Ending Maker Chapter 112
Ending Maker Chapter 112
Chapter 40 - The Snow Queen #3
Cordelia couldn't see anything.
But she could definitely feel it.
Yuder's arms wrapped firmly around her waist, arms she could trust and rely on.
At some point Yuder had grown so much that Cordelia now fit completely within his embrace.
And she could hear it.
The roars of four dragons.
The sound of immense power rising and shattering the destructive force that had been surging toward them.
It felt like every hair on her body stood on end.
A shiver ran down her spine, and her heart pounded.
The Fourth Gate of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
What had changed because of it.
The four black dragons he now commanded simultaneously.
'He's strong.'
He had definitely changed.
It wasn't the level of going from 3.8 to 4 and getting a little stronger. By opening the fourth gate, he had stepped into a completely different realm.
'Scary.'
The thought crossed her mind, if only briefly. The dragon aura surging from Yuder's entire body was simply that fierce.
Wrath.
Rage.
A violent emotion that seemed ready to burst at any moment.
'It hurts...'
Yuder was holding Cordelia so tightly around the waist that she felt as if she might be crushed.
Her waist felt like it was about to break.
'This idiot!'
But her voice wouldn't come out properly. She had no strength in her body and couldn't do anything.
And then she felt a touch.
Her senses, sharpened because she couldn't see, caught it precisely. Yuder's hand, which had unleashed the black dragons, touched Cordelia's cheek.
Cordelia flinched.
The fear grew a little stronger.
But only for a moment.
Because she understood right away.
What Yuder's anger was about.
She realized just how careful and gentle Yuder's touch was.
"Healing."
Yuder murmured the incantation as he gently stroked Cordelia's closed eyelids.
A pure white light from the ring melted into Cordelia's eyes as if being absorbed, and Cordelia slowly opened her eyes.
"Ah, I can see."
It was still blurry, but she could see well enough.
At Cordelia's characteristically casual exclamation, Yuder let out a sigh of relief and spoke as he stroked her cheek again.
"Sorry, it hurt a lot, didn't it?"
His voice was a little different from usual.
And on top of that, he was even stroking her cheek.
Cordelia was flustered, so she feigned calm to cope with the unfamiliar situation.
"Yeah. It was really hard."
"Sorry."
Yuder spoke again, and Cordelia was seized by a truly strange feeling.
She simultaneously felt the urge to shout at him to just act normal and the urge to just close her eyes like this, and her heart began to pound as if it would burst.
'Why, why am I like this.'
Both Yuder and Cordelia herself.
And then Yuder acted again. He looked straight into Cordelia's eyes and spoke.
"I'll be back."
Cordelia nodded without realizing it.
Yuder smiled again at the sight of her behaving demurely with a reddened face, and he moved with great care.
He carefully lowered Cordelia into a sitting position as her legs gave out, then turned toward the Guardian.
He let the anger Cordelia had sensed spill out in full.
"Grrrr..."
The Guardian growled low.
But it was different from before.
She could feel its fear.
The immense dragon aura Yuder was emitting was binding the creature.
"Grrrr..."
It hadn't been waiting for Yuder and Cordelia.
It had had no choice but to wait.
'It was scared.'
Cordelia felt the Guardian's fear. Her senses, closer to a beast's than a person's, told her clearly.
The dragon aura Yuder was emitting.
The power of the black dragon that blazed like black flames and covered Yuder's entire body.
Cordelia's eyes hadn't been fully healed.
It was still blurry, and she couldn't see colors well.
But because of that, she could see even more clearly.
Yuder standing firm in front of her.
Yuder's back.
The form of a black dragon about to soar into the sky.
"Come."
Yuder said in a low voice.
His voice was quiet, but Cordelia heard him clearly.
It spread out like a gentle ripple.
'Wh-what is that. Embarrassing.'
Why was she the one who had to feel embarrassed?
Just as Cordelia was squirming, the Guardian reacted.
It let out a great roar as if shaking off its fear.
"ROAAAR!"
The Living Swords and Shields moved simultaneously.
They flew in to crush and destroy Yuder and Cordelia.
From all directions.
And all at once.
But Yuder was not afraid.
He saw, felt, calculated, and then acted.
Thud.
A low, heavy sound.
But what arose from it was incredibly fast and light.
Black Wind Arrival.
A jet-black gale and a golden whirlwind.
Yuder crossed the space. He looked to the right and thrust out a palm strike toward the Living Shield crashing down.
Black Dragon Emerges.
A black dragon roared and surged forward. It didn't just knock the Living Shield away—it pushed it back. The center of the Living Shield caved in, and it flew into the wall and collided.
BOOOOM!
A thunderous sound erupted.
And that was already too late. Yuder had already thrown his body to the left.
A Living Sword.
It came flying with its blade held straight up.
He rotated his body in midair. Then he brought his heel down toward the Living Sword's blade. Once again, the released black dragon aura bit into the Living Sword. He drove it straight into the ground.
BOOM!
The Living Sword was embedded in the ground in the same posture it had been flying.
And all of this had taken barely more than two seconds.
Only that much time.
That was why the Living Swords and Shields couldn't reach Cordelia, who had collapsed to the ground. They were one second short.
That one second.
Yuder crossed the space.
At the very moment the Living Sword embedded itself in the floor with a thunderous sound, he kicked off the ground faster than sound. He turned his body toward Cordelia and pulled back both arms. He added a black gale to the black dragon aura.
Black Dragon Gale Strike.
WHOOOM!
Two black dragons shot out from Yuder's hands and surged with the gale. They trapped the Living Swords and Shields in a black vortex, then drove them into the walls and ceiling.
BOOM!
The sounds of impact rang out almost simultaneously. Cordelia blinked, and Yuder turned around. He charged toward the Guardian, which was flustered by the Living Swords and Shields that no longer moved.
"ROAAAR!"
The Guardian roared back and charged at him.
But its momentum was weak.
Its body had cowered, and because of that, everything it would do and every thought it had seemed visible.
BOOM!
Black Dragon Thunder Kick.
Along with a golden lightning bolt, the jet-black aura exploded.
Yuder's spinning kick slammed into the Guardian's head. The released black dragon aura bit into the Guardian's head and drove it straight into the ground.
Kung!
The Guardian's massive body collapsed. Yuder, who had spun his body several times in the air, landed on the ground and immediately charged again.
Thunderclap Strike.
BOOM!
Thunder erupted again. A lightning-like rapid flurry of strikes pounded the Guardian's chest, and the Guardian couldn't even let out a proper scream.
CRASH!
But it was still a Guardian. Having absorbed dragon energy from the ground, it unleashed lightning from its entire body. The moment it broke off Yuder's attack, even if only briefly, it let out a roar.
"GRAAAH!"
Dragon Fear.
A power that induced terror.
Bang!
It was futile.
Yuder stomped the ground roughly, creating a thunderous sound. At the same time he broke the Guardian's momentum, he unleashed his dragon aura.
With a stronger dragon's roar, he neutralized the Guardian's Dragon Fear.
"GRAAAH!"
The Guardian thrashed and screamed. And Yuder calculated once more. The height of the ceiling and the size of the Guardian, the force needed to send it flying, and the resulting time it would spend in the air.
'I have to finish it in the air.'
Yuder was currently beating it one-sidedly, but finishing it this way would take too long.
He had to lift it into the air, cut off the dragon energy supplied from the ground, and finish it with a single blow.
To do that, he needed two things.
A means to send it flying into the air, and a powerful technique to finish it in one blow once it was airborne.
"GRAH!"
The Guardian thrashed again. So Yuder cut off his thoughts and acted. He drove his fist into the Guardian's chest once more, forcing it to curl up, then pulled his body back. He deliberately gave it time to rise, then moved his feet again.
WHOOSH!
The Guardian was a four-legged beast, so if he dug in underneath it, he could see its chest and belly.
Yuder slid low along the floor, then kicked his body upward almost like a handstand, aiming for the Guardian's abdomen.
He kicked its abdomen with all his strength.
Bang!
Black energy surged up. It bit into the Guardian's waist and drove straight upward into the air.
THUD!
It collided with the ceiling. And then it began to fall.
The time remaining until it hit the ground was only a few seconds.
Yuder straightened his posture and gripped the Sword of the Eastern Warrior at his waist. He infused it with black dragon aura.
And then he realized.
The ceiling was too low.
There wasn't enough time to gather sufficient power.
But Yuder didn't stop.
Because he could see it.
The green aura swallowing the Guardian. The witch's telekinesis pinning the Guardian in midair.
"Honestly."
You can't do anything without me.
Cordelia's voice came from behind him. The omitted words formed in his mind as if they were real.
Cordelia.
A genius of combat.
She hadn't just been watching.
She had cast Mana Drain on the dragon energy surging from the ground to recover her mana.
Of course, the efficiency wasn't great.
But even so, she had been able to recover her mana.
And as a result.
"You really are the best."
Yuder spoke. He smiled and pulled back the sword, then swung the Sword of the Eastern Warrior toward the Guardian, which was pinned in midair and unable to move.
Black Dragon Hell Slash.
A jet-black sword aura shot out violently. The savage line that tore through the earth as it charged crossed the Guardian's neck.
BOOM!
The Guardian's neck was severed as if bitten off by a dragon's teeth. Cordelia released her telekinesis, and the Guardian's massive body crashed to the ground.
RUMBLE!
The Guardian's head and neck each collided with the ground, and with a thunderous sound, the floor split apart.
And then rings of pure white light rose in succession around Yuder and Cordelia's chests.
Level up.
Yuder himself was now 65. Cordelia was now 64.
"Haa... haa..."
Cordelia panted with her shoulders slumped, and Yuder turned toward her.
The Snow Queen was important, but for now, he wanted to go to Cordelia.
Cordelia raised her head and looked at Yuder.
Yuder looked at Cordelia.
And right after.
Crack.
They heard a sound.
The two of them raised their heads at the same time and saw cracks spreading across the ceiling.
Craaack—
And then another sound.
This time it was the walls and the floor, and Yuder and Cordelia looked at each other.
"Ah."
"Ahh."
The cracks grew larger.
It was only natural.
They had caused all kinds of havoc.
They had smashed things into the walls and ceiling indiscriminately.
"Hurry!"
Cordelia shouted, and Yuder quickly turned around. He ran toward the pillar and separated the Snow Queen's core in the order Melissa had told him.
Clatter, clatter.
Debris began to fall little by little from the ceiling. The cracks were continuing to grow, so soon a large chunk of rock would fall.
But the biggest problem was the walls and the floor.
A small burst of golden energy suddenly spurted from the cracks in the floor.
It was clearly the pure power of the Dragon Vein.
"Hurry up!"
Cordelia shouted again, and Yuder quickly threw himself forward. He snatched up Cordelia's waist as she staggered to her feet and turned toward the elevator. With no time to open the door, he smashed the elevator door with a dropkick.
RUMBLE!
"Up!"
Fortunately, Melissa responded.
The elevator began to ascend, and through the gap of the broken elevator door, Yuder and Cordelia watched the walls and floor of the development room collapse, and the golden aura swallow the Guardian's corpse.
WHOOOOOSH—
They continued to ascend.
"Haa, ha."
Yuder sank down and then collapsed entirely. Cordelia, dragged down with him, let out a groan.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm not okay. My eyes don't work well. My joints ache. Everything just hurts."
When she complained without realizing it, Yuder smiled again. Just as Cordelia had, he spoke without realizing it.
"I'm glad."
"About what."
"That I'm with you."
Yuder turned to look at Cordelia. He revealed a little of his true feelings.
But whether it was misfortune or fortune, Cordelia's eyes hadn't fully healed.
This time, their eye-contact conversation failed.
"Hmph, if you know, then treat me well."
When Cordelia huffed and spoke as she always did, Yuder's eyebrows twitched slightly, but soon he put on his usual shameless smile.
"Would I ever not, my princess?"
"Hmph, all talk."
Cordelia, who had deliberately been grumpier than usual, leaned her head against Yuder's chest.
She didn't want to admit it, but being like this put her at ease.
She closed her eyes just like that and surrendered her body to exhaustion. She fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
"Thank you so much. You really worked hard."
Yuder, who was standing and carrying the deeply sleeping Cordelia in what was called a princess carry, nodded and then stepped out of the elevator.
"What happened to the development room?"
"It completely collapsed. But it's fine. Since we removed the Snow Queen's core, there won't be an explosion."
When Melissa spoke with a smile, Yuder turned to look at Cordelia without realizing it.
'Hmm, I'm a severe case too.'
Because when he thought of an explosion, the first thing that came to mind was Cordelia's brightly smiling face.
No, was it not Yuder himself but Cordelia who was strange?
Either way, they had prevented the great collapse of the Skyroof Mountains and also stopped the birth of the Mad Dragon Yalabaska.
It was truly an incredible achievement.
'Only Cordelia, Melissa, and I know about it, though.'
Actually, Melissa didn't know anything about the Mad Dragon Yalabaska either, so it was a great feat known only to Yuder himself and Cordelia.
'Well, that's enough then.'
Yuder was human too.
If he had been the only person who knew he'd helped save the world, it would have felt rather lonely. But he wasn't alone.
It was a fact he shared with Cordelia.
That alone made his heart feel warm.
'And I gained a lot too.'
He had opened the Fourth Gate of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
And because of that, not only had he gained command of four black dragons, but he had also learned things about the Nine Heavens Nine Gates themselves.
'Let's review it later.'
His second meeting with the fairy maiden.
The things he had gained from meeting her.
'And.'
The Snow Queen's core placed in Cordelia's arms.
The failed Spirit King that had given birth to the Mad Dragon Yalabaska.
He had already decided what to use it for.
'Cordelia needs a power-up too.'
Because it would be unfair if only Yuder himself got one.
'It'll take some work, though.'
To realize his idea, he would have to go through considerable hardship. But when he thought of the smile Cordelia would show when it was all over, he wanted to start right away.
"Um... Yuder? What are you thinking about?"
"Huh?"
"No, it's just... you keep grinning..."
"Ahem."
Yuder quickly composed his expression, adjusted his hold on Cordelia, and spoke to Melissa again.
"First, could we rest for a bit? And if possible, get something to eat?"
"Of course. My masters left some emergency rations behind."
Following the brightly smiling Melissa's guidance, Yuder stepped forward.
And at the same time.
Near the northern border region of the Saelun Kingdom.
"Indeed, so that's how it is."
Count Chase said quietly, then looked north once more.
He thought of Yuder and Cordelia, who would be somewhere in the vast Wild Lands, and then nodded.
"Gale, as you said, the ravens must be prepared."
Gale's judgment had been correct. They had to report to the north what was happening in the Wild Lands.
"I will continue north like this and join the Eastern Alliance you mentioned. Gale, you go to Thunderdoom Fortress with Adelia."
"Understood."
It was the expected course of events.
But what happened next was something Gale had not expected.
"By the way, Gale."
"Yes, my lord."
"Looking at you again, you're still so scrawny. No spirit either."
"Excuse me?"
Unlike Yuder, Gale hadn't adapted to Count Chase.
He asked in confusion, and Count Chase clicked his tongue before opening his spatial expansion bag.
If they parted here, it would be quite a while before they met again.
Even if it was a little(?) awkward, he had no choice but to handle it all at once.
"Are you eating properly? Surely you're not starving Adelia? Hoho... your sword is worn out. It doesn't look like it can be fixed with maintenance."
"My... lord?"
Just as Gale was blinking in confusion, Adelia covered her face with both hands and let out a silent scream.
'Daaaaad.'
It was embarrassing. So, so embarrassing.
But she had no intention of stopping him. Why would she stop him when he was giving things to Gale?
And so Count Chase's peculiar nitpicking continued, Gale blinked at the bags piling up one by one in front of him, and Adelia simply sat down, not knowing what to do.
And so, about ten minutes later.
Count Chase saw off Gale and Adelia, who headed toward Thunderdoom Fortress groaning under the weight of luggage that had multiplied several times over, and then turned around.
He advanced north.