Ending Maker Chapter 37
Ending Maker Chapter 37
Chapter 8 - Nine Heavens Nine Gates
Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
Nine heavens and nine gates.
It wasn't a martial art he was hearing about for the first time.
He had definitely heard of it before.
But where?
At least, he was certain it hadn't appeared in the first game.
Yuder was just about to enter his memory palace out of habit.
"Ah!"
Cordelia, pressed close behind him, suddenly exclaimed.
Yuder reflexively turned around, and Cordelia moved her lips to form a silent message.
Yuder understood without needing to read her lips.
'Game 3.'
That was what Cordelia had mouthed.
Thanks to that, he remembered. Nine Heavens Nine Gates was a legendary martial art said to appear in the third game—specifically, in its final expansion.
'Just like Nine Celestial Steps.'
A martial art whose existence was known but that had never actually appeared in the game.
And now Landius, one of the protagonists of the first game, of all people, had spoken the name Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
'Did Landius learn it sometime during the last ten years? Or... did Landius create it himself?'
Either way, it didn't matter.
What mattered was that Nine Heavens Nine Gates was clearly a top-tier martial art, just like Nine Celestial Steps.
"I will say this one last time, boy. Become my disciple. With your Heavenly Martial Body, you can learn Nine Heavens Nine Gates."
Yuder swallowed hard at Landius's words, then admitted it to himself.
His heart was pounding.
The thought of learning a legendary martial art that none of Hero Legend's countless rotten fossils had ever mastered thrilled Yuder.
On top of that, he would become the disciple of Landius, the Warrior of the Sun and his favorite character from the first game.
There truly was no reason to refuse.
"Heh."
Landius read the answer in Yuder's eyes and smiled in satisfaction. Yuder parted his lips, about to accept.
But at that exact moment—
"W-wait a moment!"
Cordelia grabbed Yuder's arm and suddenly raised her voice.
Everyone who had been watching Yuder and Landius turned toward Cordelia. Even Landius looked at her questioningly. Cordelia flinched, hesitated, then spoke.
Apparently the words had escaped her before she realized it.
"Th-that is..."
"Speak, girl."
Landius answered in his hearty manner. Cordelia glanced once at Yuder, then gathered her courage.
"Um... if he learns Nine Heavens Nine Gates..."
"If he learns it?"
"Will Yuder... get big too?"
Cordelia's timid question left everyone blank-faced for a moment, but then they nodded in understanding.
Landius truly was abnormally huge.
Even Yuder, who until moments ago had been thrilled at the prospect of becoming Landius's disciple, flinched and looked up at him.
He was certainly big. Excessively so.
"Hm."
Landius rubbed his chin in amusement, then addressed Cordelia as she tried to hide behind Yuder again.
"Girl, what is your relationship with this boy of the Heavenly Martial Body?"
"I'm his fiancée..."
"I see. That's certainly worth worrying about. Hmm. A very important matter indeed."
Landius nodded knowingly. Scattered coughs came from the knights, and everyone except Lucas turned red.
"Huh? Why is everyone acting like that?"
"Young master, just a moment."
Immediately after Sir Seorn hurriedly tugged Lucas away by the hand,
Landius watched the thoroughly red-faced Yuder and Cordelia with a warm smile, then laughed heartily and continued.
"Do not worry, girl. My size is not because of Nine Heavens Nine Gates."
"It's not because of Nine Heavens Nine Gates?"
Cordelia repeated the question in surprise, and Yuder likewise stared at Landius.
Because Landius in the first game had definitely been around 190 cm tall.
There was no way he had suddenly hit another growth spurt in his late twenties, so there had to be some acquired cause. If it wasn't Nine Heavens Nine Gates, then what was it?
"The blood of the giant tribe flows in my body. I used the Ancestral Regression Art to draw out the power of my ancestors."
"Ancestral... Regression Art?"
"Yes, the Ancestral Regression Art. It traces backward through blood—the currency of the soul—to awaken power sleeping within the body and soul."
The knights looked as though they didn't quite understand Landius's explanation. Yuder and Cordelia were different.
Because it was a technique that had appeared several times in Hero Legend 2.
'Cordelia herself awakens her angelic blood through the Ancestral Regression Art, after all.'
It was an understandable story.
If the Ancestral Regression Art had awakened the giant blood within Landius, his enormous size made sense.
'To think Landius had giant blood in his veins.'
It was a sudden revelation, but the more Yuder thought about it, the more it made sense.
Landius had possessed overwhelming physical gifts from the beginning.
"So, girl, even if this boy of the Heavenly Martial Body learns Nine Heavens Nine Gates, he will not become huge like me. Do not worry."
"Oh... yes, I understand."
Cordelia answered awkwardly and pressed her lips shut. Landius turned back to Yuder.
"Now answer, boy of the Heavenly Martial Body. Will you become my disciple?"
The legendary martial art, Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
The disciple of Landius, one of the true protagonists of the first game.
It was a development wildly different from the original, but there was no reason to refuse.
Yuder's goal was to break the original story apart and create a perfect happy ending, after all.
'Are you going to?'
'I have to.'
After exchanging one final glance with Cordelia, Yuder looked up at Landius and answered.
"I will become your disciple, Master."
"Heh, good. From today, you are my disciple. So, my disciple, answer my question."
"Yes, Master."
Yuder answered with a tense expression, and Landius asked in the same hearty manner:
"First, what is your name? How old are you? Seeing that you have a fiancée, are you a noble?"
The most basic of background questions.
They might now be master and disciple, but they hadn't even properly introduced themselves yet.
Yuder stared blankly for a moment, then answered his exceedingly straightforward new master.
* * *
The next morning.
The party spent the night in Viscount Norden's now-masterless mansion. Some objected that it was dangerous, but Landius's presence settled the issue. In the morning, they hurried to prepare for departure while sending word to Langesthei.
A landed noble turning out to be a demon worshipper—and even a full-fledged Demonic Human—was an extremely serious matter.
"Normally, we should remain here and cooperate with the investigation... but after two attacks, I believe it would be best to return to the count's household as quickly as possible."
Since there had been a second attack, there could be a third.
The best course was therefore to return quickly while Landius was still with them.
Just as Yuder remembered, Landius was traveling the continent in search of Archbishop Manuela.
He had only taken this detour because he had business with Count Hraesvelgr. If it threatened to delay him for long, there was a good chance he would simply leave.
"Understood, let's do that."
After answering Seorn, Lucas looked enviously at the carriage carrying Yuder and Cordelia.
'I'm really jealous.'
It wasn't merely that Yuder had a beautiful fiancée with whom he worked in perfect sync.
Landius's disciple.
Landius—the hero Lucas idolized, a man who seemed to have stepped straight out of a heroic novel in appearance, strength, and character—had personally asked Yuder to become his disciple.
That had never once happened to Lucas himself.
"Young master, Lord Landius's martial art is of a type that cannot be learned without a special constitution. It is by no means because your talent is lacking. Didn't Lord Landius himself say so? That in terms of talent with the sword alone, you are on the same level as Kamael the Sword Demon."
"Yeah... that's true, but..."
He knew that.
But knowing that did not make Lucas any less jealous.
Training with Lord Landius.
Receiving training from the red-haired warrior.
'I'm really jealous...'
Just as Lucas gazed pitifully toward the carriage,
Yuder was dying.
"Ah, ugh, ack, hng, ah..."
Yuder lay on a makeshift bed inside the carriage, writhing and groaning, while Cordelia sat at his bedside and diligently tended to him.
"Does it hurt that much?"
"It hurts, f**k. It hurts so damn much. I seriously feel like I'm dying. Even Afghanistan wasn't this bad. Ah... aah..."
Profanity poured out of Yuder with none of his usual restraint.
Just one day.
No—just a few hours of training in the middle of the night had left every muscle in his body screaming.
'I must leave again once we reach the Count Hraesvelgr Household. I cannot keep taking you with me, so I will make sure you learn the fundamentals during the journey there.'
Up to that point, it was fine. It was fully understandable.
But the training that followed went far beyond anything Yuder had expected.
"Ah, I didn't learn like this from Father..."
It was clearly different from when he had learned Thunderclap Strike and Thunderbolt Fist.
And no wonder. Landius had mercilessly worked every muscle in Yuder's body.
It felt less like martial arts training and more like physical conditioning—no, physical abuse.
Worse, because Yuder's stamina was still poor due to the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage, Landius alternated just the right amounts of rest and training, making continuous abuse—no, exercise—possible.
"S-so... do you know exactly what Nine Heavens Nine Gates is?"
"I don't know, but... judging from the training, it's probably meant to strengthen the body itself... Aah, ah... f**k, this hurts like hell. It hurts even when I lie still. Hng."
"Stop swearing."
"Dammit."
Just as they were having a conversation completely opposite their usual roles, the door flew open.
"Hm, you're fine. As expected of the Heavenly Martial Body."
Seeing Yuder sprawled on the bed, Landius spoke with a pleased smile. Rage surged through Yuder.
'Fine? What part of this is fine?!'
Fortunately, he still had enough reason left to scream only inside his head.
Landius nodded with his pleased expression unchanged and spoke.
"Rest until lunch. Once the carriage stops, we will resume training. Ah, and girl—feed my disciple these."
Landius removed an entire pouch from his belt and tossed it to Cordelia.
When she opened it, she found it packed with pills about the size of a thumbnail.
"They help the body recover—more precisely, the muscles. From now on, give him one after every training session. Understood?"
"Ah, yes."
"Good, then I will see you at lunch."
Landius left with a cheerful laugh and closed the door behind him. Cordelia turned back to Yuder with a worried expression.
"Um... well... first, can you say 'ah'? I'll give you the medicine. Ah~"
For some reason Cordelia suddenly felt like treating Yuder especially kindly. She spoke gently, and he opened his mouth while trembling.
And so five days passed.
For Yuder, they were unforgettable days of hell.
* * *
"Ugh... ngh... gh..."
The sixth night after meeting Landius.
After finishing his squats, Yuder collapsed where he stood and trembled.
"M-Master."
"Yes."
"M-my legs won't move..."
"Right, your lower body needs a rest now. So let's do upper body now."
Landius laughed heartily, sat Yuder upright, and handed him a homemade piece of exercise equipment.
"Hurry. There isn't much time. You'll lose muscle if you rest too long. Don't cry. You'll lose fluids."
Trembling in more ways than one, Yuder began training his upper body.
And so, about two hours.
About two hours later, after thoroughly destroying every muscle in his body, Yuder collapsed with a noise that sounded close to his last breath.
"Hmm, good. From now on, repeat the entire routine even when I am not here. Do not skip anything. Understood?"
"Under... stood..."
They would reach the Count Hraesvelgr Household tomorrow.
'Freedom. It's finally freedom.'
As Yuder's eyes grew red, Landius let out a hearty laugh and continued.
"Do not be so sad, my disciple. Once I finish my urgent business, I will return and oversee your training again. So stop shedding those tears before you lose any more muscle."
Yuder trembled instead of answering, and Landius continued speaking.
"Now then. Since we have only one day left, let us begin training Nine Heavens Nine Gates."
"Under... what did you say?"
Yuder lifted his head from where he lay collapsed and asked.
The statement was simply too absurd.
Begin?
The training of Nine Heavens Nine Gates?
Then what had he been doing until now?
"What else would it have been? Muscle training. Even putting the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage aside, you are far too scrawny. Keep at it and build up your body."
Landius clicked his tongue while Yuder blinked blankly.
Not Nine Heavens Nine Gates, but simple muscle training.
Thinking about it, it was true.
The training had been so brutal that Yuder hadn't been thinking straight, but looking back, it truly had been pure physical conditioning with nothing to do with martial arts.
Even apart from the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage, Yuder really was physically frail.
But, but even so!
'Fuuuck!'
Fortunately, once again Yuder only screamed inside his head.
Landius personally hauled Yuder upright, then said:
"Now I will teach you the mnemonic verse of Nine Heavens Nine Gates. Memorize it."
"I just... have to memorize the mnemonic verse?"
"For now, yes."
For a moment, Yuder nearly cried from sheer injustice. No—if he was honest, a few tears actually escaped. Still, he decided to endure.
Because he did have to learn Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
"Now, I shall begin."
The mnemonic verse of Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
Yuder closed his eyes and focused on Landius's voice.
He added the new material to his memory palace.
But only briefly. At some point, the mnemonic verse settled into Yuder's mind.
No—it naturally became part of him.
Only then did Yuder understand.
Nine Heavens Nine Gates was not a combat art of attack and defense like Thunderclap Strike or Divine Strike Fist.
Nor was it an internal-energy cultivation method.
It created nine gates within the body and soul.
Each gate that opened unlocked new possibilities.
Both body and soul ascended to a higher level of existence.
A method of training the soul that combined martial arts and sorcery.
No—a method of evolving the soul.
Yuder felt the first gate forming at the location of his lower dantian.
The First Gate.
Normally, it could not have happened so quickly.
But the Heavenly Martial Body made it possible.
No. Nine Heavens Nine Gates and the Heavenly Martial Body had been linked from the beginning. It was a martial art that could not be properly learned without the Heavenly Martial Body.
Sweat poured from Yuder's entire body like rain.
He lost track of time. After a moment that felt like eternity, the First Gate was finally complete.
At that moment, Yuder understood.
One of the martial arts he already possessed was responding to Nine Heavens Nine Gates.
And it was advancing to a new level.
'Thirty-Six World Steps.'
Yuder's footwork technique.
The technique that, at its ultimate, could reach the legendary Nine Celestial Steps.
Why?
Why was Thirty-Six World Steps reacting to Nine Heavens Nine Gates?
The First Gate opened.
Deep within Yuder's body and soul, the first evolution began.
At the same time, Thirty-Six World Steps took on a new form.
'Twenty-Four Gale Steps.'
Yuder opened his eyes.
He found himself facing Landius.