24 Hearts

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Chapter 3. Flag Competition.

Judah.

Judah Arche.

Asmodeus muttered the name. It wasn’t that difficult for her to remember where she had heard it. In the first place, the name itself was not common.

‘Isn’t that the kid who killed Count Jinmu?’

But was ‘t he too young for that? Although she was a demon who could live hundreds or thousands of years if her magic power and prey were sufficient, she was aware of the human concept of time. Rather, she knew it well. By comparing Count Genuine and the child’s appearance, he looked too young. By her standards, he was just a boy who looked too bold.

“…”

Even though he overcame her temptation and wielded his sword, it was hard to believe that the boy had killed Count Jinmu. He was so talented that he was called a hero by humans. He was old and overtaken by ghosts. His body and spirit were weakened, but in her eyes, he could still beat highly skilled individuals. Asmodeus stared at Judah. While she stood there flabbergasted, his eyes, with a reddish glow, did not miss her gaze.

‘There’s no way they can have the same name by chance.’

Asmodeus glanced at the Count as he looked at himself and prepared his magic. Whether her control was still in his body, the Count shuddered when their eyes met.

‘Ah, it’s too bad it went like this.’

She bit her tongue. It was a great opportunity to easily obtain the fragments by sacrificing her minions, but she had failed because of that little boy.

Even if the effect of her temptation lingered for the Count, it wouldn’t help. She planned to captivate his might with the thought of her and all the nasty things she could think of. She judged that it was time for her to withdraw.

“Who are you? Why were you with the monsters?”

When asked by the Count, Asmodeus paused her musings and replied with a tilted head.

“Well, who do you think it is? It would be nice for you to just remember me as a woman who needs your fragment.”

“Do you have any intention of telling me who you are?”

She put her index finger on the tip of her chin, tilting as if to think for a moment, and then slowly nodding her head.

“First of all… I think it would be better not to inform you. I mean nothing to you, nor you to me.”

“…Then I have no choice but to defeat you and find out.”

The Count shook his hand. In an instant, sigils formed all around, and dozens of chains stretched out and headed to her. It seemed like she wouldn’t be able to move if one of the chains managed to latch onto her. She watched the chains flying at her, laughing at them leisurely.

“Hoohoo! This is fun, Count. But no matter how powerful your magic is, you can’t hold onto me~”

Sticking out her tongue, she evaded the same way she escaped Judah’s sword. The chains passed through her as she misted like a fog. she reappeared on top of the chains, balancing on her high heels.

“Wow~!”

Ironically, she smiled playfully as she stuck out her tongue.

“Do you see? We can fight like this. I think it’s worth trying, but I’m not so confident with this body right now. I’ll just go back. It’s good to thank that boy.”

The Count glanced at Judah, who stared back at her with anxious eyes. Looking at his gaze, Asmodeus drew a smile.

“If it hadn’t been for that boy, the boy named Judah Arche… By now, your fragment would have been shining beautifully on my hand, right?”

“…”

“I hope you hold your fragment well. I’ll come back to find it soon. Then there won’t be an interruption like today. Bye.”

Like a picnic, Asmodeus disappeared without leaving a trace. They couldn’t feel her strong magic anymore. The Count exhaled, confirming that she had disappeared completely. He presumed her to be a succubus, but she seemed to be more than an ordinary succubus. Her figure lingered in his head, and his heart jerked like he was an innocent young man with an unrequited crush.

“She’s gone.”

In a voice that seemed a little regretful, he muttered without knowing it. Then Judah, who was next to him, reached out and grabbed his collar. The Count groaned, and Judah noticed the feelings contained in his voice.

“Can’t you get us down now?”

“Why? Are you scared?”

Judah nodded his head with a hardened face.

“You don’t know how terrible it would be to not be able to move unless you say so.”

They were far off the ground. He could kick himself off a wall and land, but if he did that, he wouldn’t die, but he would get hurt. Watching the anxious Judah, the Count slowly descended the both of them. Just a few meters off the ground, the Count paused and stroked his chin.

“It would be unpleasant to leave the arena as it is.”

When he summoned the pillars of fire to deal with the gargoyles, the duel turned their surroundings into dust. It would take the arena a year to recover. If he charged himself for the cost of restoring the stadium, it would be difficult. He didn’t know what he was trying to do, but Judah felt a tremendous amount of magic flowing out of the Count’s body.

His magic formed a large sigil above the sky, and Judah watched as the severely damaged arena began to recover as if time rewound back into the past. This was the true power of Count Genuine. Judah laughed in vain as he witnessed with his own eyes a miracle that could not be performed with any magical power.

‘You’re a monster.’

It didn’t bring the dead back to life, but to be able to completely restore a destroyed building of this size was breathtaking. The grounds of the stadium, which had been dusted, returned to their original state, and the building rebuilt as if it was never attacked by the gargoyles at all. The Count didn’t forget Judah and brought him back to the VIP seats where they had been.

“Dad!”

The Count saw his daughter running out of Jeanne’s arms and opened his arms happily. The girl grinned and fell into the arms of Count Genuine, and soon burst into her tears.

“Wow.”

After landing back, Judah looked at Jeanne and Arhil. He said back then to Jeanne and Arhil that he would help the Count before running right out, but fortunately, the two of them seemed to have taken care of the remaining gargoyles.

“Is anybody injured?”

“It wasn’t that hard to deal with them as I thought. They all died, and no one was hurt. But Judah, what were you thinking just jumping up to help the Count?”

“That’s right! We were even more surprised when you flew! You can fly?”

Judah couldn’t keep up with their rambling of both worry and blame. He couldn’t help it. He had to do that because it looked like the Count would be robbed of his fragment. The Count, who stood among the dust, was incapacitated for a moment and tried to give his ring to the beaut. Had he stayed still, he would have been staring at the robbery of the fragment he had his eyes on. Judah gave them an apologetic look as he smiled awkwardly.

“Don’t laugh! Even if you’re our leader, I want you to take care of your own safety. Really! Jeanne tried to jump to get you! If we didn’t see the Count help you up… You would’ve been…”

Watching Arhill shake her head, Judah apologized and expressed gratitude to Jeanne. He scratched his cheek with his index finger, leaving a dusty mark. As he laughed and chatted with them, a message window appeared in front of Judah’s eyes.

[The attack of Asmodeus, one of the seven deadly sins, was prevented.]

[If you didn’t help the Count, Asmodeus would have taken the fifth fragment, ‘Valentine’, from him.]

[If the fragment had been stolen, her seal, which kept her trapped in the labyrinth, would have been released, and the two fragments would have been passed on to the -Collector of Fragments-.]

[By blocking the attack of Asmodeus, strength and stamina increase by 1 each.]

[Shadow Justice / Swordsmanship proficiency increases by 1.]

──────────────────────

「Status Window」

[Name: Judah Arche]

[Title: Little Hero of Serenia Castle (2)]

[Level: 36]

[Job: Black Claw _ Shadow Magic Swordsman (Hidden_A)]

[Number of resurrections: 2]

[Strength: 43(C) / Potential A]

[Health: 46(C) / Potential S]

[Agility: 46(C) / Potential SS]

[Magic Power: 44(C) / Potential B]

[Magic Resistance: 54(C) / Potential S]

[Charisma: 8(F) / Potential A]

[Knowledge: 17(F) / Potential B] ◀ Special

[Luck: 84(A) / Potential S] ◀ Special

[Points remaining: 21]

──────────────────────

The status window was automatically updated and appeared in front of him. Although only a few gargoyles were handled by Judah’s party, his level was raised by a whopping 6 levels because he shared the experience when the Count killed the gargoyles. It seemed like he did something hard, but it was still disappointing that all of his stats except for luck were below the C class.

‘By the way…’

His gaze was distracted by the updated status window, and Judah, reading the message again, felt his mind fall into confusion.

‘Asmodeus, the Avatar of Lust, one of the seven deadly sins…’

It was her. He remembered her appearance, body, and color. Of course, the Count fell under her enchantment after she held him in her hands, and even almost gave her the fragment. However, he wondered how she was going around just fine when she should have been sealed in the labyrinth.

‘Hold on…’

Judah looked at Arhil cautiously. He didn’t know how long Asmodeus wandered out of the labyrinth, but if he had come a little later in when the ghosts attacked Cherryu Village, Asmodeus might have discovered Arhil and made her an apostle.

The diary he found in Count Jinmu’s mansion mentioned the -Collector of Fragments- and the pendant given to him must have something to do with her. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a message stating that by acquiring Valentine, two fragments could easily fall into the hand of the unknown collectors. It had been long since he helped the Count, but their encounter truly benefitted him.