Ending Maker Chapter 117
Ending Maker Chapter 117
Chapter 43 - Holy Angel
The Hell Gate.
It was not unfamiliar.
In the Hero Legend series, there were surprisingly quite a few chances to see a Hell Gate.
But the timing was wrong.
In Hero Legend 1, only a single gate had appeared.
The final boss, the Demon Prince Vaikazel, who had caused the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom.
Defeating him and closing the Hell Gate he had opened had been the final battle of Hero Legend 1.
'In the second game too, only after the midpoint.'
Opening a Hell Gate on the surface was no ordinary matter.
It required not only countless sacrifices, but also a catalyst to open the Hell Gate.
'A catalyst.'
Things that had crossed over together when the Infernal Lords of Hell had descended upon the surface in the past.
Their forms were varied, and the powers they contained also differed from one another, but they were rare.
Even for massive organizations like the Devil's Hand or the Devil's Eye, the catalysts for opening a Hell Gate numbered only one or two.
'The situation is different from Lena's case.'
The Hell Gate that had opened in Endymion had not been created through ordinary means.
It had been formed as a connecting passage in the process of Lena escaping Hell and returning to the surface.
Because of that, it differed from an ordinary Hell Gate in many respects.
Since the gate had been opened from Hell to the surface rather than the reverse, it could draw power from Hell and maintain itself without any particular additional support.
'But this isn't that. It can't be.'
Yuder glared at the altar once more.
He analyzed the magic circle he had broken down in his mind.
It was an ordinary Hell Gate. It was the same as the ones he had seen several times in Hero Legend 2.
'It can't be maintained for long.'
Power was needed to maintain a Hell Gate.
If, as Yuder predicted, a Hell Gate had been opened on the Snowflower Wind Plain, then apart from sacrifices, there would be no means to maintain the Hell Gate.
'A week at most.'
Of course, this was only a deduction based on events from the original story, so there would be some margin of error, but it should not be far off.
'He made a reckless move. No, he flipped the board.'
Opportunities to summon a Hell Gate were few.
Even in the original work, the reason Haragen had corrupted the wild gods, seized the barbarian tribes, and then attacked the north instead of summoning a Hell Gate was because that approach was far more efficient.
'Break the north, strike all the way down to the royal capital, and then open the Hell Gate.'
Which would be more effective: opening a Hell Gate in the Wild Lands, or opening a Hell Gate in the royal capital of the Saelun Kingdom?
There was no need to think about it.
Without question, the latter would be far more effective.
Of course, it was all speculation.
After all, in the original work, there had not even been information that Haragen possessed a catalyst.
But it was plausible.
Even Yuder would not have wasted a catalyst in this manner.
The optimal move was to make the Wild Lands, the barbarian tribes, and the northern Saelun Kingdom mutually destroy one another, and then summon the Hell Gate at the decisive location.
'But he didn't do that.'
To be sure, Yuder had repeatedly interfered with Haragen.
Compared to the original work, Haragen's current situation could certainly be called very bad.
But summoning a Hell Gate was too excessive.
Even from Haragen's perspective, this move was close to desperation.
After all, he had to abandon most of the military power he had painstakingly secured in the Wild Lands.
'Why.'
Would it not have been better to try a fight between the western and eastern armies?
Why had Haragen given up even on a decisive battle?
There was a reason.
There was one event Yuder did not yet know about that had driven Haragen to this decision.
Gale and Adelia.
Count Chase.
The three of them had annihilated the infiltration unit that had been attempting to penetrate into the east via the south.
They had shown Haragen that he had no option other than a head-on confrontation, and Haragen had made his decision.
If every plan was doomed to fail, then he would do something that could not fail.
He would cause something his enemies could not stop.
Because that was better than complete failure.
There was a time to overturn the board entirely.
The Wild Lands' military strength had already been halved. Even if he defeated the eastern army in a head-on battle in this situation, the damage would be too great. With halved strength, he could not properly carry out his original plan.
So he flipped the board.
He made a new board.
But even a rotten fossil like Yuder could not have known that much.
Therefore, Yuder stopped agonizing over this matter.
For now, information was needed.
This place was not a good place to continue agonizing.
"Cordelia."
At Yuder's call, Cordelia reacted immediately.
Cordelia had apparently been thinking hard in her own way as well; her expression was completely tense.
"Let's move for now."
"Yeah!"
At times like this, they had to keep their spirits up.
Cordelia, who had deliberately answered energetically, took the lead and ran.
They had not discussed where the destination was, but in this situation, there was only one place to go.
'The underground passages left behind by Magellan's High Elves.'
Through Melissa, they had learned things that could never have been discovered from the original story.
The Magic Kingdom of Magellan.
As people commonly thought, the elves of Pleiades generally lived in forests or mountains.
Even dark elves refused life underground except when it was unavoidable.
But Magellan's high elves had built a city underground.
As if they were dwarves, they had constructed most of their facilities inside mountains or beneath the earth.
'It's because of the Dragon Vein.'
Magellan's high elves had discovered the power of the star situated beneath the earth.
They had researched the great flow again and again, trying to find some way to use it, and eventually settled underground near the Dragon Vein.
'Infrastructure spanning the entire Wild Lands.'
The high elves had built infrastructure along the flow of the Dragon Vein.
And they had installed numerous facilities for utilizing the power of the Dragon Vein.
The facility in the Skyroof Mountains was one of them.
'The Dragon Vein was originally different from now.'
It had been much thinner, and it had been severed in many places.
But Magellan's high elves had connected it.
They had smoothed the flow of the Dragon Vein, and they had built relay facilities throughout the Wild Lands to strengthen that flow.
'And that was how the Dragon Vein of the present day had been created.'
And if Yuder's prediction was correct—
"Yuder."
At Cordelia's call, Yuder looked back at reality.
Before they knew it, the two of them had returned to the underground passage.
Yuder paused to catch his breath.
And then he thought again.
'The gate has opened.'
Setting aside everything else, that alone was certain.
Not only Cordelia's intuition, but also the ritual altar that Garammaru had been guarding told him that fact.
Then what should they do now?
Should they go around bursting the western Dragon Veins according to the original plan?
'There isn't enough time.'
In the original work, the reasons for opening a Hell Gate all converged on one thing.
Bringing to the surface a powerful being that could not be summoned through ordinary means.
Haragen had overreached.
He had used a catalyst, of which even the Devil's Eye had few, to open a Hell Gate.
Then he could not possibly be satisfied with Kraimler.
He would be trying to summon something even greater to the surface.
How many days would it take?
If he estimated the required time by comparing it with similar events from the original story.......
'Five days at most.'
At the shortest, three to four days.
It was utterly impossible.
Even if they used the tunnels the high elves had dug, they could not make it in time.
The Wild Lands were too vast for that.
'Town Portal.'
The spatial leap gates that the high elves had used.
According to Melissa's examination, there were several spatial leap gates still alive in the west.
If they reached one of those gates, they could return east much faster.
But there was no way to go directly to a spatial leap gate from here.
Either way, they had to consume time.
Yuder's thoughts deepened.
He thought and thought again.
And Cordelia looked at Yuder doing that.
She grimaced and began thinking just as hard.
Was there no method?
Was there no solution?
"Ugh."
This kind of thinking was neither her preference nor her strength.
Because of that, Cordelia let out a groaning sound and stamped her feet.
But she did not stop thinking.
And then at some moment.
"Ah!"
Cordelia suddenly raised her head.
She urgently grabbed Yuder's shoulders.
She grabbed Yuder by the shoulders, forcibly yanked him out of the mire of his thoughts, and told him the idea that had suddenly popped into her head.
"How about it?"
An idea that was not concrete.
Just a single idea.
Yuder stared at Cordelia without blinking. At his reaction, Cordelia's shoulders slumped and her expression fell.
So it was no good after all?
Well, that was just how she was.
Apparently thinking really wasn't her thing.
Just as Cordelia began sinking into self-pity.
Yuder suddenly burst into laughter.
He laughed refreshingly, then abruptly pulled Cordelia into an embrace.
"Y-Yuder?"
"You really are the best. My princess, my angel."
"Wh-what did you say?"
My what?
Cordelia recoiled at the cringeworthy choice of words, but Yuder paid no mind.
He tried to continue thinking through how to turn Cordelia's idea into reality.
But at that very moment.
Yuder and Cordelia looked at each other again.
They focused on the voice that had reached them inside their minds.
* * *
Thanks to Blade Song's heroic sacrifice, the eastern army had been able to break away from the front line.
But too much blood had already been spilled.
"Even so."
Great Storm looked west with sunken eyes.
He fixed his gaze on the distant Hell Gate, which even now radiated an overwhelmingly ominous energy.
It was extremely far away.
But from high in the sky, Great Storm could see across vast distances.
Even now, he could see monsters crawling onto the surface through the Hell Gate.
Therefore, he declared.
"It must be closed."
Great Storm did not know much about the Hell Gate.
There were almost no wild gods who remembered the era when the Magic Kingdom of Magellan had fought against the Infernal Lords of Hell.
Aside from beings like the Golden Dragon King, almost none of the wild gods active in that era remained.
Because of that, the wild gods did not know much about demons.
They could not even guess how long the Hell Gate could remain open or what kinds of beings might emerge from it. That uncertainty only made their conclusion firmer.
"No matter what sacrifice it takes."
If the Hell Gate remained as it was.
If more demons crawled out onto the surface.
The Wild Lands would cease to exist. They would become nothing more than a small hell ruled by the demons of Hell.
"Brother, Lord Rough Avalanche is......."
Great Storm turned around. Gentle Snow Breeze, her face drenched in tears, was sniffling.
She had never particularly liked Blade Song, but that did not mean she had truly hated him.
But Blade Song had saved everyone and died.
He had made a heroic sacrifice.
Even his tribes, even the countless children of the Wild Lands.
And now even Rough Avalanche's whereabouts had become unclear.
The tears did not dry in Gentle Snow Breeze's eyes.
She could not stop crying.
But Great Storm reached out and wiped away her tears, if only for a moment.
He forced a smile and said.
"He will be fine. Even if he lost his strength, he is a wild god. He is someone who has lived far longer than us."
They had simply gotten separated; Rough Avalanche would not have lost his life.
"R-right?"
"He will be. He will be."
Great Storm held Gentle Snow Breeze tightly and patted her back.
It was an action like soothing a child, and in fact, if one looked only at their human forms, Gentle Snow Breeze was taller than Great Storm, but that did not matter. Held in Great Storm's arms, she swallowed her tears.
"We must gather the wild gods."
They had to gather the wild gods of the east without missing a single one.
They had to combine the surviving main force with the remaining eastern troops and form one final strike force.
Blade Song and his children had sacrificed their lives to give the east—no, the Wild Lands—one more chance.
So they had to live up to their song.
"Gentle Snow Breeze, gather the children. Gather the wild gods."
Gentle Snow Breeze nodded. She wiped her face several times, then turned and ran.
Great Storm watched Gentle Snow Breeze's back. He turned around again and looked west.
"The Hell Gate."
Great Storm thought of Blade Song.
He remembered the western wild gods whom he had not met for a long time.
All of them had died.
And now even more wild gods might die.
But even so.
"Protecting the Wild Lands is our calling."
Great Storm drew a cold breath.
He steeled himself for the final battle.
* * *
Haragen gazed at the Hell Gate.
The ominous energy of Hell empowered him as a Demonic Human.
Haragen let out a smile.
Through his strengthened power, he sensed the one approaching from beyond the Hell Gate. He paid his respects to him.
A Demon Prince.
A demon with a title.
A being surpassing the great demon Kraimler, on the same level as Vaikazel, who had caused the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom in the past.
Haragen's smile turned bitter.
Perhaps because of the energy of Hell, his thoughts had changed as well.
'This was my calling after all.'
What did it matter if it was not the royal capital of the Saelun Kingdom?
If the Demon Prince descended, that would be enough. He would personally lead the demons and lay waste to the Wild Lands. He would march on the Saelun Kingdom.
The monsters and demons that had emerged through the Hell Gate had not formed contracts.
Therefore, they did not follow Haragen's control.
But that did not matter.
Because the monsters and demons knew as well.
That the Demon Prince was coming.
That following his command was their calling.
"Lord Haragen."
At the voice tinged with fear, Haragen turned around.
The ever-loyal Sharp Horn was looking at him with eyes full of hesitation.
That was only natural.
The western army had been shattered, and the Angry Rhino Tribe, having accepted the energy of Hell, could no longer be called human.
Even at this very moment, human sacrifices to maintain the Hell Gate were continuing.
Haragen looked at Sharp Horn.
He too was already no longer human. He was closer to a monster than a human.
A human heart still remained within him, but it was only a matter of time. So Haragen showed a sliver of mercy and told him what he wanted to hear.
"It is not bad. It has gone well. As always, you need only follow me."
At Haragen's words, Sharp Horn nodded. He cast aside his fear and blindly trusted his words.
Because otherwise, he could not endure the current situation.
"Wait. Greater glory will be with us."
Haragen, smiling faintly, gazed at the Hell Gate again.
Savoring the energy of Hell, he awaited the moment of descent.
* * *
"Lena?"
An answer returned to Cordelia's call.
No words had been exchanged, but a clear feeling came through.
Lena had awakened.
The Holy Angel had descended upon this land once more.
What that meant.
The one more possibility that arose because of it.
"Lena."
Yuder and Cordelia could tell.
That she was spreading her wings of light.
That she was leaving the holy ground guarded by Blue Beard and soaring toward the west.
The connection was severed.
But it was enough.
Lena had conveyed her will to the two of them.
Sensing that a Hell Gate had opened on the surface, she had immediately sprung into action.
"Lena woke up."
Excitement colored Cordelia's voice.
It could not be helped.
Because Lena had awakened.
The Holy Angel Lena, one of the five heroes who had ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom.
But that was not all.
The reason Cordelia was excited.
The reason Yuder tried to embrace Cordelia once more.
The two of them had the same thought at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed, and Yuder spread his arms. But instead of embracing Yuder, Cordelia coyly stepped back, then smiled brightly again.
She took out the object she had carried with her ever since obtaining it, keeping it within sight even while bathing. She drew it from her back and planted it upright before Yuder.
"Heavenly Judgment."
The sword of divine punishment, forged personally by Auriel, the Angel of Judgment.
A holy armament that only an angel could use.
And one more possibility.
Something that could be attempted because Lena had awakened.
"My angel."
Yuder said it in an unbearably cheesy tone and tried to embrace Cordelia. Cordelia recoiled and stepped back, but soon smiled bashfully. Flashing her fangs, she said.
"I'll show you something cool."
The battle that would unfold ahead.
There would be more than one angel soaring through the sky.
Yuder nodded. And he showed a confident smile.
Because it had been completed at this very moment.
The optimal strategy.
"As expected of my Yuder."
Yuder was satisfied with Cordelia's smile.
For the sake of a perfect happy ending, he set to work once more.