Ending Maker Chapter 113
Ending Maker Chapter 113
Chapter 41 - Joining Forces
The main forces of the east and west each advanced toward the Snowflower Wind Plain.
If they continued on like this, they would face each other in three days.
Morale was extremely high on both sides.
The east had the just cause of saving the Wild Lands from the demon worshippers.
With the Wild Gods joining them as well, there was no way their morale could be low.
"But we will be victorious."
The reason for the west's high morale.
Since first setting out on this campaign, the Angry Rhino Tribe had not lost even once.
The mountain of victories built from winning again and again gave the Angry Rhino Tribe confidence, and instilled fear in the tribes that had been defeated and absorbed.
"In the end, it will be a head-on battle."
The battle at the Snowflower Wind Plain would decide the fate of the Wild Lands.
"But......."
Haragen, a high-ranking Demonic Human of the Devil's Eye and the one in charge of this operation, let out a suppressed growl.
The reason was simple.
'Total annihilation?'
The Demonic Humans of the infiltration unit prepared to corrupt the eastern Dragon Vein had been completely wiped out.
Since the energy of no less than seven mid-ranking Demonic Humans had vanished, he had initially thought something was wrong with the Demon Register, but it wasn't.
Seven mid-ranking Demonic Humans really had been killed.
'There's only one possibility.'
The ones who annihilated the infiltration unit that had been making a wide detour south were most likely the eastern infiltration unit that had likewise been making a wide detour south.
And when it came to infiltration units, there was one pair that came to mind.
'The Deadly Duo.'
A pair of one man and one woman.
The wicked witch of explosions who blew up anything in her way, and the merciless black-haired practitioner.
Since this was a combination of fragmentary information left behind by the Demonic Humans' lingering thoughts, there was no concrete information about the duo, but it was definitely those two who had taken down the mid-ranking Demonic Humans dispatched to the east.
'And this infiltration unit as well.'
The east had also dispatched the Deadly Duo as an infiltration unit, and they had annihilated the infiltration units sent from the west.
'If that's really the case.'
And if those two struck at the west's rear.
'No, it's fine.'
Haragen suppressed a groan for a moment, but soon steeled himself.
The west's rear was not empty.
Everything happening in the Wild Lands served two purposes, and some of their forces had been left behind to carry out one of them: the ritual.
'If they clash, it's actually to our advantage.'
The combat strength of each of those left behind far exceeded that of a mid-ranking Demonic Human.
Even the Deadly Duo, who it would be no exaggeration to say had interfered with everything in the east, would be no match for them.
'And in the first place, it's only two people.'
The situation was different from the east, where they had only needed to find and kill the infiltration unit.
What could just two people do in the vast west?
'Right, only two people.'
They were certainly strong, but there was a limit to what two people could do.
No, even if they infiltrated with more people, what could they do? Would they corrupt the Dragon Vein like they themselves had?
'Let's focus on the head-on battle.'
If they shattered the enemy's main force, everything would flow as it should.
Having regained his composure, Haragen closed the Demon Register.
He muttered once more for his own sake.
"There's nothing they can do in the first place."
The most they could do was attack the supply lines, but 'they' were stationed at the supply lines and other key areas. So it was fine. Even if the Deadly Duo infiltrated the west, there was nothing they could do.
'What I need to focus on is the main force.'
Haragen stroked his long white beard. He glared toward the east with his insect-like compound eyes.
* * *
Cordelia, who had been sleeping sprawled on the bed as if crumpled, drool dripping, suddenly bolted upright and shouted.
"Explosion!"
A shout that somehow seemed like an answer.
And Yuder, who entered the room with perfect timing, thought.
'What in the world was she dreaming about?'
What kind of dream would make someone shout "explosion" in their sleep?
He had a rough idea, but Yuder decided not to think about it and approached Cordelia.
"Has our princess woken up?"
Cordelia answered his gentle question by sniffing.
A delicious smell had caught her attention.
"Ahh...... ah......."
Cordelia, who had been sniffing while letting out a dazed voice, suddenly stretched her arms wide. It seemed she had woken up.
"Ughhh......."
As if stretching while she was at it, Cordelia's back arched like a bow.
Instead of flopping back down, Cordelia leaned forward and spoke in a voice still thick with sleep.
"Yuder? You're there, right?"
Because among the delicious smells, she could smell Yuder's scent.
Even so, Cordelia asked for confirmation because she still couldn't see.
"I'm here. More importantly, you still can't see?"
"Yeah, if anything I can see even less than before......."
Cordelia's blue eyes were unfocused.
Yuder furrowed his brow and answered.
"According to Melissa, it's a temporary functional impairment caused by overload. All the physical damage has been completely healed, so your vision should recover with time."
"That's a relief."
She was pretending to be calm, but she had been afraid that she might never see again.
"Still, I can feel myself getting stronger. If I get stronger than I am now, I think I'll be able to use the Evil Eye without strain."
At first, she could only paralyze a specific target, and only when their eyes met, but this time she had paralyzed everyone in her field of vision simultaneously.
Of course, the paralysis had not lasted long, and she had lost her eyesight as the price, but it was unmistakable progress.
"Hah, I tell you not to overdo it, but you never listen."
No, in the first place, wasn't it Yuder himself who had made Cordelia overdo it?
Yuder let out a sigh, sat down on the chair beside Cordelia's bed, and placed the tray he was holding onto the bed.
"Smells good. Is it food?"
"It's soup."
Cordelia's face brightened at Yuder's answer.
"Wow, I was hungry anyway."
Cordelia reflexively rubbed her stomach, then began groping at the air with both hands.
Seeing her grope around for the tray and spoon, Yuder clicked his tongue and grabbed Cordelia's wrist.
"Come on, what are you trying to do when you can't even see? I'll feed you. Say ah."
"Huh?"
"I said I'll feed you, so say 'ah.' 'Ah.'"
Cordelia blinked at Yuder's words.
If it had been the usual—no, if it had been the Cordelia from the Frost Anvil days, she would have happily opened her mouth and asked to be fed, but now things were a bit different.
"I-I'm fine, okay? I can eat with my own hands, okay?"
What the hell kind of 'ah' was that.
"Now now, don't spill it."
"I said I can do it."
Having said that, Cordelia focused her senses. It wasn't as if she couldn't see at all. As soon as she got a rough sense of the position, she reached out, grabbed the spoon, and began eating the soup with surprising dexterity.
"How's that? I eat pretty well, right?"
Using a spoon without spilling wasn't exactly something a seventeen-year-old girl could brag about, but doing it while unable to see was certainly impressive.
"Wow."
Wouldn't spilling be the norm? She hadn't even trained for this.
Pleased by Yuder's admiration, Cordelia continued with a smug air.
"Hehe, you're not the only one who's good with your body, you know? I'm good at everything physical too."
"Tch, that's just tying my hands."
"What?"
Yuder pretended not to hear Cordelia's question and reluctantly put away the bib he had specially prepared before continuing.
"Well, then listen while you eat."
"Wow, this is really good. There's another bowl, right?"
Cordelia was already eating regardless of what Yuder said. Yuder replied that there were about three more bowls, then returned to the main topic.
"First of all, this matter has been wrapped up well. The development lab collapsed, but we secured the Snow Queen's core. There was no explosion, and the Dragon Vein is safe. Don't be disappointed. If it had gone off, we'd all be dead, you know?"
"No, I'm not disappointed, I'm just a little bummed."
With the spoon in her mouth, Cordelia looked disappointed. Yuder wondered how she had ended up like this, then quickly realized.
'Ah, she was always like this.'
Yellow Storm hadn't been called a human disaster for nothing.
She had loved explosions and destruction from the start.
"Why why why. You're thinking something weird right now, aren't you?"
"No, I was thinking proper and wholesome thoughts. Anyway, with this, the birth of the Mad Dragon Yalabaska has been prevented, and one of the Seven Calamities has disappeared. This might bring about the biggest butterfly effect of everything we've done so far."
"It's really amazing."
If they hadn't headed to the Sky Roof.
If they hadn't had the phoenix feather.
"It's the result of everything being connected. You can't just call it luck."
Yuder smiled faintly and continued speaking.
"Anyway, we got the Snow Queen's core, right? With the development lab gone, we can't just leave it sitting there. So we decided to take it with us."
"That's a good idea, but Melissa agreed to it, right?"
"Of course. Melissa even helped."
Having said that much, Yuder picked up the Moonlight that had been lying under the bed.
"I implanted the Snow Queen's core into Moonlight."
"Ah! Right. Moonlight has a socket."
The socket was originally there for item enhancement, so he had been a little doubtful whether a core could really be implanted into it, but the implantation had gone more smoothly than expected.
'Maybe Moonlight was also made by Magellan's High Elves.'
Either way, the Snow Queen's core had been implanted into Moonlight, and as a result, Moonlight, which had been a mere B-rank item, had now been reborn as at least an A-rank item.
"Not S or SS?"
"The Snow Queen's core is incomplete. If you release its power at maximum output, who knows what might happen. But...... if we find a way to stabilize it, someday it'll be able to wield power equal to the Mad Dragon Yalabaska."
"Whoa."
A staff with power equal to the Mad Dragon Yalabaska, one of the Seven Calamities.
"It's mine, right?"
"Would I use it?"
"Hehehe, I'm so happy. Power up, power up."
Yuder getting stronger was nice too, but the best thing was getting stronger herself.
"Wow, it got an ice attribute added, right?"
"Since it's the Snow Queen."
The moon attribute, which could be called Moonlight's base attribute, had good compatibility with the ice attribute.
"I'll have to focus on ice magic."
"Study hard."
"Yes, teacher."
Cordelia, who had answered cheerfully, put down her spoon and began groping for Moonlight.
And as if on cue, this time Melissa entered the room.
"Are you feeling a bit better?"
"Melissa? It's Melissa, right?"
Unlike Yuder, Melissa had no physical body, so she had no scent.
When Cordelia asked while looking toward where the voice had come from, Melissa nodded.
"Yes, it's me."
Having answered warmly, she stood beside Yuder and asked in a small voice.
"Yuder, did you tell her?"
"No, I was just about to."
"Then I'll tell her."
"Tell me what?"
The last question came from Cordelia.
Melissa smiled softly and continued.
"I truly thank you both. Thanks to you, we were able to avoid the worst possible outcome."
"Oh, it was nothing. Hehehe."
As always, Cordelia was easy to flatter, and her cheeks quickly flushed red.
"I already told Yuder, but I'll show you a shortcut that can cross the mountain range. There's a passage my masters used to use."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, it's a tunnel carved through the mountain, so you won't have to go outside. You'll also be able to save a lot of time."
"Wow, that's great. Thank you so much."
Saving time was nice, but what Cordelia was even happier about was being able to avoid the murderous cold.
"But Melissa."
"Yes, Cordelia."
"Then what are you going to do about Melissa now?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean, the development lab is gone, right?"
"Yes, it's gone."
"Then doesn't that mean you have nothing left to do?"
Melissa was an artificial spirit created to manage the facility where the development lab was located.
Cordelia's sharp question—though she certainly hadn't meant it that way—struck at Melissa's very reason for existence. Melissa furrowed her brow for a moment, then answered in a slightly lonely voice.
"Still, I don't know when my masters might return. When they come back, I need to tell them about what happened here......."
"You can just leave a letter."
"Pardon?"
"A letter, a letter. Saying 'we left because of such and such.'"
Melissa blinked at Cordelia's words.
It was something she had never considered before.
"Leave...... a letter and go?"
"Yes, wouldn't that work? No, wait. Just go find your masters."
Melissa's eyes went wide at Cordelia's words.
"Go find them?"
"Yes, go find them. Yuder and I are going to be wandering around several of Magellan's ruins anyway. We might run into your masters along the way, right? Or get some clues."
Magellan's High Elves were beings with transcendent lifespans.
And while they weren't among the playable characters, survivors of Magellan really did exist in Pleiades.
'We even meet a few in the latter part of the original.'
So wouldn't it be good for Melissa to come along too?
Cordelia turned toward Yuder. Even though they couldn't communicate with their eyes at the moment, Yuder understood what she meant. He nodded and added his own argument.
"You don't need to worry about how we'd go together. Moonlight has one more socket left. We can just insert Melissa's core into it."
"R-Really? Is that okay?"
"Of course. And actually, this is something I'd like to ask of you as well. We'll be able to get Melissa's help in regulating the Snow Queen's core."
If that really worked, they would be able to raise the Snow Queen's output even higher than now.
In other words, Moonlight, which had been upgraded to A-rank, would immediately be upgraded again to A+ or S-rank.
"That's great. Let's go together, Melissa. You'll become my spirit, right?"
Faced with Yuder and Cordelia's seamless persuasion, Melissa faltered for a moment before finally nodding.
Because she didn't want to be alone anymore.
Moreover, as the two had said, there was no reason for her to remain at this facility any longer.
"All right. I'll go with you. Please take care of me."
When Melissa accepted, Cordelia beamed. The fact that they would have to leave Melissa alone in a place with no one had been weighing on her mind the whole time.
And Yuder smiled for a different reason.
"Then Melissa, while we're on the subject, let's tidy things up."
"Pardon? Tidy up?"
"Yes, tidy up."
The supplies remaining in the supply storage.
Yuder and Cordelia did have a conscience. That was why they hadn't completely emptied the Wild Fairies' treasure vault either.
Even before fighting the Guardian, they had taken only what they needed.
But the situation had changed.
Because they were planning to empty the facility.
Because they were planning to take Melissa with them.
"There's no reason to leave anything behind."
Yuder's argument was persuasive, and Melissa nodded without realizing it.
And Cordelia thought.
'How reliable.'
As expected of our Yuder. The number-one husband candidate with unbeatable life skills.
With Yuder, wouldn't she be able to take a bath and drink orange juice full of ice even in a desert?
And half a day later.
Yuder and Cordelia, who had finally stuffed their belongings into the spatial expansion bag they had obtained, began their journey westward once again.
Their objective was to blow up the corrupted Dragon Vein and cause chaos in the aftermath.
On the surface, it was an objective that was terrorism itself, but it was a legitimate operation that even had the permission of the landowner.
"I'm gonna blow it up in a star shape."
If she was going to blow it up, she might as well do it prettily.
Chattering like an adorable baby bird, Cordelia headed onward with her rabbit tail wagging, and the thoroughly smitten Yuder offered no particular objection.
And two days later.
The first explosion, hinting at a second and third, began.