.
You may be wondering what kind of small talk there is at the end of the main story, but there are a lot of things I want to talk about.
An author speaks through their writing, so there should at least be one postscript full of these small talks.
I had actually planned Wedding Maker – no, Ending Maker, a long time ago.
It was a work that I came up with two or three years ago, but at that time, I did not write it but just kept it in my head.
I thought that it was something fun and interesting to write, but…
It was very much like a light novel.
A story of how the first and second place get together in a world.
But those two are a man and woman?
So is this a full-fledged romance?
The boy meets girl story of the main character and heroine flirting from beginning to end? On top of that, it’s a double protagonist? Will this even be allowed on web novels?
I thought of that.
So it was just a story that I buried in my mind…
Last year, I was thinking about a new work, and suddenly wanted to write its prologue when I got stuck, so I wrote a prologue.
And when I posted it on my blog, the responses were good.
Oh?
While I was doing it, I began to write more… and finally ended up serializing it.
In fact, there were many ups and downs even before it became a paid series.
As I had expected (?), the growth of the number of views was somewhat ambiguous, perhaps because it was quite different from existing works in Munpia.
So I set a goal for each week at that time, and if I achieved that number, I would keep going or think about it!
And that was why I wrote.
But interestingly, I achieved my goal every week.
In fact, I was already very attached to EM when I set such a goal at that time, so I was like ‘As long as someone pays for it, I’ll definitely continue it!’
And it became a paid series.
The transition rate turned out to be more amazing than I thought or what anyone could imagine.
T/N: Since EM started as a free-to-read series that transitioned into a paid series, transition rate here means the number of people who were willing to pay for the series in order to continue reading.
Umm… I got heated up just like when I write something on my blog, so I apologize.
From that point onwards, EM was a series that inevitably filled me with emotions.
I won’t reveal the details here, but there were many external difficulties while writing EM.
I was going crazy because of the stress… But serializing was very important.
Every day, I somehow shook it off and sat in front of the computer… Well, it’s strange that it ended without a single pause, and also commendable (?).
Of course, the people around me were very helpful.
Not only were there writers I was close with, but there were also the person-in-charge and a close older brother who read the work from start to finish, discussed it with me, and listened to various consultations.
Obviously, the power of the readers who read the story was the greatest.
A story comes to life when it has someone to read it.
Then… If I had to add one more thing, EM itself was a very fun and encouraging story for me. Thanks to EM, a lot of interesting things happened.
Ending Maker is the longest work I have written, and the longest-running series.
Like World Maker, my first full-time work as a writer, it was also the series that was most recommended.
Maybe that’s why… Even in the latter part of the postscript, I have regrets and my writing here seems to be getting longer.
I would like to ask for your understanding a little more.
At first, I thought that Ending Maker would end with around 200 episodes.
But it continued to grow as I continued to write.
There were two reasons.
One was that I changed my mind.
It was not that I suddenly changed my mind to ‘I’m going to write for a long time!’
Should I say that it’s the way of a web novel?
Due to the nature of daily serialization, the current web novels all develop very quickly.
And since there was a time period of one day between episodes, it was often hard to match that speed from the standpoint of following the daily serialization every day.
Therefore, if the breaks increased a little or if the story was told between multiple breaks, there were often bad reviews and the number of views fluctuated quickly.
I did that too, but I had undergone a lot of changes over the past few years.
I did not put a lot of breaks between episodes, and… it became my style that I only took breaks when so many things happened to me at once.
So I changed my mind last year.
I would put a break period even if there are some bad reviews or the number of views fluctuate.
I thought of keeping my pace like that.
Thus, I actually did that.
Of all the works that I had written, EM was probably the one with the most break periods.
The second reason was something I did not really expect.
Apart from the progress of the story, a considerable amount of time was needed for the development of their romance.
As you may know, Jude and Cordelia did not fall in love dramatically through a decisive moment.
It was a case of sticking together for a long time, forming a bond, and then falling in love with each other.
In fact, that was why I had quite a few bad reviews.
Since I had to subtract the progress of the romance in line with the development of the story, the romance did not come out much in the early to middle part of the series.
I’m telling you now, but I actually wanted them to have progress.
To kiss a little earlier and do other things… that I shall omit here.
Now that the ending is over, the only thing I regret is the empire side.
Originally, I was going to write a story about traveling through the empire like the wild lands, royal capital, or the southern area, but when the progress of the story and the strength of Jude and Cordelia… or when Jude’s strength exceeded a certain level, the story unfolded as you see now.
Of course… there must have been a better way. In fact, I only thought of it now that it was finished, but there were a few episodes that could be explored in more depth while maintaining the current development.
But at that time, it was the result of doing my best, so I try to not regret it too much.
In fact, the imperial capital showdown between Maximilian and Lucas was a bit disappointing, so I plan to improve this through revisions in the future.
This is actually related to my style of writing.
Usually, when the Four Heavenly Kings appear in my work, the Four Heavenly Kings were defeated one by one, but in my case, after defeating one of the Four Heavenly Kings, I tended to lead the story to defeating the Demon King who was ranked higher than the Four Heavenly Kings.
I think this is the biggest reason why I hear the phrase ‘development is fast’ in the second half.
Hmm… I think I’m writing an excuse and not a postscript.
I’ll stop making excuses.
There’s still a little more of EM’s story.
First of all, I plan to write side stories, but as I have announced several times, I plan to write a lot this time.
To mention a few of the side stories I prepared…
And so on.
If you have any additional side stories you want to see, please leave a comment. I’ll keep it in mind. ?
After completing the EM side stories, as I had said before, I plan to write an integrated side story for World Maker, Players, Dungeon Maker, and Dungeon Breaker, and I’m thinking of publishing it as a side story for Dungeon Maker.
T/N: Since most of the author’s works share the same universe, an integrated side story means that he’ll be having characters from one of his works to join the characters of his other work. In this case, characters from World Maker, Players, etc. will be appearing in the Dungeon Maker side story.
It seems to be a fairly long story for a side story, and as the t.i.tle suggests, the Dungeon Maker side story will be centered on Chun Yong-Ho, the main character of Dungeon Maker.
Yong-Ho who finished his work in Heaven would lead the Greed Legion and descend to Earth to end the 72nd Monster War… it’s that kind of story.
Of course, like the Avengers, all the characters from other works will heavily appear in the integrated side story.
There are still some side stories left.
Perhaps the author’s words can be written there too, so I think I should wrap up the postscript like this.
For that reason, I would like to leave a story that is important enough to be written separately from the epilogue.
A story comes to life when it has someone to read it.
Thank you to all the readers who gave life to the story of Ending Maker.
Thank you very much.
Jude and Cordelia, Lucas, Scarlet, and Kajsa, Kirara, Maja, Dahlia, Count Chase and Count Bayer, Gaël and Adelia, Landius and Lena, Kamael and Fran, Velkian, the Fairy Queens, Violent Avalanche and the wild G.o.ds, Red Wind and Sun Song… and everyone in Ending Maker is happy for everyone here.
To my father, mother, and older sister.
To Hyun Sup-hyung and Gun Woo-hyung, the staff and close writers who helped me a lot throughout my writing.
To S-nim, CHYAN-nim, Gaegrim-nim, and Jalsuhaengja-nim who drew all the beautiful ill.u.s.trations.
Thank you everyone.
I hope to see you all in the side story and in my next work.
Have a nice day. ?
Ending Maker has now ended. But there are still side stories left!
Please continue to read it as there are a lot of interesting stories there, such as where the mommies of our main characters were (aka how the two counts met their wives), why Jude was born with an illness, what happened to Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee a year later, who Lucas would choose in the end, etc.
Unfortunately, of the side stories that the author mentioned in the postscript, only numbers 1, 2, 5, and 6 have been adapted into side stories. That’s all I remember unless my memory fails me again. The author has mentioned in a separate author’s note that they would write more side stories, but a year has pa.s.sed since the series ended and they have yet to write more.
As for fanart… here’s a f*ck bang sticker by artist S-nim. That ‘x’ there is the censor symbol.