Ending Maker Chapter 108
Ending Maker Chapter 108
Chapter 39 — Encounter #2
"Hah, now I can finally live."
Adelia, who had settled inside the tent Gale had made, stretched out both legs and let out a sigh of relief.
Having just been battered by the knife-like wind, the existence of a tent that blocked the wind was precious beyond words.
"Don't push yourself. Let's rest here for today and then move on."
"Yes, Lord Gale. Please come over here too. I'll cast a spell for you."
"Thank you. I'm being treated quite well thanks to you, Lady Adelia."
"I'm the one being treated well, really."
When Adelia answered with a soft smile, Gale smiled as well.
It was a refreshing smile that was all too familiar to the people of Count Bayel Household.
"Then, if you'll excuse me."
"Yes."
Adelia, who had answered demurely, quietly waited for Gale to sit beside her.
If the subordinates of Count Chase Household—no, of the royal capital—had seen her, they would have blinked over and over at how far this was from the usual Adelia, but there was no one here who would care about such a thing.
"Heat Wave."
As Adelia murmured the spell, hot warmth soon began to heat the inside of the tent.
Her frozen fingertips began to thaw, and even her toes, which had felt like lumps of stone, began to regain circulation with a tingling sensation.
"Haaah......."
At the tingling sensation, Adelia reflexively let out a sound, and Gale laughed softly again before raising his body slightly and speaking.
"You might get frostbite, so it would be best to take off your shoes. I'll take them off for you."
"Huh? Ah...... yes. I'll...... leave it to you."
Adelia answered meekly again.
If the subordinates of the royal capital—no, her fellow unit commanders—had seen it, they would have shouted, 'You wicked doppelganger! Where is the real Adelia?!' But she was not a fake. The person here right now was the real Adelia.
'He's kind.'
Adelia thought as she watched Gale carefully remove her shoes.
In truth, if this had been early in the journey, Adelia would have coldly pushed away Gale's kindness, saying, 'I have hands too. Please go away.' But not anymore.
'Because we're not nothing to each other.'
That day.
The single sentence Gale had spoken while looking at Adelia with moist eyes.
'Are we...... nothing to each other?'
That voice, like a wounded lamb, had changed everything.
It had opened the final latch of her heart that had been resisting to the very end.
"Hoo, they really are frozen solid. I'll massage them, so please don't be too surprised."
Gale spoke gently again and began to carefully knead Adelia's feet, and Adelia pursed her lips with a reddened face.
"Um...... don't they smell?"
They had been inside her shoes for a long time while wet.
"It's fine."
As someone who had grown up among knights, Gale was secretly not very eloquent in this regard.
But in a situation like this, eloquence wasn't really what mattered.
For the power of love-blindness was mighty.
'He's kind.......'
She liked that he spoke plainly instead of tacking on all sorts of words.
And more than that, look at those hands and eyes kneading her feet.
Did they not plainly reveal Gale's heart, which was purely worried about Adelia herself, without the slightest trace of lewd intent?
'He could harbor a little, though.'
Adelia, who had thought that without realizing it, flinched, and Gale, misunderstanding her stiffness, asked cautiously.
"Does it hurt, by any chance?"
"Ah, no. It's fine. I'm much more comfortable thanks to you."
Adelia, who had tried hard to feign composure, quickly withdrew both feet, and Gale smiled again before settling down beside Adelia.
And Adelia thought.
'Should I say I'll massage his too?'
No, wouldn't that be a little weird?
Would it be better to make hot water so he could wash his hands?
Snow was scattered all around, and heat could be produced with magic.
While Adelia was busily spinning her head, Gale took off his own shoes with his hands and began to knead his feet as they were.
"We do need to air it out a little. I'm sorry."
Gale spoke awkwardly and slightly opened the firmly sealed tent flap, and at the cold, fresh air that rushed in anew, Adelia came back to her senses.
'Hoo, hoo. Calm down, calm down. Adelia.'
They were not nothing to each other, but they were not something that could be clearly defined either.
'Right, calm down. Calm down, Adelia.'
Adelia, who had taken a deep breath, regained her composure in her own way. And while Adelia was doing that, Gale took a blanket out of the luggage, sealed the tent flap, and began heating measures again.
"Cover yourself. Rest a little, and then I'll prepare a meal."
"Lord Gale, warm yourself up first too."
When Adelia spoke while covering herself with the blanket, Gale seemed to hesitate for a moment before settling beside Adelia, and Adelia covered herself with the blanket together with Gale.
"Cordelia and Yuder are doing well, right?"
"They will be. It's only been a couple of months, but...... both of them seem to have grown a great deal during this journey."
He wasn't talking only about martial strength.
The two of them had already grown greatly in spirit as well.
"When did they get so big?"
"I know. I thought they were just immature kids in love......."
Gale, who had been trailing off, smiled and turned to look at Adelia, and Adelia also looked up at Gale.
And the two of them realized.
That their faces were too close.
That they were close enough for their breaths to touch.
Adelia unconsciously parted her lips slightly. Gale looked at Adelia's lips, and at some point their gazes crossed again.
Without either being first, they closed the distance between them.
Adelia, letting out a giddy breath, clutched her trembling heart amid fear and anticipation, and slowly closed her eyes.
And right after.
CRASH!
With a thunderous roar, the tent shattered. At the same time—no, a moment before that—Gale threw himself over Adelia, knocking her down and dodging the attack that had flown straight at them.
RATTLE!
The crossbow bolt that had smashed through the tent and embedded itself in the stone wall quivered.
Beneath Gale, Adelia's eyes flew open, and the pink-hued current flowing between the two of them scattered in an instant.
BOOM!
A second explosion burst. This time it was from Adelia's side. With a powerful wave of magical force, she blew away not only the shattered tent but even the crossbow bolt that was about to explode.
And Gale rose to his feet. Quickly drawing his sword, he glared in the direction the crossbow bolt had come from.
"Nine."
He grasped the number in an instant.
It was a number he had discerned by relying not only on sight but also on his battle sense.
"Demon worshippers."
Probably Demonic Humans.
A giant clutching a small ballista in one hand was smiling from far away.
Around him, several hideously twisted monsters like the ones they had seen in Karaval wore collars and glared this way, drooling.
Gale thought.
He deduced at once why they had appeared here, far down south.
'Same as Yuder.'
Yuder had departed to ravage the western rear.
The west was the same. They must have dispatched forces to the east with a similar idea.
'Skyroof Mountains.'
A land of death where even Wild Gods did not dwell.
That was why, instead of crossing the Skyroof Mountains, they had made a wide detour south to infiltrate the east.
They had simply run into the force while it was on the move.
"How lucky."
Garad, the mid-grade Demonic Human who had attacked Gale, let out a laugh. Because the moment he saw Gale and Adelia, Garad had thought something similar.
'It's definitely them.'
They had defeated the Devil’s Eye Demonic Humans operating in the east one by one and finally wiped them out completely—ruthless monsters who would accept any sacrifice to win.
It was a complete misunderstanding—one with major flaws, not least that he had the wrong people—but Garad’s mistake was not entirely baseless.
After all, it was hard to imagine another couple from the Saelun Kingdom in the Wild Lands—let alone another strikingly handsome pair.
"Lord Haragen will be pleased."
There was no particular reason to take them alive, so he intended to toy with them to his heart's content.
The corners of Garad's mouth rose, and his mutation began.
His eyes, which had been gleaming with ambition and vulgar desire, split into dozens of fragments and became compound eyes, and his already large body swelled even more.
A black, glossy shell reminiscent of a stag beetle wrapped around his entire body like armor.
Horns sprouted from his forehead, and his jaw split open into an insect-like mouth.
"I'll toy with you."
Garad thought of what would come after victory.
At the same moment he flung off the small ballista strapped to his right arm, he charged with lightning speed.
"Hah!"
At that moment, Gale shouted loudly. He kicked off the ground and charged head-on toward Garad, and Adelia began to chant a spell.
The lowest-grade Demonic Humans, mixed in with monsters, shrieked and kicked off the ground.
BOOM!
The instant Garad and Gale collided, a thunderous roar burst out.
To be precise, it was the sound of Garad's massive fist smashing the ground.
SWISH!
Gale's sword, which had dodged Garad's attack like the wind, flashed blue as it swept through.
The sharp sword aura split apart the shell at Garad's waist as if shattering it.
"Gah!"
Garad was flustered by Gale’s attack, which was far stronger than he had imagined. But they were already too close for him to back away. Swinging his fist again, he commanded the lowest-grade Demonic Humans.
"Kill the woman!"
That would divide Gale’s attention.
It was an effective command.
But even at the moment he shouted it, Gale did not look back at Adelia.
Because he trusted her.
No, because he simply knew.
Adelia's full strength.
Her power.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Lightning struck. Bolts created through Adelia’s specialty, high-speed incantation, slammed into the charging lowest-grade Demonic Humans, then ricocheted from one target to the next.
Chain Lightning.
Even within the Royal Guard Magic Corps, her spell incantation—called 'Flash'—reached three times the normal speed.
Moreover, despite such rapid incantation and spell construction, the precision of her magic did not drop significantly either.
"AAAAH!"
The lowest-grade Demonic Humans, trapped in a hell of chained lightning that bounced and rebounded between them, screamed and rolled on the ground, but this was only the beginning.
"You trash!"
Adelia spat out a curse and began chanting new spells again. With white light shining from her eyes as she unleashed a barrage of offensive magic, her appearance was reminiscent of Solari's battle angel descended upon the earth.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
There was no mercy in Adelia's hands. No, rather, she drove the enemies back with more force than usual.
It was because of anger.
'Of all times, of all times, of all times!'
At that moment!
'It was my first time!'
No, it was going to be my first time!
The scene from barely ten-odd seconds ago surfaced in Adelia's mind.
And the countless pieces of knowledge that had surfaced a few seconds before that, the countless stories she had pretended not to care about but had listened to.......
"Burn! Tear apart! Collapse!"
Adelia cast three different spells in succession.
Hellfire.
Wind Blade.
Matter Collapse.
It was a barrage of consecutive spells possible only for Adelia, a genius even by the standards of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, who had become its youngest unit commander purely through skill.
"AAAAH!"
"Ack!"
The lowest-grade Demonic Humans were slaughtered one by one before they could even try anything, and Garad was thrown into confusion.
'They're too strong!'
Since all the Demonic Humans who had been defeated in the east were mid-grade or higher, he had guessed they would be strong to some extent, but they were strong beyond strong.
And it wasn't just the mage. The man before his eyes was no ordinary swordsman either.
SWISH!
A sharp wind blew.
Gale became the wind, and at the same time became one who commanded the wind.
Garad's rough, crude attacks could not even graze Gale.
"GRAAAH!"
In the end, Garad let out a roar and kicked off the ground with all his might. Forcibly widening the distance from Gale, he hurled the signal flare strapped to his waist.
BOOM! BOOM!
Red light burst in the air.
It was an act that might expose all the forces currently detouring, but he had no choice.
'We were scheduled to assemble here in the first place!'
The eastern infiltration units dispatched from the west numbered seven in total.
Since their departure points had all been different, they had planned to assemble once in this vicinity to check their strength.
'In other words, the others should be nearby too!'
Garad honestly admitted it.
The man and woman before his eyes were not a level he could handle alone. He felt like he understood why the Demonic Humans dispatched to the west had died without achieving any notable results.
So he would not be pointlessly greedy.
He would focus on holding out until the other Demonic Humans arrived!
"ROOOAR!"
Garad unleashed his full power. He focused on enduring Gale's attacks somehow.
It was the right judgment.
Garad's plan was not wrong.
But even so.
'Why aren't they coming!'
Quite a bit of time seemed to have passed since he had fired the signal flare, yet no one appeared.
At the very least, there should have been some signal acknowledging that they had seen it, but not even that came.
Why.
For what reason.
Could it be that they were trying to eliminate him?
And so they were ignoring the signal even after seeing it?
'No! That can't be!'
It made no sense.
How could the Demonic Humans of other units know what condition Garad was in and do something like that?!
'Come! Please! Quickly!'
Praying earnestly, Garad fought against Gale.
But it was too much.
Adelia, having eliminated all the lowest-grade Demonic Humans, approached with a menacing aura, and Gale's sword aura grew even sharper.
And at last, the conclusion.
"Ghk..."
Gale's sword pierced the chest of Garad, whose two massive arms—his pride—had all been severed.
The sword aura exploded from the tip of the blade that had smashed through the hard chest shell and driven forward, turning Garad's insides to pulp.
BOOM—
Garad staggered backward from the blast, vomited a mouthful of blood, and collapsed, unable to move any longer.
From his toes, he turned to black ash and crumbled away.
"Hah."
Gale let out a breath, lowered his sword, and looked up at the sky.
The light of the signal flare Garad had fired had vanished, but even so, he could not let go of his tension.
'There should be reinforcements.'
If there weren't, there would have been no need to fire a signal flare in the first place.
But for some reason, no reinforcements appeared.
Adelia seemed worried about the same thing. She closed her eyes and cast a detection spell, but detected nothing.
"I think it's fine. At least within about two hundred meters, there are no enemies."
At Adelia’s words, Gale exhaled again and sheathed his sword. Only then did he ask her,
"Are you hurt anywhere......?"
"Would I be?"
When Adelia shrugged and smiled, Gale smiled along with her.
Despite taking down eight lowest-grade Demonic Humans that rampaged like beasts, she had escaped without so much as a scratch.
"The tent...... seems unusable now."
"Ugh......."
At Gale's words, Adelia was visibly dejected.
But that was at least some comfort. Another day or two of travel would bring them to Thunderdoom Fortress, the ravens’ cradle.
"Still, I'm glad you weren't hurt."
"I know."
When Adelia smiled with drooping shoulders, Gale hurriedly approached her.
"Lord Gale?"
When Adelia blinked and asked, Gale smiled brightly again and spoke.
"Excuse me for a moment."
"Huh?"
At Adelia's questioning reply, Gale lowered his gaze, and Adelia finally understood.
Because both of them were barefoot.
"Um...... yes."
"Then."
When Adelia gave her permission, Gale did something befitting a descendant of the Bayel family—to be precise, befitting Yuder's older brother.
He picked Adelia up in his arms, far too naturally.
In truth, there was no particular need to go this far.
There was also the option of simply setting Adelia down and going to retrieve the shoes.
No, Adelia could fly with magic in the first place.
But Gale did not do that, and Adelia was satisfied. She seemed to curl up in Gale's arms, then soon shifted her body slightly and met Gale's gaze again.
In that state.
Her heart pounded.
The adrenaline secreted from the battle was about to lead to a new chemical reaction.
For a few seconds like that.
When the two of them let out giddy breaths.
BOOM!
A thunderous roar rang out from the air.
Gale and Adelia reflexively turned to look, and soon they were able to witness it.
A figure standing alone in the air, red cloak fluttering.
The one who had slaughtered all the mid-grade Demonic Humans dispatched from the west to the east, leaving only Garad.
He, who had flown over in haste after seeing the signal flare, looked at Gale and Adelia.
He flinched at the sight of the two embracing each other, then turned away in an instant. As if he had not noticed the two of them, he looked around with awkward movements, then flew off elsewhere.
And a few seconds later.
Voices flowed from Gale's and Adelia's mouths at the same time.
"Count......?"
"Dad?"
One of the Four Great Lords of the North, and the master of Red Dawn Tower—Count Chase.
The reason he had suddenly withdrawn after seeing the two of them.
Gale and Adelia understood at the same time.
They both blushed at the same time, and Gale cleared his throat.
"Ahem, ahem. Let's get our shoes first."
He felt sorry for Count Chase, who had even given them space (?), but the mood had already been completely ruined.
At Gale's words, Adelia furrowed her brow, then soon made up her mind.
Because at this rate, it felt like even things that should work out wouldn't work out.
"Lord Gale."
"Yes?"
That was as far as it went.
Adelia wrapped her arms around Gale's neck and moved her upper body. She brought her face close to Gale's, and once again summoned her courage.
Adelia's lips touched Gale's cheek.
'Ughhh.'
The original plan had not been this, but she could not push any further.
Because the mood had already been thoroughly ruined.
Because even now she was so embarrassed she felt like she could die.
Adelia squeezed her eyes shut and blushed, and ironically, Adelia's actions and appearance once again created a strange atmosphere.
It was an atmosphere quite different from the one in the tent—one that might even seem comical in a way—but it was enough to move Gale.
"Adelia."
After the low call, he acted.
On the white snowfield, the two figures overlapped into one.
And in the distance.
No, not that far—at just the right distance.
Count Chase, who had been hiding behind a large boulder holding his breath, dispelled several spells and then looked back at his spatial expansion bag. Stroking it slowly, he thought.
'Good thing I prepared.'
For a contingency.
If he hadn't, things would have been quite troublesome right now.
Count Chase, who had praised his own preparedness, closed his eyes for a moment and waited.
In truth, there were many things he was curious about.
The reason the two of them had crossed the border.
The whereabouts of Yuder and Cordelia.
But now was a time for patience.
'I should write a letter to that friend, Count Bayel, as well.'
Count Chase lightly stroked his chin and wore a serene smile.
He recalled the new things he would need to prepare.
* * *
At the same time, in the Skyroof Mountains.
Yuder and Cordelia flinched and opened their eyes at the same time.