Ending Maker Chapter 137
Ending Maker Chapter 137
Chapter 51 - Hail the Sun
Light poured down from the ceiling.
And within that light, a figure descended slowly, as if walking down from the sky.
With a halo shining behind his great, beautiful body, hard as steel, he looked like a legendary hero straight out of myth—no, like a god.
'How did he get here?'
How had Landius appeared at this moment?
The fact that he had broken through the ceiling meant he knew exactly where Yuder and Cordelia were.
'Ah, whatever!'
That wasn't what mattered right now.
What mattered was that in this crisis, Landius—the cheat key who would solve every problem—had appeared!
"Please help us!"
"I shall, young lady."
Landius answered with a gentle smile and landed on the ground.
He glanced once at Yuder, who was floating in the air and radiating light, then turned his head back toward the monsters.
"Young lady, I will settle this and return shortly."
"What about Yuder?"
Cordelia's question never reached him properly, because Landius immediately kicked off the ground with tremendous force, creating a violent vacuum and thunderous roar.
RUMBLE—!
The entire temple shook as if an earthquake had struck, and the spiders that had been surging out eagerly faltered.
Landius simply looked at those spiders, and that was enough.
Dozens of spiders suddenly let out scream-like shrieks and scattered in all directions, fleeing.
"Wow."
It wasn't even Conqueror's Haki or anything.
At Landius's majesty, Cordelia let out a dazed voice without realizing it, but it wasn't over yet.
Landius strode toward the living heavy armors that had begun flooding in belatedly.
"Landius! Let me handle it instead!"
Cordelia, who had belatedly snapped back to her senses, shouted urgently.
No matter how strong Landius was, the enemies were living heavy armors—over thirty of them—so dealing with them would take considerable time.
So they had to switch.
Cordelia would handle the living heavy armors, and Landius would check on Yuder's condition—
BOOM!
Fist pressure.
The fist strike detonated the air itself.
And the light that rose.
A scorching flash.
Landius's fist struck, and the living heavy armor it hit exploded. What was even more terrifying was that it wasn't just one.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Their square formation was their tragedy.
The ones positioned behind the living heavy armor that took the hit exploded in succession as well.
RUMBLE—!
Five with a single punch.
The living heavy armors boasted formidable defense, but before Landius's fist, they were no different from sheets of paper.
"Whoa."
Cordelia let out a dazed voice again, and Landius continued. Whether the living heavy armors that had belatedly regained their senses attacked or not, he ignored them and did what he had to do.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A fist, another fist, and then a kick.
With just three movements, a storm erupted.
The ones hit directly by Landius's fists exploded, and the ones that were grazed or caught in the aftermath were torn apart like sheets of paper.
Of course, the living heavy armors didn't just take it lying down. As creatures that knew no fear, they struck back at Landius's body in their own way, but against Landius—who was bare-bodied, having stripped off his upper garments entirely—not a single effective hit landed.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
It wasn't the sound of a sword striking metal.
It was the sound of a sword striking muscle.
'What is that.'
Why were his muscles deflecting swords?
Why was his skin perfectly fine after being struck by blades?
He didn't seem to have used any magic.
He didn't seem to have used any technique either.
It was literally a passive skill.
The defensive power of muscles that made ordinary armor look like nothing.
"Young lady! Close your eyes!"
Landius suddenly shouted, and Cordelia reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.
It was a command from Landius, carrying god-like dignity, so obeying was only natural.
And immediately after.
Even with her eyes closed, Cordelia felt her vision flooded with bright light in an instant.
A truly overwhelming burst of light had erupted only a short distance away.
Light.
Heat.
Transcendent power of life.
In that moment, Cordelia realized anew.
One fact she had forgotten because of the overwhelming majesty of his muscles.
'Warrior of the Sun.'
Landius's epithet from Hero Legend 1.
Landius, the Warrior of the Sun!
WHOOOOSH—!
Following the light, the howl of the atmosphere was heard, and then silence arrived.
"It is done now. Open your eyes, young lady."
At Landius's words, Cordelia gently opened her eyes and gasped in surprise.
The more than thirty living heavy armors were all strewn across the floor in tatters, and parts of their surfaces had melted away.
'As expected of the Warrior of the Sun.'
One chosen by the sun—the power of extreme yang and the great power of life.
'Could Landius fight a Demon Prince alone?'
The sun's power was also especially effective against demons.
Cordelia, who had been nodding unconsciously, soon shook her head. That wasn't what mattered right now.
"Landius! Yuder is—!"
"I know, young lady."
Having said that, Landius strode back toward her.
His atmosphere and way of speaking made him seem like he should be an old man, but in truth, he was only in his late thirties—not even forty yet.
And his face was actually smooth, without a single wrinkle.
'S-scary.'
As Landius—standing at 2 meters 30 centimeters, no, somehow looking even bigger than that—strode toward her, it felt like a wall was closing in.
Landius gave a small laugh, as if understanding Cordelia's unconscious flinch, and stood beside her, looking at Yuder.
"Indeed, so that is how it is."
"Do you know what state he's in? He's okay, right?"
When Cordelia asked urgently, Landius, instead of answering, narrowed his brow once, then raised his large hand and placed it on her shoulder.
"My disciple is now opening a new gate and undergoing a transformation of spirit and body."
"That's good, right?"
"It could be called good. But something not good is happening."
"What?"
Good but not good—what in the world did that mean?
When Cordelia immediately looked distressed, Landius continued his explanation in a calm tone.
"Opening a new gate and breaking the old limits of his spirit and body is a good thing, but he is going too far. He is trying to reach beyond what he can handle right now. If this goes wrong, his spirit and body themselves could be destroyed."
"W-what? Then we have to stop him! Quickly!"
"I shall. But young lady, I alone am not enough. You must lend your strength as well."
"How? Sh-should I give you mana or something?"
When Cordelia asked, blinking, Landius shook his head.
"Young lady, listen carefully. As I said at first, my disciple is now undergoing a transformation of spirit and body. If this continues, it may even be possible for his body to be reborn anew to match his expanded soul—a complete metamorphosis. So we must not touch him for now."
"A complete metamorphosis is...... a good thing, right?"
"It is. Until the metamorphosis is complete, it is better to make use of the current momentum...... even this loss of control. I will intervene the instant the metamorphosis ends and use my energy to seize and stabilize his."
"I think I get it."
She remembered seeing something similar in a martial arts webtoon.
It was a scene where a master saved the protagonist who had fallen into qi deviation.
'The master puts his hands on the back of the protagonist sitting in lotus position and injects qi...... something like that, right?'
It sounded like he was going to do something similar.
"Then what about me?"
Landius had clearly said that Cordelia's own strength was needed too.
Was it mana after all?
"Your role is important, young lady."
"So what is it already!"
Even while they were talking, the cracks of light spreading across Yuder's entire body kept growing larger.
Yuder, who had seemed quiet for a moment, began letting out scream-like roars again.
"Your role is to call back my disciple's soul."
"What?"
"I will stabilize my disciple's body with my energy. But the Nine Heavens Nine Gates is a transcendent art that raises spirit and body themselves to a higher realm. His soul is reaching past the gate he can open now and toward the one beyond it, so we must call it back. And I believe you are the only one who can do that."
She roughly understood.
In short, she had to pull him back to his senses.
"What do I have to do?"
"Call my disciple."
"B-by shouting?"
"Any way is fine. When I begin stabilizing my disciple's body, you will call his soul."
"No! That's way too vague!"
"No, it is not. You can do it. I have seen it myself, and Lena also said so. My disciple and you love each other as if you were one body. The power of love is truly great, so if it is your appeal, you will be able to seize my disciple's soul."
"W-what?"
"The power of love, young lady."
Landius spoke solemnly, and Cordelia blinked. She unconsciously glanced at Landius's pot-lid-like hand resting on her shoulder, then thought.
'H-he's spouting bullshit with a serious face!'
Th-the power of love?
As if something like that existed between her and Yuder!
"I shall begin."
"W-wait a moment!"
"There is no time to delay!"
It was the moment Landius suddenly raised his voice.
"Aaaah!"
Yuder screamed, and from the cracks of light spreading across his body, a massive amount of light burst forth and swallowed Yuder's entire body.
"Young lady!"
Landius shouted loudly, closed his eyes, and thrust a palm toward Yuder.
Then a golden aura began to ripple like flames from Landius's entire body as well.
And it continued.
The golden light that rose from Landius's fingertips wrapped around Yuder, who was covered in pure white light.
It felt like damming a river about to overflow.
"Hurry!"
Landius shouted again and closed his eyes, concentrating. Sweat began pouring from Landius's entire body like rain.
"Ugh......."
Cordelia, who had been stamping her feet for a moment, ran straight to Yuder and shouted whatever came to mind.
"Hey! Yuder! Hey!"
"Put love into it!"
"Ugh!"
Cordelia, distressed by Landius's shout, shouted something again.
Whether sincere or acting, she put words in her mouth that would satisfy Landius—words that would make Yuder startle if he heard them.
"Keep going!"
"Fuck!"
A curse. And then immediately, another appeal of love!
'Just don't come back!'
I won't forgive you!
Was it because she was embarrassed, or because she was desperate?
Cordelia, whose eyes had reddened before she knew it, shouted once more. She desperately called Yuder's name.
"Yuder!"
* * *
'Cordelia?'
Light and darkness.
A world made of black and white.
Yuder, who had been letting his body be carried by the torrent flowing majestically forward like the flow of time, came to his senses at some point.
The fifth gate.
And the sixth gate.
A space located between the two gates.
'Ah.'
Yuder blinked again. He perceived the world of black and white.
The fifth gate.
He had been able to open it thanks to the Orb of Life.
But he had gotten greedy. He had reached out toward the faintly visible sixth gate.
'I can't reach it.'
Not yet.
Not as he was now.
If he kept going like this, all that remained was ruin.
A future where he failed to reach the sixth gate and collapsed before it, his strength exhausted.
'Not enough.'
To open the sixth gate.
Not just the power of life, but stamina, mana, Yuder's own skill, the size of his soul—
That was the moment.
His consciousness blurred again.
Within the torrent flowing majestically forward, his consciousness faded once more.
If he closed his eyes like this, it would be the end.
But he wanted to close his eyes.
Just like this—
Just like this—
"Yudeeeeer!"
His mind snapped awake.
Cordelia's call.
Cordelia's shout.
It had to be an auditory hallucination.
After all, the successive shouts—the words that followed Yuder's own name—were things the real Cordelia would never say.
But that was enough.
Whether it was a hallucination or not, the moment he heard Cordelia's voice, his withering will to live blazed up again.
'I have to go back.'
If he disappeared, Cordelia would be alone.
She would be left alone in a world racing toward a bad ending—or at best, a sad ending.
So he had to go back.
He had to go back and be with Cordelia.
And—
And—
"Cordelia!"
Yuder shouted. He turned his body within the torrent and resisted the majestic flow. He forced his way upstream, toward the fifth gate.
Because it wasn't over yet.
Because he couldn't die like this.
It was also true that he couldn't leave Cordelia alone.
His thought of standing beside that precarious girl and being her support remained unchanged.
But that wasn't all.
Yuder's own greed.
Yuder's own desire.
A selfish wish, but therefore a human one.
All the things he wanted to do with Cordelia!
"Cordelia!"
Yuder's soul blazed. He advanced, resisting the majestic flow. He stepped toward the fifth gate, one step at a time, and finally began to run.
"Yudeeeeer!"
Cordelia's call.
She was standing before the fifth gate.
Yuder kicked off the ground. He leaped over the majestic flow.
* * *
A golden flash exploded.
Landius staggered backward with a groan and urgently raised his head. Then he smiled.
Yuder Bayel.
He could see his disciple.
His disciple, reborn through complete metamorphosis, had broken through his shell and revealed himself.
The pure white light that had wrapped his entire body had also been fully gathered in, so Yuder's appearance could be seen completely.
"Yuder?!"
Cordelia, standing right in front of him, urgently called out to Yuder.
Yuder, who had become naked thanks to the complete metamorphosis, had grown larger and more beautiful than before.
The height difference that had been just over 10 centimeters had now widened further, so to meet Yuder's eyes, she had to tilt her head up quite a bit.
Through his carelessly flowing, ebony-like hair, Yuder's green eyes were visible. In those eyes, which held a mystery that seemed to draw her in the more she looked, Cordelia's own face was reflected.
"Yuder? Are you okay? Yuder!"
Instead of answering, Yuder took a step forward and staggered as if about to collapse. Cordelia hurriedly caught him in her arms and was surprised once again.
'S-so hard.'
Yuder's body was hard and elastic, like a well-polished sword.
It felt like holding not the same person, but something else entirely.
"Are you okay? You're okay now, right?"
When Cordelia, who had collected herself by shaking her head, asked, Yuder nodded, albeit slowly. He forced his upper body upright somewhat, looked at Cordelia, and spoke in a slightly dazed voice.
"Pretty."
"Huh?"
"It suits you."
What did he mean?
Cordelia, blinking, finally understood.
When she had obtained the Crown of Life on the second floor.
The question she had casually tossed out while putting it on her head.
"You sure answer fast."
At her words, slightly resentful yet coy, Yuder laughed softly and leaned against Cordelia again.
He lost consciousness just like that, as if fainting.
And at that sight, Landius let out a hearty laugh.
His disciple had used up all his strength flirting with his fiancée and fainted without even greeting his master, but Landius spoke without hiding his satisfaction.
"Indeed, is this the power of love?"
'No, it's not? It's not like that at all?'
Cordelia, who had quickly refuted him at least inwardly, adjusted her hold on Yuder and ended up laughing.
Because the sight of him sleeping like a baby despite being bigger than her was oddly cute.
'No, maybe it's just because I'm glad.'
Not that she liked Yuder, but the fact that Yuder had returned safely.
Cordelia, who had spoken as if making an excuse to herself, closed her eyes as if savoring the present moment.