Ending Maker Chapter 36
Ending Maker Chapter 36
Chapter 7 - Full Moon #3
"Viscount Norden, it is a pleasure to greet you again."
"Oh...... I heard about what happened in Langesthei as well. I am truly glad to see you safe and sound."
"It is thanks to your concern. This is Lord Yuder of the Count Bayel Household, and Lady Cordelia of the Count Chase Household."
At Lucas's introduction, Viscount Norden—an elderly man whose hair had gone completely white—turned to Yuder and Cordelia, and each of them offered a polite greeting.
"I am Yuder Bayel."
"I am Cordelia Chase."
"Oh, you truly are as fine a pair as I had heard. I am Viscount Norden. A pleasure to meet you."
"Thank you for welcoming us."
Although Yuder, Cordelia, and Lucas were children of the twelve houses, they were still ordinary nobles without titles of their own.
It was only natural for them to speak respectfully to Viscount Norden, who was both older and a titled noble.
"The atmosphere of the mansion is truly lovely."
Cordelia looked around the well-maintained mansion, old but by no means run-down. Viscount Norden answered her with a broad smile.
"This mansion has been passed down for three generations. It is small and old, but...... it is a precious place where I was born and raised."
After answering Cordelia warmly, Viscount Norden did not keep them long. He had the maids assign each member of the party a guest room.
'He seems like a good person, doesn't he?'
'He doesn't seem like a bad person, at least?'
In the original, Viscount Norden was little more than a background character who simply existed, so Yuder and Cordelia knew almost nothing about him.
They had spent the journey inside the carriage and had not gotten a proper look at Viscount Norden's territory, either.
'Well, there probably won't be any problems.'
He had called it small, but only compared with the mansions of count households. The mansion itself was by no means small.
As befitting the mansion of a noble who held territory, there were several guest rooms.
After receiving rooms on the second floor and finishing dinner with Viscount Norden, the party decided to retire early and rest.
Later, on the balcony of a guest room.
As usual, Yuder and Cordelia began their private conversation.
"Ah, this is nice. Eating delicious food for the first time in a while, taking a bath, and sleeping in a proper bed."
Cordelia, wearing a nightgown, hummed a little tune as she stroked the hair that had spilled over her shoulders.
She must have come straight from her bath; her hair looked especially smooth and glossy.
"Mm, I like the bathroom."
"I like it too, but do you really have to say that?"
"Anyway."
The two of them sat side by side in the chairs on the balcony and looked up at the night sky.
As always, the two moons were shining along with the stars.
It was Yuder who spoke first.
"Landius will probably arrive tomorrow. He'll be traveling with us for a while."
"Just telling him to be careful of Duke won't be enough, right?"
"For now... I'm thinking of subtly telling him about Duke's weaknesses and attack patterns. Once he knows them, the information will be useful no matter what Landius thinks of us."
"Hmm... Then we'll need to get friendly with Landius first, right? That way he'll trust what we tell him, and we'll be able to give him more information."
"Probably, yes."
After all, the best outcome would be to prevent Landius from ever fighting Duke in the first place.
"Couldn't he just keep traveling with us? Landius is a wandering warrior. He's not part of the Guardians of the Holy Cross like Kamael."
"That's true, but...... well, we'll have to give it a try."
If they could travel with Landius, most of the incidents in the north would become far easier to resolve.
'But...... it won't be easy.'
Since the fall of the Paragon Kingdom, Landius had been pursuing demon worshippers—more specifically, Archbishop Manuela, who had beguiled the Queen of Paragon into summoning Vaikazel.
Landius had a very clear goal. Unless Yuder and Cordelia abandoned everything else to follow him, getting Landius to follow them around would be nearly impossible.
"Either way...... we'll find out once we meet him."
"Right. Since the second game is ten years after the first...... Landius must have changed a lot too, right?"
"He must have. Still, he only went from his twenties to his thirties, so he probably hasn't changed that much. Kamael's overall air changed, but his face is almost exactly the same."
"Still, I'm curious."
Kamael and Landius, who were called the true protagonists of Hero Legend 1, were both incredibly handsome men.
Kamael was an androgynous young man for whom "beautiful" fit better than "handsome." Landius, by contrast, was a classically handsome man with strong features and an intense gaze, in the same vein as Maximilian, the so-called true protagonist of the second game.
The second game dealt with the period ten years after the first.
After becoming an officer of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, Kamael grew addicted to demonic power while fighting countless demons, changing his appearance considerably. Surprisingly, many fans preferred his look in the second game.
'They said he gained... a decadent sort of beauty, right?'
Yuder scratched his chin and turned his thoughts back to Landius.
"Anyway, I am looking forward to it."
The man of the sun who had refused to give up even when everyone despaired before Vaikazel's overwhelming power, and who had rallied all the other protagonists of the first game, including Kamael.
In truth, Yuder simply did not say it out loud, but he liked Landius a great deal as well.
The thought of actually meeting Landius made Yuder's heart race in spite of himself.
"We'll probably meet him tomorrow or the day after, right? I'm looking forward to it."
"Right."
Yuder nodded in response, then rose from his seat and spoke.
"Anyway, we've been through a lot. Let's call it a night."
"Haaah, fine. Sleep well."
"Dream of me."
"Yeah, yeah. You're the one who should dream of me."
"I'll have a naughty dream."
"What the hell is this crazy bastard talking about?"
After their usual exchange, Cordelia left the balcony. Yuder looked up at the night sky once more.
The moons were much brighter than usual that night.
* * *
Yuder opened his eyes in the dead of night, just before dawn.
The reason he opened his eyes was simple.
BOOM!
Yuder's eyes flew open at the explosion. He bolted upright and reflexively turned toward the window.
The trap he habitually set had gone off, shattering the window. A bloodied man in a black mask lay groaning on the balcony.
An attack.
One thought immediately flashed through Yuder's mind.
He said it aloud.
"Cordelia!"
The instant he slipped on the knuckles he kept beside his bed, two more masked figures appeared beyond the balcony.
And Yuder realized.
'The Devil's Hand!'
The ones who had failed in Langesthei were attempting an attack once again.
And if that was the case, it was serious.
Attacking despite knowing roughly how strong Yuder's side was meant they had brought enough forces to believe they could handle them.
'I was complacent.'
He had assumed that after taking such heavy losses in Langesthei, they would not dare launch a second attack so soon.
The two masked men, clearly Devil's Hand combatants, each drew a knife.
Behind the two of them, more masked figures were appearing.
'Let's avoid this.'
Taking on an unknown number of enemies here was a bad move. He needed to regroup with Cordelia quickly and make sure she was safe.
And at that very moment.
"Yuder!"
With the thunderous cry, the door exploded inward.
A beautiful girl appeared.
No—a witch in sleepwear, her dark red hair flying behind her.
"Get lost!"
The moment Cordelia glared at the masked men and shouted, two magic missiles formed in midair and shot forward like bolts of lightning, slamming into them.
"Yuder! Hurry!"
He had meant to save her and ended up being saved instead, but what mattered was that they had regrouped.
Yuder sprang off the bed and rushed to Cordelia as he asked:
"What about Dahlia?"
"First floor! She said she was having a drink with the knights!"
It was certainly possible.
But the moment he heard Cordelia's words, Yuder thought.
'A trap?'
Either way, they were knights in the middle of an escort mission.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no way knights on escort duty would casually hold a drinking party among themselves in someone else's mansion. That was true of Dahlia and Jun, and especially of Sir Seorn, captain of the Count Hraesvelgr Household's escort.
Unless Viscount Norden's household had invited them to drink first, this situation could not have happened.
If so, there was only one conclusion.
Viscount Norden's household itself was the trap.
Whether it was Viscount Norden himself or some of his servants, someone here was colluding with Devil's Hand!
"Let's go, quickly!"
To the first floor.
To save Dahlia.
"Before that, Lucas first!"
The Devil's Hand was targeting Lucas and Cordelia.
Yuder hurried out into the hallway, and Cordelia followed, asking,
"But what was that explosion?"
"What was what?"
"The explosion!"
She meant the explosion she had heard from Yuder's room.
Yuder kicked open the door to Lucas's room and shouted.
"A trap! I set one on the window every night!"
"Were you seriously a spy?"
"He's not here!"
"Huh?"
"I said he's not here!"
Lucas's room was empty.
But that did not mean there were signs of intrusion either.
"First floor?"
Had he awkwardly joined the knights for a drink?
Or was it the bathroom?
There was little time to think. Sounds of fighting came from the first floor.
"Let's hurry!"
"Magic Missile!"
The moment Cordelia shouted, five magic missiles formed at once and streaked down the hallway.
They were aimed at the Devil's Hand combatants who had infiltrated through the window of Yuder's room.
"Witchification is amazing, huh?"
"I can't keep it up for long!"
Yuder understood.
Yuder took the lead as they ran and spotted the others near the central staircase.
"Dahlia! Jun!"
"My lady!"
"Young master!"
Dahlia and Jun answered at the same time.
Other knights were there as well, but Sir Seorn, Sir Sirion, and most importantly Lucas were nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Lucas?!"
"Outside!"
The conversation ended there.
More than ten Devil's Hand combatants poured in from all directions on the first floor and attacked the knights. More of them stormed the second floor after Yuder and Cordelia.
They had clearly mobilized at least several dozen combatants for this attack.
"Cordelia! Hold on!"
Yuder grabbed Cordelia around the waist, kicked off the ground, and leaped over the central staircase itself.
And Cordelia flung her arms around Yuder's neck. Instead of letting out a shriek, she glared fiercely behind them and fired magic missiles in rapid succession.
RATATATAT!
THUD!
The explosions of the magic missiles and the crash of Yuder landing struck almost simultaneously.
Yuder adjusted his hold on Cordelia and kicked off the ground once more.
"Outside!"
"Fire—Arrow!"
Still cradled in Yuder's arms, Cordelia formed hand seals and conjured a massive arrow of flame.
The knights understood Yuder's order immediately. They formed a wedge around the two of them and charged straight for the main entrance.
KABOOM!
Cordelia's Fire Arrow blasted apart the front door and set it ablaze. At the same moment, arrows rained down from every direction.
"Shield!"
The ring of Count Chase activated immediately.
A translucent dome enveloped Yuder and Cordelia, while the knights swung their swords to fend off the rain of arrows.
"Ngh!"
But blocking all of them was impossible.
Several arrows lodged in the knights' arms and shoulders.
"Dahlia!"
"Outside!"
Cordelia cried out when she saw the arrow embedded in Dahlia's left thigh. Dahlia immediately answered and kept moving forward. They had to escape the mansion before the next volley fell.
"Valiant Charge!"
At Jun's sudden shout, faint golden light enveloped his body and he shot toward the front gate. It was Chivalry, the art often called the knights' magic.
RATATATAT!
Arrows rained down on the charging Jun, but the faint golden light deflected most of them or sent them veering aside.
"Ngh!"
But even so, there was a limit.
Jun collapsed where he stood.
And Yuder could see it.
Lucas and his group, surrounded and fighting Devil's Hand combatants!
"Lucas!"
After clearing the main gate, Yuder set Cordelia down. She immediately began an incantation, preparing to use a spell she had learned from the witch's grimoire.
The knights streamed through the front gate and formed a defensive line around Yuder and Cordelia. A shout came from Lucas's direction.
"Lord Yuder!"
"Viscount Norden is the enemy!"
It was at that moment that Sir Seorn shouted.
A powerful surge of magic suddenly swept across the entire grounds in front of the mansion.
Aside from Cordelia, Yuder was the person there most familiar with magic, and he recognized it instantly.
"A magic circle!"
It seemed like one.
Just as Yuder had prepared a magic circle in advance to fight Demonic Human Minos, Devil's Hand had prepared a trap of its own.
Light rose.
Intricate purple lines spread across the grounds, then began pressing down on Yuder and everyone else. It felt as though gravity had multiplied several times over.
'A Crushing Formation!'
True to its name, it was a magic circle that crushed those trapped within it.
The sudden pressure made Cordelia cry out and collapse in the middle of her incantation. The knights could barely remain standing and could not move properly.
"Hahaha! You fools!"
At the clichéd line, Yuder turned toward the speaker. Someone who had been hiding in the garden stepped into view.
It was Viscount Norden.
The face that had seemed so good-natured twisted as though that expression itself had only ever been a mask, while a red glow flashed in his eyes.
"It's over. Even if you break through the Crushing Formation, there is no hope for you."
Viscount Norden spoke theatrically and snapped his fingers. Devil's Hand combatants emerged from both the garden and the mansion. Even at a glance, there were well over thirty.
Moreover, they were not only ordinary combatants.
"Whether it was luck or something else, they defeated Minos. We can't afford to underestimate them."
A new Demonic Human stepped into view beside Viscount Norden.
Unlike Viscount Norden, whom Yuder had not even known existed, this villain had played a fairly noticeable role early in the original story.
'Demonic Human Barus.'
A Demonic Human of Devil's Hand roughly equal to Minos in strength.
He was the Demonic Human tasked with transporting the children of the twelve houses whom Minos had kidnapped to the ritual site. Unlike Minos, who used ice, Barus wielded the flames of Hell.
"Yuder."
Cordelia let out a groan and spoke quietly.
With two Demonic Humans and nearly forty combatants, they would have been difficult opponents even without the Crushing Formation.
'I trusted the original too much.'
He had not imagined that Viscount Norden would be a Demonic Human.
He had badly underestimated the possibility of a second attack.
But regrets came too late. First, they had to survive the crisis in front of them.
"We only need to capture the children of the twelve houses. Kill all the knights."
The combatants under Barus's command entered the Crushing Formation. Special markings carved into their bodies allowed them to move freely inside it.
"Yuder."
Cordelia called Yuder's name again.
And at that moment, Yuder realized what Cordelia was trying to do.
She was going to force the witch's power out of control.
For an instant, she would unleash an enormous burst of magic and blow apart the Crushing Formation.
But it was practically a self-destructive move.
Even if she managed to destroy the Crushing Formation, too many enemies remained. Worse, Cordelia would be left at least on the verge of death.
Yuder looked at Cordelia. She flashed him a grin.
Then she squeezed her eyes shut and began drawing out the witch's power.
Yuder reflexively reached toward her, trying to stop her.
But Yuder knew.
There was no other way to break through the crisis.
Cordelia's choice was the only solution available to them.
But,
But even if that were so—
CRAAAAASH—!
A terrifying roar of displaced air instantly drowned out every other sound.
It was not Cordelia's power running wild. Even Cordelia, in the middle of drawing out the witch's power, opened her eyes in surprise and saw—
The sight of the night sky being torn apart.
A red flash splitting the darkness.
"What is that."
The instant she spoke without thinking—
BOOM!
Lightning struck from the sky.
The red flash became a bolt of lightning and descended to the earth.
KABOOM!
Heaven and earth trembled from the shockwave. A violent wind surged outward, shoving the air aside.
And at the center of it all stood someone.
His red hair stood out vividly.
A man who shone like the sun in the darkness.
Landius of the Crimson Flame.
The warrior of the sun who never yielded, no matter how desperate the situation!
But at his appearance, Yuder and Cordelia were bewildered.
It was not because of his dramatic, movie-like entrance.
"L-Landius?!" they exclaimed in unison.
Ten years since Hero Legend 1.
Because he had never even appeared in the second game, no one knew how he had changed.
Landius had originally been tall.
He had been a giant of a man, nearly 190 centimeters tall.
But now he was even taller.
No, he was far too tall.
Even a conservative estimate put him at easily 2 meters 30 centimeters tall.
Landius had an impressive physique.
He had broad shoulders and an excellent build to begin with. There was a reason his nickname had been Captain Paragon.
But now he was absurdly well-built.
His shoulders were far too broad.
His muscles were absurdly solid.
He was living steel.
A colossal existence.
His face remained as handsome as it had been in the first game, while his red hair streamed in the wind like a lion's mane.
It was almost as if his face had stayed the same while the rest of him had doubled in size.
Moreover, wherever he had gotten rid of it, he was no longer carrying the Solar Blade he had used in the first game. He was bare-handed.
"Sir Landius!"
Lucas shouted at the top of his lungs, and Landius gave a rugged smile.
He laughed heartily, then drove a foot into the ground.
THUD!
That was the end of it.
That single stomp shook the earth and sent dozens of cracks racing across the ground. The magic sustaining the Crushing Formation scattered in an instant.
"Wh-what is that."
The moment Cordelia spoke, the Demonic Humans of Devil’s Hand moved. The combatants fired their crossbows together, creating a rain of arrows.
But Landius showed not the slightest agitation.
He merely watched the arrows rain down, then swung a fist up at the sky.
BOOM!
It was like a storm.
The shockwave centered on the point of his punch churned the air and scattered the entire rain of arrows.
"Damn it! Die!"
Barus shouted in desperation and launched a massive fireball.
It was a flame of Hell formed from a Demonic Human's magical power.
Landius snorted at the fireball hurtling toward him. As though it did not even merit raising a hand, he bellowed:
"Break!"
The shout, laden with tremendous internal energy, was a true lion's roar. Rather than burn Landius, the fireball vanished in an instant.
Barus was not the only one taken aback.
Yuder and Cordelia, of course, and everyone on the mansion grounds were thrown into shock.
In truth, that degree of strength was understandable.
Because Landius was the protagonist of the first installment.
After all, a powerhouse who had defeated a Demon Prince with a human body had spent another ten years growing even stronger.
'No, but even so, this is too much.'
Just as even Yuder was falling into confusion, Landius finally moved. One light step carried him across the distance, and he swung both clenched fists.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
They burst apart.
It was no special martial art.
Devil's Hand combatants simply exploded under his punches. It was the result of overwhelming physical force.
He shattered the sky and split the earth.
It was literal.
With only a few punches from Landius, the more than thirty combatants were reduced to chunks of bloody flesh.
The pressure from his fists alone broke arms and legs. Even striking empty air was enough to drop enemies.
The Demonic Humans were not much different.
Viscount Norden, stunned by the overwhelming display, was seized by the throat. A single punch from Landius made his head disappear.
Barus, who at least managed to regain his senses, met a similar fate. The moment he turned his back to flee, Landius unleashed a knife-hand strike.
The terrifying wave of force not only cut him in two but pulverized him completely.
"Feeble creatures. There is no need to even draw a sword."
Landius snorted, and Yuder and Cordelia thought.
'Wh-what is that. That's terrifying.'
Pleiades was a world with superhumans.
Just as Yellow Storm had been nicknamed Human Storm, a single powerful superhuman in Pleiades could stand against hundreds or even thousands.
But even so, there were limits.
No, more than that, it was the difference between a game and reality.
Watching a warrior cut down dozens of monsters through a monitor was nothing like seeing people burst apart from a single punch with your own eyes.
'Duke...... killed that?'
That thing?
How?
Didn't Duke just pick up the Solar Blade after Landius threw it away?
Yuder blinked without realizing it.
Landius turned around. He checked Lucas first, then shifted his gaze to Yuder and Cordelia.
"Ho."
Landius grinned and stepped forward. Cordelia grabbed Yuder's arm without thinking, while Yuder moved her behind his back and swallowed hard.
'This isn't how it's supposed to go.'
The meeting with Landius that he and Cordelia had imagined.
No, the image of Landius that they had imagined.
2 meters 30 centimeters.
The shadow of the giant, several times Yuder's bulk, fell over Yuder and Cordelia.
Cordelia, who had never shown fear even when facing Demonic Humans head-on, trembled despite herself, while Yuder's breathing grew ragged.
Landius narrowed his eyes as he looked at Yuder and Cordelia.
His gaze seemed to pierce straight through Yuder as he examined him from head to toe.
"You have the Heavenly Martial Body."
A fierce smile spread across Landius's face.
He raised a hand as broad as a pot lid.
And Cordelia reacted.
Just as she had when first meeting Leisegang, Cordelia reflexively drew up her magical power.
Yuder belatedly tried to use the Thirty-Six World Steps, but immediately stopped.
He had suddenly remembered that Cordelia was directly behind him.
Landius's hand closed around Yuder's shoulder. The force surging from his body scattered Cordelia's magic in an instant.
'I'm dead.'
Just as the thought flashed through Yuder's mind—
Landius spoke, saying something Yuder had never expected.
"Become my disciple."
"......Excuse me?"
"Become my disciple, boy with the Heavenly Martial Body."
Landius of the Crimson Flame.
The warrior of the sun.
"I shall pass on to you the Nine Heavens Nine Gates."
Yuder stared blankly at Landius. Landius answered with a rugged smile.