Ending Maker Chapter 5
Ending Maker Chapter 5
Chapter 1 - Pleiades #5
"Haaah... hah... ngh."
How long had it been since they started walking?
At first, Yuder had strode out ahead with ease, but at some point he had fallen into step beside Cordelia, and now he was lagging behind entirely, gasping for breath.
In the end, Cordelia turned around, worried, and asked.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Hahh...... huk...... I'm, not okay. Not oka...... hahh."
He was bent over, barely managing to get the words out, and he looked like he was about to throw up.
Seeing Yuder drenched in sweat from head to toe, Cordelia spoke with a slightly dazed expression.
"You really are weak."
"Hahh... enough nonsense... carry me. Give me a piggyback."
"What?"
"Give me... a piggyback. We have to... get there... in time... hahh."
Yuder plopped down flat on his rear and reached out with his arms swaying limply like a zombie.
"Hahh...... hurry up."
"Hoo, seriously."
As Yuder flailed his arms again, Cordelia let out a long sigh, walked over in front of him, turned her back, and crouched down.
"Here."
"Hahh."
Yuder collapsed onto Cordelia's back almost as if he were falling over. Since Yuder was practically soaked in sweat, the smell and the feel weren't exactly pleasant, but Cordelia was startled by something else entirely.
"Seriously, put on some weight. What kind of guy is this light?"
"Nine Yin Meridian Blockage."
"That condition really is your miracle cure-all, isn't it?"
Cordelia sprang up from her spot and adjusted Yuder on her back. Since Yuder was hanging limp, she couldn't even carry him properly unless she supported his rear end.
"Hoo...... don't go sneaking your hands onto weird places."
"You're one to talk. Keep your hands to yourself."
Cordelia shot back at Yuder's protest and strode forward again. Since it was a single path anyway, there was no particular need for directions.
And so, another ten or so minutes passed.
Cordelia, gazing at a spot far ahead, asked Yuder on her back.
"Hey, isn't that it? Looks like we're almost there. Don't doze off."
"Huh? Oh...... yeah, that's it. It's almost exactly like what I saw in the game."
At the end of the winding path along the cliff was a cave entrance just large enough for two people. Though weathered by wind and rain, it was unmistakably man-made.
"Let's hurry. Giddyup, giddyup."
"This guy, seriously."
Cordelia growled lowly, but she did hurry her steps. Now that the entrance was in sight, she wanted to get inside as quickly as possible.
"The Temple of the Sun God......."
"Two hundred years ago, holy knights would have been guarding this place too, right?"
"They would have."
Two hundred years ago.
The Order of the Sun God, which had always led the charge in battles against demons, suffered a devastating blow from the Great Demon Angrius and effectively collapsed.
Because of that, even the temple sealing the powerful demon Leisegang of the Red Moon had now become a forgotten ruin like this, with no one left to guard it.
"You can put me down now."
"We still have to go quite a bit further inside, though?"
"I can manage that much."
"If you say so."
Cordelia lowered Yuder from her back, cast a light spell, and stepped into the cave first.
And that was the moment.
"Oh...... do you feel it?"
Cordelia turned to look at Yuder and asked, and Yuder nodded with his eyes wide open.
"Yeah, I feel it. You too?"
"Yeah, me too."
The moment they passed through the cave entrance, the surrounding air changed.
To be precise, it felt as though a "holy power" was filling the inside of the cave.
'So this is what it felt like.'
In the game, it had been nothing more than a single line—'You feel the holy power of the Sun God.' Experiencing it in reality, however, was something those few words could never convey.
"It feels like my heart is being purified."
As Cordelia looked around with sparkling eyes and spoke, Yuder nodded as well.
"At this level, it seems like it'll be the same as the game. I don't think we need to worry about monsters."
The Sun God's divine power had the ability to drive away demonic monsters.
Cordelia had agreed immediately, just as Yuder had expected.
"From here on, I know the way too, so I'll lead."
"Still, be careful just in case."
"Yeah, you watch your step too."
The inside of the cave was wider than expected, and carvings of the Sun God's divine beasts were scattered here and there, startling Yuder and Cordelia again and again.
"Wh-why do all these divine beasts look so scary?"
Cordelia, who was leading the way, spoke in a trembling voice. The cave was already dark and frightening, and terrifying divine-beast carvings kept appearing in unexpected places, making it feel like a haunted house.
"Hang in there, we're almost there."
Moreover, unlike the divine beasts, which were mere statues, Leisegang of the Red Moon was a real demon. Even sealed, he was incomparably more terrifying than the divine beast statues.
"We're here."
After following the winding passage, they arrived at a fairly large hemispherical chamber.
The chamber where Leisegang of the Red Moon was sealed.
Strangely enough, unlike the other areas, a soft light lingered throughout the entire chamber, so it was not dark at all.
"The entire chamber is part of the sealing array."
Cordelia spoke with narrowed eyes. As a mage, her ability to sense supernatural energy was far superior to Yuder's at present.
But Yuder had his experience from Hero Legend 2. He nodded once, then examined the magic circles carved into the ceiling and floor.
"Good, it's exactly the same as what I saw in the game."
Truthfully, although they had made it this far, Yuder did have a corner of unease.
They were going to set up a magic circle and summon a demon.
It was a dangerous and special task that couldn't even be compared to checking human relationships or terrain.
'Let's have confidence. We've already confirmed so many things on the way here. And Cordelia is using magic right next to me. So we can do this. Magic truly exists in this world.'
Yuder, who had spoken as if admonishing himself, steeled his resolve and turned to Cordelia.
"Cordelia, the supplies."
"Wait a moment and look over there."
Because all the supplies were inside her skirt.
As Yuder turned around with an awkward motion, Cordelia detached the hem of her skirt entirely and laid out the items that had been tied to her thighs and calves on the floor.
"All done."
"Wow, you hid all this inside your skirt? It's like a Doraemon pouch."
"Say thanks, because it was hard. Don't be ungrateful like Nobita."
After trading nonsense, the two began preparing the new magic circle at the same time.
"The best option would be to carve it into the ceiling and floor, but that's too difficult. So let's draw the magic circle with a magical solution mixed with catalysts."
"Here, the magical solution."
Cordelia poured a red liquid into a wide paper bowl. At a glance it looked like blood, but it was a pure magical solution made by mixing various medicinal ingredients.
'It's fortunate that Cordelia comes from a prestigious magic family.'
If not, even obtaining the ingredients to make the solution would have been a struggle.
"Give me the pen."
"I sneaked it out from my father, so don't break it. Got it?"
"Got it."
After confirming it once more, Cordelia held out the griffon-feather pen.
'It really is Yuder and Cordelia.'
Yellow Storm had not possessed Cordelia's body. Cordelia had recalled Yellow Storm's memories.
The sight of Cordelia worrying about getting scolded by her father proved it.
"Aren't you going to take it?"
"I'm taking it."
Instead of teasing Cordelia by telling her to draw it herself, Yuder obediently accepted the pen.
No matter how fun it was to tease Cordelia, there was a time and place for everything.
"I'll start."
"Okay. You can do it."
From here on, it was Yuder's show.
Cordelia shook her small fist as if cheering him on, then crouched in a corner some distance away and watched Yuder work.
He had to draw a large magic circle that used almost the entire floor, so she couldn't get in the way.
And so, about an hour passed.
Yuder, who had finished drawing the magic circle while sweating profusely, gestured to Cordelia.
"I'm starting. Come over here."
"Huh? Oh, okay!"
At Yuder's call, Cordelia looked startled and trotted over.
"Why?"
"No, it's nothing."
Actually, it wasn't nothing. Cordelia was once again marveling at Yuder—or more precisely, at Outboxer009.
'As expected of Outboxer009.'
At this point it was almost to be expected, but still—to think he had actually memorized Bellastin's Magic Circle in its entirety.
"Why? Feeling newfound respect? Like, 'This is why he's our number one'?"
"No, I'm not. I could do it too, you know? I only stepped back because you were slacking off, so I wanted to put you to work."
"Sure you did."
Yuder grinned, and Cordelia, feeling inexplicably awkward, pouted.
"Anyway, let's start. I need your help again. My blood probably doesn't have much mana in it."
"Hoo, fine. I just need to drop it over there, right?"
"Yeah, we don't need much, so don't make the cut too big. You'll get a scar."
"Hmph, since when do you worry about me?"
"Right?"
In truth, both Yuder and Cordelia were extremely tense.
Because Leisegang of the Red Moon was a powerful monster that could only be defeated in the mid-to-late game.
No matter how many times they had done this in the game, doing the same thing in reality made their hands and feet tremble.
That was also why they were chattering more nonsense than usual.
"Anyway, let's do it."
"Yeah, let's do it. We can do this."
Cordelia, having steeled her resolve, stood at the spot corresponding to the "entrance" of the magic circle Yuder had newly drawn, then took out a large needle and pricked her finger.
"Activate, Bellastin's Magic Circle."
As Cordelia murmured in a low voice and let her blood fall, there was an immediate reaction.
The magic circle Yuder had drawn glowed red, and the entire air inside the sealing site began to vibrate.
"Cordelia! Get back!"
Yuder shouted loudly and turned to look at the center of the sealing site, and Cordelia likewise stepped backward and glared at the center of the sealing site.
The seal was opening.
Not only the magic circle Yuder had drawn, but also the magic circles drawn on the floor and ceiling of the sealing site began to glow. It was a brilliant golden light reminiscent of the sun.
"Yuder! Get back!"
This time Cordelia shouted. It was because the mana density in the sealing site had risen sharply. For the current Yuder, who was worse than Villager A, the air inside the sealing site would be no different from poison.
But Outboxer009 hadn't become a rotten fossil for nothing.
Yuder, who had anticipated a situation like this from the start, quickly took out the mask he had prepared from home and covered his mouth and nose.
It was like one of the simple emergency oxygen masks found on airplanes, and even the Bayel household, which frequently fought monsters, had only a few.
"It's coming!"
Yuder shouted.
And at the same time, the space at the center of the sealing site began to crack. A fissure formed in the empty air, and soon, with a dazzling light, a massive presence revealed itself.
Leisegang of the Red Moon.
A mighty blood demon who commanded the undead—vampires in particular!
The massive red being with the head and wings of a bat cast its crimson glare toward Yuder and Cordelia.