Ending Maker Chapter 140
Ending Maker Chapter 140
Chapter 52 - An Unexpected Encounter
It was the morning of the seventh day since Yuder had begun training with Landius.
Yuder and Landius sat facing each other and talked.
It was to finally organize what they had learned and realized through their bodies over the past seven days.
"My Nine Heavens Nine Gates and your Nine Heavens Nine Gates."
To be precise, the difference between the Nine Heavens Nine Gates forcibly cultivated by someone who was not a Heavenly Martial Body, and the Nine Heavens Nine Gates cultivated by a Heavenly Martial Body, the incarnation of martial arts chosen by heaven.
"First, the existence of the celestial maiden."
At first, the celestial maiden had been visible only as a silhouette, as if drawn in ink, but that was no longer the case.
When he opened the Fifth Gate.
Yuder had been able to see the celestial maiden's face clearly.
Black hair and a white face.
An elegant and beautiful woman.
'Still, Cordelia is prettier.'
No matter what anyone said, that was how she looked in Yuder's eyes.
He wasn't just saying it. He really meant it.
"Disciple?"
"Yes, Master."
Yuder flinched, but he answered almost immediately. Landius tilted his head slightly, then continued speaking.
"I have seen the celestial maiden as well. When I opened the Fifth Gate, I first saw her back, and when I opened the Seventh Gate, she finally turned toward me."
But Yuder had not only faced the celestial maiden when he opened the Third Gate, he had even learned techniques from her.
Now that he had opened the Fifth Gate, he had even heard her voice.
'Her voice is prettier too, Cordelia's is.'
Yuder nodded to himself, then shook his head to clear away the stray thoughts.
Now was the time to focus more on his conversation with Landius.
'I guess I've been having a hard time lately.'
In those hellish days, the only reason he had been able to endure at all was because of Cordelia.
To Yuder, Cordelia was already a true angel and at the same time an oasis in his heart.
"In any case...... we both saw the celestial maiden. In other words, there does seem to be a deep connection between the Nine Heavens Nine Gates and the celestial maiden. The Nine Heavens Nine Gates is not a simple martial art, but a transcendent art that leads its practitioner to a higher realm...... so perhaps she is a previous practitioner who ascended and became a transcendent being."
If that were truly the case, there were a few more possibilities.
One was that she was the founder of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
Another was that she was an ancient immortal who had fought against an Infernal Lord.
The last was that she was neither, but was a previous practitioner.
"Nine heavens and nine worlds. The true meaning of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates."
Landius had already opened up to the Seventh Gate, but he could not immediately understand what that meant.
However, he could vaguely grasp it.
'The problem is that I can't explain it.'
There were too many insufficient parts to put it into words.
It seemed that more training was needed.
"In any case, it is not bad. The fact that the celestial maiden is with us means that both you and I are progressing properly."
Of course, Landius himself and Yuder were different.
While Yuder was advancing properly along the right path, Landius himself was forcing his way along a somewhat twisted path.
'But in the end, what matters is that I am still advancing.'
Having composed himself, Landius continued speaking.
"The Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art is also different."
Yuder's training period was still short, but even so, the Nine Heavens Nine Gates's oral formula and the Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art had become one, so comparison with Landius's own was possible.
"My conclusion is...... that it is not the correct answer. To be more precise, it is an oral formula that is the correct answer only for you, my disciple."
"Yes, I think so as well."
The new Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art, created by mixing in the oral formula of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates, was not the correct answer for everyone.
It was a martial art specialized for Yuder, one that could be called the correct answer only for Yuder.
"The Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art originally uses the middle dantian among the three dantians—upper, middle, and lower. Because of that, my middle dantian was already developed before I opened the gates of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates. But disciple, you said that your middle dantian was developed this time when you opened the Fifth Gate, did you not?"
"Yes, Master."
"If so...... my prediction that you will come to use all three dantians—upper, middle, and lower—when you complete the Nine Heavens Nine Gates seems to be correct."
It would not stop at simply increasing the number of dantians. Through mutual interaction, they could produce a synergistic effect, so if he came to use all three dantians, the effect might be not simply threefold, but fivefold, or perhaps even greater.
"The lower dantian, the middle dantian, and the upper dantian each have different roles. Therefore, the things you can do also change as you use them."
This was part of what he had been taught over the past seven days.
When Yuder nodded, Landius moved on to the next point instead of repeating the detailed explanation.
"The black dragon you command...... that too is probably not the original power of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates, but rather the result of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates's power being adjusted to suit you."
Landius could not command a black dragon.
But he did not think it was because he had forcibly cultivated the Nine Heavens Nine Gates without a Heavenly Martial Body.
'This too is nothing more than a feeling.'
A certain sensation that only someone who had actually trained could feel.
Landius's Nine Heavens Nine Gates strengthened the power of the sun, which was Landius's foundation, instead of the energy of a black dragon.
If Yuder's Nine Heavens Nine Gates was a black dragon, then Landius's Nine Heavens Nine Gates was the sun.
"But since you have also begun to learn the power of the sun, the Nine Heavens Nine Gates may show change once again. It is a shame that there is no time to observe it carefully."
He had taught while saving as much time as possible, but even so, it had only been seven days—to be precise, only six days.
No matter how much Yuder was born with the Heavenly Martial Body, it was impossible for him to complete the Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art in just a few days.
'Still, as expected of the Heavenly Martial Body. It is remarkable.'
Landius taught him the Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art through such relentlessly thorough drilling that it bordered on brute-force instruction.
Since time was short, the concept was to first engrave it into the body.
And Yuder had actually accomplished that difficult task.
Of course, he had struggled to the point of nearly losing his mind, but what mattered was that he had accomplished it.
'It's not just the Heavenly Martial Body. He's a sharp-witted fellow.'
Once a martial artist reached a certain realm, their comprehension naturally sharpened. Landius himself possessed an exceptional memory, but Yuder was beyond what could merely be called exceptional.
Should he say it was truly extraordinary?
'I never imagined I would be able to instill more than eighty percent in just six days.'
The Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art was not simply a mental cultivation method.
It contained many techniques, and Landius had been able to instill about eighty percent of them into Yuder's spirit and body.
'As his realm rises, he will be able to properly use them one by one.'
And when they met again next time, he would pass on the secret techniques of the Nine Extreme Sun Divine Art.
'Of course, training twice as hard as this would be waiting for him.'
But there would be no problem.
Because the disciple before his eyes would be able to endure it.
"Heh heh heh."
Landius wore a satisfied smile, but Yuder flinched for a moment and broke out in a cold sweat.
An ominous premonition suddenly surged through him.
"Anyway, disciple."
"Yes, Master."
"You have become strong too quickly."
At Landius's words, Yuder nodded again.
Because Yuder himself knew well what those words meant.
"Fast growth is not a bad thing. It only proves how extraordinary your talent is. But even so, you are growing far too quickly. Sometimes the speed of it genuinely frightens me."
He had reached the Fifth Gate of the Nine Heavens Nine Gates in just a couple of months.
The child who had struggled to fight even a single low-grade Demonic Human when they first met had now reached a level where he could easily subdue a mid-grade Demonic Human.
In just a couple of months.
"It is too fast. So I am worried."
If things continued like this, he might spiral out of control.
That he would not be tripped up by the things he could not help but miss because he was running too fast.
"Disciple, I will speak honestly. I was called a genius from childhood. I was quite renowned."
After saying that, Landius suddenly coughed awkwardly. Even he was embarrassed by his own words.
'But it's the truth.'
It really was.
Landius himself was objectively a genius.
"That Kamael fellow is also a genius. Lena is a genius too. I myself am a genius, and I have seen many geniuses throughout my life. But among them all, you are the best."
The Heavenly Martial Body.
Truly the incarnation of martial arts sent by heaven.
In fact, the Heavenly Martial Body in the original work had not been at this level.
But as Yuder himself had thought, the current Yuder and Cordelia were not purely the two people from the original work.
Even in his previous life, Kang Jin-ho—known as Outboxer—had been a genius.
That genius of Kang Jin-ho had been added to Yuder's Heavenly Martial Body.
On top of that, cultivating the Nine Heavens Nine Gates had sharpened his comprehension. The current Yuder therefore possessed talent far beyond the Yuder of the original story.
'The same goes for Cordelia.'
In fact, in Yuder's opinion, the real genius was Cordelia.
That ability to reach results without a process could not be expressed with any word other than genius.
Yuder himself did not simply see things, but inferred them through calculation.
"Disciple, that is why every time I see you, I feel both anticipation and concern."
Because it was a talent he had never seen before, he could not even guess how it would develop.
The speed of development was so fast that if he went down the wrong path, he might go too far away before anyone could catch him.
"So disciple, do not be in too much of a hurry. You are already excessively fast. Instead of being impatient, endure just a little longer. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes, Master. I will keep it in mind."
In fact, Landius's worry was somewhat excessive.
'Because he seems to think leveling up is also my talent.'
The reason Yuder had been able to become strong so quickly was because his body had also rapidly strengthened through leveling up.
Of course, everyone in Pleiades had levels and gained stats when they leveled up, but Yuder and Cordelia leveled at a rate that no one else could match.
'Part of it is through abnormal routes...... but the experience efficiency itself is good from the start.'
Even when doing the same thing, the experience gained was different.
In fact, this was not a story unique to Yuder himself and Cordelia.
Landius right in front of him, and geniuses like Kamael and Lucas as well, must have been born with absurdly efficient experience gain.
Just as geniuses learned in a single attempt what others found difficult to learn even after dozens or hundreds of attempts.
But Yuder himself and Cordelia felt like they had gone one step further from there.
Could there be some additional modifier at work?
'Maybe it's something like a bonus.'
Like a title effect that applied only to Yuder himself and Cordelia.
'Anyway, Landius is overestimating me, so the concern is probably excessive...... but it's still worth keeping in mind. For both me and Cordelia.'
No, rather than for Yuder himself, for Cordelia.
"Hmm, I have now said everything I needed to say. It seems we can wrap up the summary of this training here."
Landius had barely finished speaking before he started to rise, so Yuder quickly raised a hand.
"Master! There is one thing I would like to ask."
"What is it, disciple?"
"I would like to ask about Sir Velkian and Lady Fran."
Where the two of them were now.
Whether there was any way to contact them.
At Yuder's question, Landius narrowed his brow once, then smiled bitterly and spoke.
"As for Sir Velkian...... I do not know either. After fighting the Demon Prince, he disappeared, saying he would pursue personal research. Since he did not have much time left in his life to begin with, I could not even hold him back...... Disciple. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. It's just...... a bit surprising."
Sir Velkian.
And Landius was even speaking to him respectfully.
'Right, Landius is still in his thirties.'
His usual way of speaking and his imposing presence made him look old, but Landius was still only in his late thirties.
Velkian, on the other hand, had already been in his seventies even during the first game, so it was perfectly natural for Landius to address him respectfully.
"That rascal, always joking. Anyway...... Fran doesn't know either, it seems. We were in contact until about five years ago, but after that, he went missing. Still, he's a druid, so he's probably living well somewhere. Maybe he's even hibernating or something."
Even for a druid, hibernation seemed like a bit of a stretch, but Yuder nodded for now.
'So no one knows. I really have no choice but to track them down one by one.'
First, he'd catch Velkian, who could be lured with bait.
"Hmm, that's a rather scheming smile, my disciple."
"Ahem."
"You sly fellow. Were you thinking about a girl?"
When Landius asked with a suggestive smile, Yuder felt a flash of injustice.
No, why did a scheming expression have to be connected to Cordelia?
Yuder himself, with such a pure heart toward Cordelia.......
"Ahem."
Yuder, who had been continuing his thought, suddenly let out another fake cough.
Because even he felt embarrassed thinking about it.
"So you do have a conscience."
Whether he knew Yuder's inner thoughts or not, Landius said that, and Yuder let out another fake cough amid his embarrassment.
And then, about an hour later.
Yuder, Cordelia, and Landius stood facing one another at the entrance of the Temple of Life.
Because it was now time for them to go their separate ways.
"Master, please be sure to stop by the royal capital once your work is finished."
The incident in the south that Landius, Kamael, and even Lena had to step forward and resolve.
It was frustrating that no matter how many times he asked, they wouldn't give him a proper answer, but Yuder decided to understand Landius.
'He must have his reasons.'
For not saying anything.
Perhaps he was truly heading into something dangerous.
'I just hope he stays safe.'
Since it wasn't precisely depicted in the original, he couldn't fully grasp the flow of events, but this was not the time for Landius to die.
Moreover, since Lena, who originally wouldn't have been with them, was accompanying them, things would go better than in the original if anything, and the chances of them going wrong were low.
"Yes, Lord Landius. I'll be waiting in the royal capital too."
When Cordelia added that prettily, Landius laughed heartily and nodded.
"Yes, I shall. If possible, I'd like to see the two of you at the founding anniversary ball."
The 300th founding anniversary ball.
As it was a gathering where dignitaries from all over the world would assemble, it would surely be full of handsome men and beautiful women, but Landius was certain.
That on that day, in that place, the ones who would shine brightest would be Yuder and Cordelia.
"Anyway, I think it's about time I left. My disciple's level was higher than I expected, so I ended up delaying too long."
"Thank you so much, Master."
Yuder answered Landius's slightly teasing words a little awkwardly, and Landius laughed heartily again.
"My disciple, I look forward to our next meeting. Train hard until then. Build more muscle too. Understood?"
"Yes, Master."
For a moment, Yuder's face went pale from the trauma that had been carved into him over the past few days, but fortunately, Cordelia was beside him.
Cordelia wrapped one arm around the staggering Yuder to support him, then said to Landius.
"Then, we'll see you next time. May the muscles always be with you."
At Cordelia's farewell, Landius's eyes went wide, then he laughed boisterously and kicked off the ground.
"Hold back those tears that cause muscle loss! For the muscles shall always be with you!"
Golden fighting spirit exploded from Landius's entire body as he soared high into the sky.
He shone so dazzlingly that it was as if another sun had risen beneath the sky.
"Until we meet again! My disciple! Young lady! May the muscles always be with you!"
Hahahahaha!
Bursting into boisterous laughter, Landius kicked off the empty air and flew south at terrifying speed, and Cordelia, with a dazed expression as always, spoke.
"It's amazing every time I see it."
Why isn't that magic?
How on earth does he fly around like that?
"You're amazing too...... Yuder?"
Cordelia unconsciously let go of Yuder, whom she had been holding with one arm, and stepped back. That was because Yuder was trembling all over and bursting into suppressed laughter.
"Hehehe...... heheheh...... Freedom. It's freedom!"
The training of the past six days.
Those hellish days!
"Are you that happy?"
"I'm that happy!"
Yuder, beaming brightly, grabbed Cordelia's waist as if to express his joy and lifted her high into the air.
"Whoa! This is great!"
And then he spun her around and around.
Cordelia was startled by his mad laughter, but soon spoke with a face full of sympathy.
"I'll give you a lap pillow again today."
"Sob sob! Thank you, my lady!"
"Yes, yes, our Dolswe."
Yuder spun around several more times before finally setting Cordelia down on the ground.
* * *
The next afternoon.
The headquarters of the Devil's Hand located in Minette.
Soluzia, the high-ranking Demonic Human responsible for the north of the Saelun Kingdom, finally exploded with the fury she had been holding back.
"What in the world is going on!"
The intelligence she had received eight days earlier.
Information that Yuder and Cordelia would join forces with the Guardians of the Holy Cross to attack the Devil's Hand headquarters in Minette—more precisely, Soluzia's branch, which oversaw the entire north.
It was not information she could simply ignore.
All branches of the Devil's Hand were operated in secret.
Naturally, it was no exaggeration to say that almost no one knew their locations.
Yet they had precisely named Minette.
'What's more, they eliminated three mid-ranking Demonic Humans without anyone noticing.'
It was impossible for Yuder and Cordelia to have done such a thing alone.
The Guardians of the Holy Cross had clearly been deeply involved.
'Kamael.'
The strongest fighting force of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.
There was a strong possibility that Kamael's clone was involved in this as well.
No, perhaps the man himself might come.
Kamael would know that a clone alone could not defeat Soluzia herself.
So Soluzia prepared her defenses.
To counterattack the intruders, she gathered the north's forces in one place, prepared a trap, and waited.
And one day.
Then two days.
Three days, four days.
Finally, eight days!
"Why aren't they coming!"
Soluzia hadn't just been stupidly holed up.
She repeatedly sent informants outside to track the movements of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.
What she learned was that the Guardians of the Holy Cross were showing no notable movement at all.
At first, she thought it was a trap.
She thought they were maneuvering to launch a perfect surprise attack.
But now.
Now that eight days had passed.
Now she understood.
There would be no attack.
Whether the information had been false from the start or they had canceled the operation midway, either way, the attack was not coming.
'Either way, it doesn't matter.'
What mattered was that she had wasted eight whole days and that hastily gathering her forces had disrupted the operation planned for the royal capital.
'If the Boss is disappointed any further...... and if he gives up on me entirely.......'
Just imagining it was horrifying.
Trembling with fear, Soluzia covered her face with both hands and exhaled several times.
She would rather die than face a future in which the Boss abandoned her. That could never be allowed to happen.
"Find Yuder and Cordelia."
The root of all evil.
So the Boss would not be disappointed in her any further. So she could make up for all her mistakes so far.
"Locate those two! Now!"
At Soluzia's roar, the demon worshippers gathered in Minette scattered throughout the north and began searching.
They started combing through not only the major cities of the north but also every village situated along the roads leading to the royal capital.
But none of them could find any trace of Yuder and Cordelia.
And that was only natural.
Because the two of them had never used proper roads in the first place.
Because after leaving the Temple of Life, they had not headed toward the royal capital, but toward a completely different place.
The entrance to the central region.
A village located in a place where nothing but mountains could be seen.
That was where Yuder and Cordelia were.
* * *
As with all businesses, to be a business, you first needed customers.
In the case of an inn, you needed people to stay the night, and inn customers were generally divided into two types.
One was outsiders looking for a place to stay.
The other was locals looking for a place to have a fling.
The Pink Pig Inn, the only inn in Hans's village, catered mainly to outsider customers.
Because the village was so tiny that everyone knew how many spoons their neighbors owned, there were no fools who would come to the inn for a fling.
'But there aren't that many outsiders either.'
Since it wasn't exactly a tourist spot or a crossroads.
The reason the village had an inn at all was that many outsiders had once visited the village looking for work.
The mining industry.
An industry of digging into the earth to extract minerals and various other things.
'It was booming once.'
It wasn't even that long ago. About five years ago, the mining industry had been so active that there had been three inns in the village.
But now, most of the shafts were closed, and it was a mining village living day to day.
'So that's why it's strange.'
How many years had it been since so many outsiders had gathered at the inn?
Hans, who was sitting at the counter, glanced around at the people seated on the first floor, which was used as a tavern.
A pair of men and women sitting in the left corner.
They were both so handsome and beautiful that when he first saw them, he thought they weren't human.
Especially the woman, to the point that the word "angel" had slipped out without him realizing it.
And then, a group seated on the right.
They were mostly large men, but among them was one small-framed girl.
'Amazing.'
It was rare for the tavern to be full, and the people filling it were all unusual in some way.
'Still, I should suppress my curiosity.'
He could get badly hurt if he poked his head in just because he was curious.
Whatever kind of travelers they were, everyone except the one child wore swords at their waists or backs. Even the "angel" herself.
'Let's not even look at them.'
He might accidentally make eye contact and get into trouble.
Hans, having steeled himself, turned his gaze away, and that was a wise decision.
Because Hans simply hadn't noticed, but a silent battle had already begun inside the tavern.
The group with the girl glared fiercely at the young man and woman sitting in the left corner—Yuder and Cordelia—and Yuder and Cordelia exchanged glances.
'That's her, right?'
'Yeah, that's her.'
A person they had never imagined they would run into in a place like this.
Yuder and Cordelia exchanged glances again, then turned toward the girl as if they had made a promise.
Her face was more than half hidden because she wore a brown hood pulled down to the top of her head, but even so, the youthful face could not be completely concealed.
It was unmistakably Princess Darian, the younger sister of Prince Dion and a key figure of the royal capital arc, along with Princess Daphne.