Ending Maker Chapter 118
Ending Maker Chapter 118
Chapter 43 - Holy Angel #2
Time passed.
Four days since the battle at Snowflower Wind Plain.
The Hell Gate remained intact, and Snowflower Wind Plain was blanketed in violet hellish energy.
The eastern army regrouped.
The main force that had retreated from Snowflower Wind Plain combined with the troops that had been moving from all across the east to join them, and in no time a great army of forty thousand was formed once more.
"It's thanks to the sacrifice of Blade Song and those children."
The missing Rough Avalanche did not return.
But there was no leisure to go searching. Great Storm sought a way to destroy the Hell Gate together with the wild gods who had gathered from all across the east.
"It's crude, but there seems to be no choice other than a frontal assault."
At the words of Heavy Footsteps, a wild god who had come running from the far end of the east, the other wild gods nodded as well.
It was because of the newly added information.
"I heard that if the Hell Gate is left alone for too long, problems beyond merely having more monsters will arise."
The Hell Gate would continue to grow larger as long as it remained open.
Only low-grade monsters and nameless demons could pass through a Hell Gate that had just opened.
But as a day or two passed and the Hell Gate grew larger and sturdier, higher-ranking beings too could descend to the surface through the Hell Gate.
"Of course, the longer we drag this out, the worse our position becomes...... and the worst-case scenario could happen."
When Blue Beard, who had heard about the Hell Gate from Lena, spoke with a serious face, the faces of the other wild gods darkened.
"By the afternoon of the fifth day at the latest...... by then we must either close or destroy the Hell Gate."
Blue Beard did not explain the reason for that.
But there was no one among the wild gods who did not know the reason.
'A being we cannot handle is coming.'
A being that could not be opposed even with the combined strength of the entire east.
The gazes of the wild gods gathered on Great Storm, who could be called the representative of the eastern wild gods.
Great Storm quietly closed his eyes, then spoke with a calm face.
"Tomorrow morning, we attack the Hell Gate."
Over those four days, the east had consolidated its forces and, though only partially, healed the wounds suffered at Snowflower Wind Plain.
There was no more time, so now they had to march to the decisive battle.
Tension settled on the faces of all the wild gods.
The tension was especially strong because never before had so many wild gods gathered to march into battle together.
"Um, but......."
A wild god sitting in the corner raised a hand.
It was a small child with fox ears on her head, and as her appearance showed, she was Murmur, the youngest and weakest of the wild gods gathered here.
She spoke in a slightly timid voice while raising her hand a little, but since it was so quiet, it was heard strangely loudly.
All the wild gods turned to look at Murmur, and with a small "eep," Murmur stiffened her body, then hesitantly spoke.
"Um...... those two...... have they arrived?"
At the question she asked while hugging her fluffy tail, everyone's gaze turned back to Great Storm.
No one had said it aloud, but everyone had been wondering the same thing.
Those two.
The guardians of the Wild Lands who had saved not only Rough Avalanche and Gentle Snow Breeze but also Blue Beard, and had even prevented the crisis at Karaval.
But almost no one knew their true identities.
Among the wild gods, the two were figures known mostly through rumors.
"I heard they collapsed Bladebeak Canyon......."
"Didn't they already close a Hell Gate once?"
"They blow up anything and everything, is that true?"
"I heard nothing survives where they've passed."
Because Rough Avalanche's mountain had collapsed, Gentle Snow Breeze's plain had burned away, and Bladebeak Canyon's very terrain had changed.
At the fact-based rumors, Gentle Snow Breeze let out an awkward laugh, and Great Storm gave a bitter smile.
It was bitterly ironic that the wild gods, who were supposed to protect and care for humans, now wanted to rely on humans—but Great Storm understood why.
'Because even I am like that.'
If it was those two, wouldn't they do something?
That was surely why Murmur had spoken up now.
"They should have arrived by now. They'll also take part in tomorrow's decisive battle."
"Ooh."
"Can we meet them?"
As relief spread among the wild gods, Murmur asked her question. Gentle Snow Breeze shook her head, stroked the young Murmur's hair, and said.
"Those two have something very important to do from now on. It's the final preparation needed before heading into the decisive battle."
"Mmm...... then we shouldn't disturb them, right?"
"Right? Let's talk after the decisive battle. Because we're going to win."
At Gentle Snow Breeze's words, Murmur's eyes went round, then she smiled brightly and answered.
"Yes! Because we're going to win!"
A child's smile always brought hope.
Smiles spread among the wild gods as well, and Great Storm, who exchanged glances with Gentle Snow Breeze, stretched his body for a moment.
'But what in the world is this preparation?'
It seemed they had already prepared this and that even before coming here.
'I'll find out later.'
Because there had been no opportunity to have a proper conversation so far.
If it was something necessary, those two would speak first, whether tonight or tomorrow morning.
'Guardians of the Wild Lands.'
The difference between the first battle at Snowflower Wind Plain and now.
The presence or absence of those two.
Great Storm pictured the faces of Yuder and Cordelia in his mind.
* * *
"Cordeliaaa!"
"Red Wiiind!"
Red Wind and Cordelia embraced each other and spun around—to be precise, Red Wind lifted Cordelia up in a hug and spun her around.
'I'm supposed to be the older one, though.'
But Red Wind was much taller.
In any case, Red Wind, who had thrown herself into hugging Cordelia and rejoicing, only turned to look at Yuder after spinning nearly ten times.
"Glad to see you too, Yuder."
"Yeah, sure."
He did feel a bit of a temperature difference, but it couldn't be helped.
'Still...... the situation is better than I thought.'
Red Wind looked reasonably well.
Of course, it showed that she was forcing herself to be energetic, but it meant the situation wasn't so desperate that she couldn't even do that.
Cordelia asked.
"Red Wind, what about Red Gale?"
"He's preparing for tomorrow's battle. Sun Song is with him too."
"Sun...... Song?"
"Yeah, Sun Song. He's big, strong, and cool."
When Red Wind said this with a bright smile, Cordelia narrowed her brow once, then turned to look at Yuder.
'What do we do? I think Lucas got dumped.'
'......Shouldn't we hear Lucas's side too?'
Whether he got dumped or not.
Anyway, the important thing wasn't Red Wind's love life.
'That's so mean! It's Red Wind!'
'No, we have a decisive battle tomorrow, remember?'
'Yuder is cold-blooded...... noted.'
'You don't even have a notebook.'
'I'm noting it in my head, okay?'
'Oh, really? For real? In your head?'
'Mmm...... only the im, important stuff.'
It was an exchange of glances between two people who had already reached the realm of telepathy.
Red Wind, who had been watching the two of them with amusement as their expressions changed moment by moment while facing each other, said.
"Anyway, Cordelia, Lena is waiting."
Lena, who was both a Holy Angel and a powerful mage.
They had already exchanged a rough conversation with her last night through communication magic.
'She agreed to do the groundwork.'
The ritual for Cordelia's Ancestral Regression.
Yuder and Cordelia exchanged glances again and smiled at the same time.
But then Red Wind spoke again.
"Cordelia."
"Hm?"
"But you look really tired. Yuder does too."
Now that she looked closely, Cordelia's face had grown noticeably gaunt.
Yuder also had dark circles under his eyes, and his already pale complexion had gone almost bloodless.
What in the world had happened before they came here?
No, what in the world had those two done?
"A lot...... of things happened."
"It was really hard......."
The journey of the past four days.
The time needed to make Cordelia's idea a reality.
When Yuder and Cordelia each murmured quietly with faces of enlightenment, Red Wind tilted her head.
"Cordelia?"
"Sorry, I'll tell you later. Let's go to Lena first."
"Okay. I won't ask!"
Red Wind, who answered energetically as always, began to lead the way, and Yuder and Cordelia hurried their steps.
And so, another ten-odd minutes.
Lena was standing on a hill somewhat removed from the main camp where the army of over forty thousand was gathered.
With the sunset spreading behind her as she stood facing west, the scene looked like a painting.
"Wow......."
Lena, cured of the Demon's Disease and fully restored as a Holy Angel, looked completely different from before.
A true angel.
There was no other way to describe her.
Her once murky and dull blonde hair had regained its golden luster, and her white face seemed to glow.
And a pair of wings.
White as snow, they mingled with the sunset glow and emitted a warm yet soft light.
"Lena!"
"Cordelia."
Lena turned around with a soft smile, and Cordelia scampered over and threw herself into her arms.
"Are you all better now?"
"Thanks to you."
Yuder and Cordelia had brought Lena to the holy ground and made it possible to cure her Demon's Disease.
"Hehehe, I'm so glad."
Lena, who found herself smiling along at Cordelia's pure, unclouded smile, raised her head and looked at Yuder.
"Yuder."
"It's good to see you again."
"Likewise. I've finished all the preparations we discussed."
The Ancestral Regression ritual.
Lena already had two experiences with it.
One had been for herself, and the other had been for Landius.
And now came the third Ancestral Regression ritual, prepared for Cordelia.
"I was a little surprised."
What surprised her was not so much that angel's blood flowed through Cordelia, but that Yuder and Cordelia had already gathered every material needed for the Ancestral Regression ritual.
"We did our homework pretty thoroughly."
Cordelia smiled brightly and looked across the hill while still clinging to Lena.
On the magic circle Lena had drawn, there were several small circles—the spots for placing the offerings for Ancestral Regression.
'Ancient Crest, Frozen Time.'
Yuder set down one by one the materials he had gathered throughout their travels. Then he looked at the empty bowl placed in the last spot.
What would be placed inside it.
The core material of Ancestral Regression.
"Just because you undergo Ancestral Regression doesn't mean you immediately become a powerful angel."
"Yes, you start from Grade 9, right? The maximum grade you can reach is also determined by the blood you inherit and your personal aptitude. Of course, it's not completely fixed—through effort or various fortuitous encounters, you can rise to a higher grade."
"Cordelia, you......."
"Since I handle the power of a witch, I need harmony with the power of an angel. For now, I can only use one side's power—either angel or witch. Mixing the two right away is too dangerous. To be precise, the angel side's power is lacking."
Lena blinked at this strangely un-Cordelia-like display of knowledge, then smiled.
"That's impressive. You really did your homework thoroughly."
In truth, what came after Ancestral Regression was impossible to study in advance—but not for Yuder and Cordelia.
For those two, Ancestral Regression into an angel was not advance study. It was review.
"Now then, let's begin right away."
They had to march to the decisive battle tomorrow morning.
They also needed time to adapt to the angelification, so they had to proceed with the ritual as quickly as possible.
"Are you ready to become an angel?"
"Yes."
Cordelia, who answered with reddened cheeks at the slightly cringeworthy question, hurriedly took off her outer clothes.
After removing even the rabbit headband and tail, she headed to the center of the magic circle in a thin dress, and Yuder stepped back and swallowed hard.
Originally, Yuder had intended to conduct the ritual himself from start to finish, but now Lena was here.
It was right to leave it to the expert and step back.
"I'm counting on you."
"Yes, Yuder. Don't worry."
Lena, who smiled slightly as if teasing, soon straightened her expression. She cut her wrist, filled the bowl with angel's blood, and immediately performed the ritual.
"Blood is the currency of the soul."
Therefore, blood knew.
It remembered.
The magic circle emitted light.
Pure white light rose and swallowed Cordelia.
"That which only sleeps and does not vanish."
The soul connected through blood.
The memories of ancestors imprinted in the soul.
The light grew fiercer.
The pure white light gradually became tinged with red.
It was a sight he had seen several times in the original story. But seeing it in reality was different.
The light that began from the magic circle stretched up into the sky.
Fragments of shattered light danced against the newly fallen night, tracing beautiful paths across the dark sky.
"From heaven to the earth."
From the present to the past.
Along the path connected as one.
Within the pillar of light that had swallowed Cordelia, a silhouette was faintly visible.
That of a beautiful girl.
And what was added to it.
Pure white wings.
A heavenly halo.
The things that symbolized a heavenly being.
"Now, you shall arrive."
And thus, you shall fully inherit.
The Ancient Crest shattered.
The Frozen Time melted away.
Lena's blood became light and scattered as the pillar of light intensified. The red deepened and deepened until it turned vivid crimson, and then, at a certain moment, it exploded.
An explosion of light.
What the color signified.
And what the light signified.
Cordelia's color. The color her soul possessed.
Cordelia's attribute. The power that symbolized her.
A silent yet beautiful and brilliant explosion of light filled the night sky.
A commotion arose from the main camp far away, and even the wild gods expressed astonishment at the miracle before their eyes.
And Yuder.
Faced with the miracle before him, Yuder made no attempt to hide his awe.
The girl before his eyes.
The one standing with her pure, unblemished naked body wrapped in wings of pure white light.
Yuder swallowed dryly.
And at that moment, the girl opened her eyes. She faced Yuder with blue eyes.
They were clear and pure.
But soon Cordelia's characteristic playfulness returned. A fang glinted within her beautiful smile.
"How is it?"
At Cordelia's question, which somehow seemed smug, Yuder answered immediately.
"Pretty."
"Nooo, not that."
At Cordelia's words, her face bright red, Yuder cleared his throat and put on a fairly serious expression.
"Really pretty."
"Hey!"
What was that supposed to mean?
He was messing with her, wasn't he?
Yuder laughed. And then he gave Cordelia the answer she wanted.
"You've gotten stronger."
Cordelia had, at this very moment, literally transcended humanity.
Angels were, from the outset, a higher order of being than humans.
Even at the lowest Grade 9, she was far beyond an ordinary human.
Especially in terms of magical power.
"1.5 times?"
"Probably."
Her base magical power had increased.
If witchification, which explosively increased magical power, was added on top of this.
"You'll become perfect."
If the allure of a fallen angel was added to the clear and pure Cordelia.
Yuder nodded with a satisfied face, and Cordelia nodded with a fairly different meaning.
'It's not far off.'
The moment to display the true power of a human disaster.
If she could also achieve witchification, she would be able to begin using the 'Seven Forbidden Magics,' Cordelia's specialty.
"Perfect."
"Right, perfect."
The two, who nodded while misunderstanding each other for the first time in a while, soon began working in perfect sync again.
Yuder quickly held out clothes for Cordelia, and Cordelia, covering herself with her wings, struggled into them.
But then.
"Hey, Yuder?"
"Hm?"
"What is this."
"Cat set. It's better than the rabbit set."
A black cat headband and tail.
A set item that greatly increased not only agility but also flexibility.
"Hey, Yuder?"
"You'll get stronger."
Cordelia narrowed her eyes, but soon finished equipping it as though doing him a favor.
And at the sight of Yuder and Cordelia like that, Lena smiled.
'How fascinating.'
Ancestral Regression was no ordinary matter.
It meant casting aside who one had been until now and becoming someone new.
Yet both of them were composed.
They were extremely stable.
'And.'
Why was it?
Even with the decisive battle just ahead and the tragedy of Paragon threatening to repeat itself, Lena still found herself smiling.
In truth, she knew the reason. And so Lena said to the two who were bickering.
"Shall we do the final preparation?"
What Yuder and Cordelia had prepared over the past four days.
And what Lena herself had prepared.
The final piece that would complete all of it.
"Here it is."
Yuder took out Heavenly Judgment, and Cordelia grasped it. She held out her hand to Lena.
Heavenly Judgment, whose seal could only be released by an angel.
The divine punishment armament forged by Auriel, Archangel of Judgment.
Cordelia and Lena unleashed heavenly power.
Once again, the night sky was dyed with light.