Ending Maker Chapter 138
Ending Maker Chapter 138
Chapter 51 - Long Live the Sun #2
Yuder opened his eyes.
His head felt fuzzy at first.
It felt like he had slept deeply without dreaming.
"Ah."
Yuder let out a dazed sound and blinked.
The blurry shapes in his vision gradually grew clearer.
The Temple of Life.
And then Yuder realized.
'I'm hungry.'
Fiercely, intensely hungry.
Once he became aware of it, he was so hungry that no other thought could enter his head.
His stomach—no, every cell in his entire body felt like it was demanding nutrients.
'I'm hungry.'
So hungry.
I feel like I could devour anything in front of me.
But it was exactly at that moment.
"Yuder?"
At the sweet voice, Yuder's mind snapped awake and he turned his head. He saw long red hair spilling down and Cordelia's white face looking down at him.
"Cordel......ia?"
Cordelia had been smiling brightly at the sight of Yuder forcing his voice out, but her face instantly crumpled into a pout.
"Does it hurt? Are you not feeling well? Landius!"
Cordelia shouted and tried to turn away, but she couldn't.
Because Yuder had reflexively snatched her wrist.
"Ack! Yuder?"
It was monstrous strength.
Cordelia, who had been in the middle of getting up, fell back onto her rear and screamed again. It felt like the wrist Yuder was gripping would shatter.
"It hurts! It hurts!"
"Huh?"
At Cordelia's pained scream, Yuder reflexively let go.
Even though he had only grabbed her for a brief moment, a bruise in the shape of a hand had already formed on Cordelia's wrist.
"Hey! Are you crazy?!"
Cordelia scolded him first, but only for a moment. No matter how she looked at him, Yuder was not normal.
'His eyes are hollow!'
It wasn't just his eyes. Thanks to the rebirth, his already good skin had gotten even better, but somehow he looked incredibly worn out and exhausted.
Why?
Why was that?
"Because he grew."
At the voice that suddenly came from behind her, Cordelia flinched and turned around.
Landius walked past Cordelia, stood in front of Yuder, and sat down as he continued speaking.
"Girl, what about the thing I told you to prepare earlier?"
"It's all done. I'll bring it."
Cordelia quickly got up and dashed off, and Yuder's gaze naturally followed her retreating figure.
Landius couldn't help but smile at the sight of Yuder.
'He must be out of his mind with hunger...... Is this the power of love?'
It was a misunderstanding that wasn't quite a misunderstanding, but either way, the satisfied Landius spoke again.
"Disciple. First, do you recognize me?"
"Ma...... Master?"
"Yes, it's me."
Yuder's gaze, which had been following Cordelia's back, turned to Landius.
Landius spoke in a loud voice so that Cordelia could hear too.
"You are currently in a state of extreme hunger. As I said at the start, it's because you grew."
"I...... grew?"
"Yes. You've gotten much taller, and thanks to that, your build has improved as well. The rebirth itself consumes an enormous amount of energy, and on top of that you grew taller...... It's only natural that your body is screaming for food."
"Ah! So that's why!"
The exclamation that followed came from Cordelia.
Cordelia, who had run back over and sat down next to Landius, was holding a large container, and inside it was an unidentifiable, damp gray liquid.
"Sit up. And drink this."
At Landius's command, Yuder slowly raised his body and took the container from Cordelia with a dubious expression.
"Drink...... this?"
"Yes, it will replenish the nutrients you lack in one go."
When Landius grinned, Cordelia smiled awkwardly, and Yuder looked into the container again.
Gray liquid.
An unidentifiable food substance that looked like something—no, like a bunch of miscellaneous things ground up together.
'Is this like...... protein?'
The kind you drink when working out.
"Hurry and drink. Hurry."
At Landius's urging, Yuder looked back at Cordelia, but for some reason she smoothly averted her gaze.
'What is it? What's in it that makes her act like that?'
'Cordelia doesn't know anything.'
Yuder felt uneasy again, but Landius had given the order, and for now he was too hungry.
Deciding to trust it, he lifted the container—large enough that he had to hold it with both hands—and began drinking the contents in one go.
Gulp.
Gulp.
Gulp.
Cordelia, who had unconsciously swallowed along with him, watched Yuder with an anxious face, while Landius wore a satisfied smile.
"How is it? Can you feel the nutrients filling you up?"
Instead of answering, Yuder just kept drinking.
And then gulp, gulp again.
Finally, after emptying the contents completely, Yuder set the container down and let out a breath.
"Ghk."
An oddly contradictory expression in which pain and joy mingled.
"Are you okay?"
When Cordelia asked quietly, Yuder forced a smile.
It truly tasted awful, but he was so hungry that he had drunk it all without stopping once.
What was even more maddening was that he was still hungry enough to want more of the stuff.
"It's taking effect. Girl, bring more."
"Ugh...... Yes."
As Cordelia dashed off somewhere again, Landius continued his explanation.
"It's a special food I consume when I train. I've taught the girl how to make it, so you should drink it often as well."
"Mm...... Yes."
So it was that kind of thing after all.
Yuder was breaking out in a fresh cold sweat when—
"Here."
Cordelia held out a second container, and Yuder gulped down the gray liquid again.
"Haaah......."
Having emptied the container cleanly this time as well, Yuder let out a long breath as if he could finally live.
Between the two containers, it felt like he had drunk nearly four liters.
"Excessive loss of life force leads to muscle loss. Now that you've taken in nutrients, don't forget to train before you sleep later."
At Landius's words, Cordelia rolled her eyes, and Yuder subtly tried to dodge the answer, but Landius didn't let it slide.
He looked at Yuder with unwavering eyes, and in the end Yuder had no choice but to say he would do so.
"Anyway, disciple, congratulations on your rebirth."
At Landius's words, Yuder took a fresh look at himself.
Rebirth.
Literally the act of changing one's bones and shedding one's skin.
The reconstruction of the body.
'It's real.'
His body had changed.
It was no exaggeration to say he had become a completely different person.
Even while sitting, he could feel that he had grown taller. The balance of his body, which had been somewhat disordered from suddenly growing and gaining muscle, had been perfectly reset, and his muscles had also been rearranged more beautifully and functionally.
"It's not only your outward appearance that has changed."
Yuder agreed.
The circulation pathways of his qi had been newly established.
Beyond the blood meridians that had been blocked by the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage being cleared—it felt as if the qi and blood of his entire body had been laid down anew.
Faster.
More smoothly.
Yuder lightly circulated the energy of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates once and was surprised again.
'The middle dantian.'
The second dantian located at the solar plexus.
Until now, the energy of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates had always resided only in the lower dantian, but a new middle dantian had been opened.
In car terms, it was like having two engines.
"It seems you can feel the changes in yourself."
Landius smiled contentedly and looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia nodded with a reddened face.
'Ah, seriously. Put some clothes on him.'
His lower body was covered with a blanket, but Yuder was still bare from the waist up.
Flawless, clear, milk-white skin and muscles reminiscent of a Greek statue—defined, but not overly so.
And—
'Ah, seriously!'
Cordelia quickly shook her head and lifted her gaze to look at Yuder's face, but by then the recollections had already begun in her mind.
Yuder right after completing his rebirth.
She had been so happy that Yuder had returned that she hadn't had a moment to feel embarrassed—
'Aaaah! You lust demon! Disappear! Disappear!'
And actually, she hadn't even gotten a proper look. So this was all just delusion.
While Cordelia was fighting her own memories alone, Yuder raised his head and faced Landius.
"Master, thank you."
"Not at all. Are you not my disciple? It is only natural for a master to look after his disciple. And if you are to thank someone, thank the girl rather than me. If not for her, no matter how much I intervened, you would not have regained consciousness."
Landius laughed heartily and gave Cordelia a light smack on the back with his palm, and Cordelia let out an involuntary squeak before raising her head.
"Cordelia."
"Mm, Yuder."
It was nothing new, yet she still felt strangely embarrassed to meet his eyes.
This time it wasn't because Yuder's naked body came to mind.
'He seems to have become a bit of an adult.'
During the metamorphosis, Yuder had shot up and now stood a little over 180 centimeters tall.
But it wasn't just that he had gotten taller—his whole frame felt more masculine. His shoulders had broadened too.
'His face too.'
It was hard to put into words, but he had become an adult. He could no longer be called a boy; he now had the air of an older man that made her instinctively want to treat him that way.
"Cordelia?"
"Yes? Oh. Yeah. Ahem, ahem."
Cordelia cleared her throat to calm herself and spoke in a swaggering tone to hide her fluster.
"Anyway, it's just like Master said. Thank you so, so much. Got it?"
"Yes, my lady. I shall do so."
When Yuder answered as usual, Cordelia unconsciously broke into a bright smile.
His changed appearance had felt slightly unfamiliar, but this reassured her that, no matter what, he was still Yuder.
"The two of you being lovey-dovey is cute and heartwarming."
At Landius's words, Yuder smiled bitterly.
Because Rough Avalanche had suddenly come to mind.
The little bear who would grumble at the drop of a hat about them being lovey-dovey. Was she doing well now?
"Anyway, disciple. There is one thing I want to ask. How many gates have you opened? Two? No, you've also undergone rebirth...... Three?"
"Uh......."
"Don't worry about it, just tell me."
"Five."
"Hm?"
"Five...... gates."
"Hm?"
"Five gates."
Even after Yuder answered three times, Landius kept blinking as though he still had not understood correctly.
He couldn't help it.
"Five gates?"
"Yes."
"Really, five gates?"
"Yes."
"Five as in one-two-three-four-five?"
"Yes, that five."
At Yuder's answer, Landius's face went blank again, and Cordelia looked briefly surprised at seeing Landius like this for the first time, but soon grinned and shrugged her shoulders smugly.
'Heh heh heh, he's our Yuder, you know?'
He's different from other people's kids. Different.
While Cordelia lifted her chin and preened, Landius's lips twitched several times.
Five gates.
The fifth gate.
The fifth gate.
Finally registering it, Landius looked up at the sky and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha! Shit."
Had he misheard that last curse?
Whether Yuder and Cordelia flinched or not, Landius laughed again and cursed again.
"What a filthy world."
"M-Master?"
"It's nothing. For a moment—just a moment—I was thinking about the filthiness, no, the greatness of the Heavenly Martial Body. How long has it been since you learned the Nine Heavens Nine Gates, and you've opened five gates? Mm, well, it's a good thing. Of course it is. How great a blessing is it that my disciple's achievements are swift?"
It sounded like something he was saying to himself.
And in fact, from Landius's perspective, it was only natural.
How much hellish suffering had he gone through to open the fifth gate?
Even he, who had been called a genius everywhere and at all times, had needed six years to open the fifth gate. And that was after repeated, tremendous training that risked death.
'As expected of the Heavenly Martial Body. It's cheating. Cheating.'
'It's also the result of other things added on, you know?'
'I know. But since I've got the chance, I'm going to keep complaining.'
The reason Yuder had been able to open five gates so quickly wasn't only thanks to the Heavenly Martial Body.
It had been possible because of the rapid level-ups from the fierce battles in the Wild Lands and the various elixirs he had consumed whenever there was an opportunity—no, even when there wasn't, he had made opportunities.
"Hoo, good. Anyway, five gates. Congratulations, disciple."
"Thank you, Master."
"Yes, five gates...... Heh heh, heh heh heh. I have no choice but to change my plans."
"Plans......?"
"Yes, I had my own educational plan, you see."
The reason he had only taught the formulas of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates and then left was because he had thought that opening even two gates by the next time they met would be a remarkable achievement.
But Yuder had gone and opened a whopping five gates, so the plan had to be completely revised.
"First, I think we need to closely examine what happened in the process of you opening the five gates. What was different from my case."
Landius was not a Heavenly Martial Body. Therefore, the process of opening gates and the results were inevitably different from Yuder's.
"And...... we should also examine the things I gained from opening the fifth gate."
"You mean...... the special abilities?"
"Yes, of course there are special abilities too."
What Landius had said when he first taught him about the Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
From the fifth gate onward, one could obtain mysterious special abilities one by one.
'Somehow, I feel like I know.'
No one had taught him, but he felt like he knew how to use it, just as a bird naturally flaps its wings to fly.
Yuder looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia looked at Yuder.
'Why?'
And then a deep green light rose in Yuder's eyes.
"Oh! It works!"
Yuder said, and Landius looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia, after blinking a few times, understood. She threw a punch at Yuder's face.
* * *
"No, I couldn't see properly......."
"The fact that you tried at all is what's infuriating."
"No, it wasn't really intentional......."
"So, did you do well? Or did you do wrong?"
"I did wrong. Sob sob."
Yuder, kneeling on the ground, pretended to cry, but Cordelia's gaze was still icy.
The clairvoyance ability Yuder had obtained upon opening the fifth gate.
In subculture like novels and comics, it was an ability used very conveniently, such as seeing through only clothes, but reality was reality after all.
'To be precise...... it felt like bodies looked a bit transparent.'
It felt like he could grasp the positions of bones, organs, and muscles.
Yuder could already calculate an opponent's movements to some extent through the movement of their fighting spirit, but using this ability, it seemed he would be able to grasp enemy movements even more precisely.
'I think I'll be able to identify weaknesses too.'
In many ways, it was an ability with a lot of useful applications.
And that wasn't all.
"Heh heh heh, disciple. It's only because you're still unskilled. Once you become more proficient, it will work."
"Really? For real?"
When Yuder's eyes sparkled, Landius wore a manly smile, and Cordelia looked at the two of them with cold eyes.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem."
"Ahem."
Yuder and Landius, who had cleared their throats in unison, changed the subject as if to smooth things over.
"Anyway, disciple, seeing you use clairvoyance, you really have opened the fifth gate. It's redundant, but congratulations once again."
"Thank you, Master."
"Yes, the girl's help must have been significant, so thank her as well."
"Yes, Master. You speak rightly."
Yuder nodded fervently, then turned to Cordelia and spoke with a serious face.
"Thank you so much, Cordelia. It's all thanks to you."
"Ah, yes. Is that so."
"No, really. Thank you so much for being with me."
"Ahem, as long as you know. Yeah. As long as you know."
Cordelia, preening, turned her head to the side, but judging by the slight upturn of her lips, she seemed pleased.
'Seems like her anger has cooled a bit too.'
Yuder let out a sigh of relief and asked Landius again.
"But Master, how did you come to be here?"
It had been a very welcome appearance, but at the same time, Landius's arrival had been far too sudden.
At Yuder's question, Landius smiled and said,
"Because I met Lena. I didn't expect you to have opened five gates...... but still, I heard that you had become very strong, so I hurried to meet you."
"Wow! You met her? Is Lena doing well?"
At the mention of Lena, Cordelia's face lit up as she asked, and Landius nodded.
"Yes, she's still beautiful."
"Heh heh heh."
Our Lena is quite pretty, you know.
When Cordelia smiled brightly, Landius also laughed heartily and continued speaking.
"Lena went south to meet Kamael. I came north to meet you two. I found your exact location with this."
What Landius took out from his waist was a small hand mirror, and Yuder and Cordelia immediately understood.
"It's something Lena gave you, right?"
"Yes, Lena said she gave the girl a gift, and that gift contains Lena's magic. With a dedicated magic tool like this, I can track its location."
At Landius's explanation, Cordelia nodded again with a satisfied face.
In a way, it meant Lena had attached a tracker to her, but it hadn't been done with bad intentions, and thanks to it, they had been able to receive Landius's help.
"Then Master, will you be staying with us from now on?"
At Yuder's question, Cordelia also quickly raised her head and looked at Landius.
If Landius went with them to the royal capital, there would be nothing to worry about—not the Duke Protector or anything else.
But regrettably, Landius's answer was a denial.
"I'm sorry, but I can't. I have to go south to help Kamael and Lena."
Landius had only come north briefly to check on Yuder's condition, and he had to return south right away.
'What is he doing in the south?'
At Cordelia's questioning gaze, Yuder furrowed his brow. It was something that wasn't clearly explained even in the original work.
'Could Landius die because of something in the south?'
At Cordelia's follow-up question, Yuder shook his head.
Landius had met his death while acting alone. It wouldn't be while he was with Kamael.
'And now Lena is with him too.'
Lena's survival and her joining them.
Perhaps this alone might have changed Landius's future.
"Disciple, and girl. Why have you suddenly gone quiet?"
"Ah, no. It's just too disappointing."
"Yes, me too."
When Yuder and Cordelia smiled awkwardly and tried to gloss over it, Landius continued with a benevolent face.
"Don't be so disappointed. Before I leave, I'll pass on as many things as I can."
"What kind of things?"
When Cordelia showed more interest than Yuder, Landius laughed heartily again and said,
"First, there's a method for building muscles like steel that can even block blades."
At Landius's words, Cordelia's expression became subtle.
It was certainly a great ability, but the thought of Yuder ending up with a body like Landius's was somehow unpleasant.
"There are various other things as well...... but the most important one is surely this."
Having said that much, Landius suddenly took a deep breath and straightened his posture. He looked directly at Yuder and continued.
"Yuder Bayel, my disciple."
"Yes, Master."
"You have opened the fifth gate of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates. Your body has become robust, and you will no longer suffer from the immense cold energy you were born with. Therefore, I now intend to pass on my true martial art to you."
At Landius's words, Yuder swallowed dryly.
True martial art.
It was exactly as Landius said.
The Nine Heavens Nine Gates was a divine art created by an Immortal, not the true martial art Landius himself had built over the course of his life.
"I heard from Kamael. The fact that you have been reborn with a Yin-Yang Body. So even though you were born with extreme cold energy, you will be able to inherit my true art."
Cordelia's eyes went wide.
Because she understood what Landius was talking about.
Landius, the Warrior of the Sun.
The true foundation of the continent's strongest warrior.
"The power of the sun will be with you."
The Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art.
Golden fighting spirit blazed from Landius's entire body like flames.