Ending Maker Chapter 56
Ending Maker Chapter 56
Chapter 16 - Winter Flower #2
Just as fantasy brought swords and magic to mind, the world of Hero Legend, Pleiades, was home to countless swordsmen.
More than half of all characters used swords, and swordsmen also made up a large share of the playable cast.
In particular, the true protagonists of each installment—Landius and Kamael from the first, Maximilian from the second, and Luichel from the third—all wielded swords as their primary weapons, so every character called a true protagonist used a sword.
"So you could say the Four Great Swordsmen are the strongest figures representing Hero Legend."
From among those countless swordsmen, the players chose the Four Great Swordsmen.
It was not a title that existed in the official setting. Like the commonly used Four Heavenly Kings or Four Great Commanders, it was a kind of meme, but because it was so widely used, Hero Legend Tales practically treated it as official canon.
"Kamael, Maximilian, Luther, Scarlet."
There was plenty of debate over which of the four was strongest, but either way, Kamael proudly held one of the four spots, counting both enemies and allies.
'He's also the only character who appears throughout the entire Hero Legend series.'
That was why some people said Kamael was the true protagonist of the Hero Legend series.
'He's been around since the first game, so he has a lot of fans too.'
Yuder himself preferred Landius, but if he ranked all the characters, Kamael would still place near the top.
'Either way, Kamael.'
The Sword Demon.
Aside from Ellendia, the mysterious leader shrouded entirely in secrecy, Kamael was the strongest member of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.
One of the Four Great Swordsmen, and the owner of Almas, the Extreme Demon Sword, one of the Seven Legendary Swords of Hero Legend.
Unlike Landius, who had undergone a shocking visual transformation over the last ten years, Kamael looked exactly as Yuder remembered him from the second game.
Black clothes with a hood that could be pulled down over his head, and pure white hair.
A beautiful face brimming with androgynous charm, and jewel-like blue eyes that were utterly cold.
A rigidly stiff expression, fitting the setting that he never so much as smiled unless he was with Landius, his companion since the first game.
He quietly studied Yuder, then spoke again.
"At Landius's request, I have been watching your movements."
Yuder gave a small nod at Kamael's words.
Landius was magnanimous, not naive.
He was not the sort of man who would simply abandon his disciple and leave.
"I was in the north. I had intended to leave it at that, but that became impossible. Soluzia has made a move."
Soluzia was one of the six branch leaders of the Devil's Hand.
The power of an upper-class Demonic Human rivaled that of the Guardians of the Holy Cross's commanders, so the Guardians had no choice but to be on high alert.
"While tracking Soluzia's movements, I discovered you and came to your aid."
The explanation more or less made sense.
And launching straight into an explanation without any introductions or pleasantries was very much like Kamael.
After all, he fundamentally had no interest in anyone other than Landius and his companions from the first game.
"Where were you headed? If you keep going north, you will cross the border."
His voice was low but beautiful.
Yuder pointed at Red Wind, who was fidgeting behind Cordelia, and spoke.
"This is Red Wind, a member of the Great Storm tribe. Her father fell ill, and we were on our way beyond the border—to the Wild Lands—to cure him."
With Red Wind listening, Yuder was reluctant to keep calling the place "barbarian" lands, but he had no better term for it at the moment.
Kamael furrowed his brow at Yuder's explanation.
"What connection do scions of the Twelve Northern Houses have with a barbarian girl?"
"There was a revelation from Great Storm, the Wild God."
When Cordelia stepped forward and spoke, curiosity flickered in Kamael's eyes.
"From a Wild God?"
"Yes."
After answering once more, Cordelia glanced at Yuder. She was asking for help, so Yuder added his own words.
"Great Storm is the Wild God of the wind who watches over the Great Storm tribe. And... we heard that the illness of Red Wind's father, Red Gale, seems to be connected to the power of demons."
At Yuder's words, Red Wind's eyes flew open in surprise, while Kamael's eyes narrowed.
"I see. That would be worth investigating."
Kamael himself knew little about the demon worshippers who had taken root in the Wild Lands beyond the border.
But Kamael had sworn a dragon oath to exterminate every demon worshipper on the face of the earth.
For the first time, emotion surfaced in eyes that had been utterly indifferent until now.
"Understood. Your goal is to cross the border. For Landius's sake, I will help you that far."
"Before that, Kamael, there is one thing I would like to ask."
"What is it?"
"It is about the Devil's Hand. Do they happen to have someone with precognitive abilities?"
As far as Yuder knew, the Devil's Hand had no one with precognitive abilities.
But the Devil's Hand was the enemy, not an ally.
Naturally, the game could not reveal their full nature.
'They appeared as if they had been waiting for us.'
The hellhounds of the Devil's Hand.
At Frost Anvil, the location had been specified, and Yuder had a clear motive for going there to find the Sunflower Herb, so it was possible for them to gather clues and track him down.
But this snowfield was so deserted that there was not a single person around.
Following a trail was possible, but predicting where someone would go and lying in ambush was impossible.
Kamael studied Yuder with considerable interest, then asked a question of his own.
"Why do you think it is precognition?"
"Even clairvoyance-type abilities can't explain an ambush. And... it's my speculation, but their precognition seems to be incomplete."
Judging from Kamael's reaction, the Devil's Hand did indeed have a precognitive.
But fortunately, the ability was likely incomplete.
At Yuder's words, Kamael took on the look of a teacher testing a student.
"And why is it incomplete?"
"Because hellhounds appeared."
If their precognition were perfect, the ones waiting there should have been Soluzia—or at the very least, Demonic Humans—not hellhounds.
But what had appeared were hellhounds.
There was only one thing to infer from that.
Their precognition was incomplete. Because it was not perfect foresight, they had spread their forces across a wide area, and one of those groups had encountered the party.
Kamael smiled ever so faintly at Yuder's hypothesis, then murmured as though whispering.
"Indeed. A disciple of Landius, I see."
It was questionable what connection Landius had to deductive reasoning, and it was also questionable why Cordelia suddenly made a smug little "hmph" sound—but Kamael, having reached his own understanding, returned to a stiff expression and spoke.
"Correct. The Devil's Hand has a mid-class Demonic Human named Kanos who possesses incomplete precognition. According to our investigation so far, he seems unable to foresee anything beyond a rough location. And since even that does not occur often, it appears he cannot control the precognition itself at will."
"I see."
Incomplete precognition.
Thinking of it that way, what had happened at Frost Anvil also made sense.
They had known that Yuder and Cordelia were going to Frost Anvil, but not when they would go or which route they would take.
That was why they had made the foolish mistake of camping out on the first floor and waiting.
'Is this the price for being too lucky at the casino and the auction house?'
There was no such thing as a fixed total amount of luck, but hearing that uncontrollable precognition had succeeded several times in a row naturally made him wonder.
'Either way.'
If the enemy had a precognitive, they were bound to be a nuisance.
Once they crossed the border, they would be outside the Devil's Hand's territory, so there was no need to worry much for now. But when they returned, they would have to deal with the precognitive somehow.
But it was right then.
Cordelia suddenly tugged at Yuder's sleeve and cast him a glance.
'Something's off.'
'What is?'
'Just... something's off.'
Kamael was strange.
It was vague and completely unsupported, but because it came from Cordelia, Yuder could not dismiss it.
And at this exchange between the two, Kamael smiled faintly again.
"You have good instincts, girl."
"......It's Cordelia."
Kamael really was Landius's friend; even their ways of speaking had something in common.
He turned back to Yuder and spoke.
"The one standing before you now is my clone."
A clone created through the secret arts of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.
Such clones had appeared several times in Hero Legend 2, so although Yuder was surprised, he quickly understood.
'No, wait. If this is a clone, that is a problem.'
The strength of Kamael the Sword Demon, one of the Four Great Swordsmen, was on an entirely different level from the other commanders of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.
It would take three upper-class Demonic Humans like Soluzia to stand against him; two would not be enough.
But if this was only a clone, the situation was different.
'He could probably hold his own against Soluzia, but...'
That was about all it could manage. In a proper fight, Soluzia would most likely win.
"My true body is currently heading north to strike at Soluzia."
The Guardians of the Holy Cross did not operate only within the Saelun Kingdom. They were active across the entire continent, so Kamael likewise did not always stay in the Saelun Kingdom.
'That's also the reason he uses a doppelganger in the first place.'
"Do not worry too much. I will not abandon you, who have even received a Wild God's revelation. I will protect you as far as the border."
As Yuder's expression grew serious, Kamael spoke firmly.
But Yuder shook his head.
"No, I think it would be better for us to move separately."
They would not travel with Kamael.
At Yuder's words, Red Wind blinked, but Cordelia did not. It was because she understood Yuder's true intent.
"You are the only one who can stop Soluzia, Kamael. Conversely, they absolutely need Soluzia to stop you."
"And so?"
Rather than genuine curiosity, it was once again the look of someone testing him.
Because of that, Yuder explained in detail like a student giving a presentation.
"If you reveal yourself, Kamael, Soluzia will have no choice but to move. If she mistakes the clone for your true body and immediately turns tail, all the better. Even if she realizes it is a clone, that is still fine. Soluzia will not be able to ignore you. Of course, she may also think we are hiding wherever you are. And if it comes down to it, you can simply attack Soluzia."
They would trade each side's strongest piece.
The white queen and black queen on the board would lock each other in place, unable to move.
Kamael now understood Yuder's true meaning as well. That was why he narrowed his jewel-like eyes and asked.
"Can you do it?"
What Yuder's words meant was simple.
As long as it wasn't Soluzia.
They could break through every other enemy on their own.
In that case, they would remove the greatest threat, Soluzia, in advance. They would eliminate Soluzia from the battlefield entirely and move.
"If the two of us are together, we can do it."
As Yuder took Cordelia's hand and spoke, Cordelia nodded vigorously as well.
If the two of them were together, they could do it.
Red Wind, left out of that declaration, looked briefly dejected behind them, but Kamael only watched Yuder and Cordelia. Then he smiled.
"You remind me of Landius."
If the two of them were together, they could do it. It had been one of Landius's favorite sayings during the turmoil of the Paragon Kingdom.
And in truth, Kamael and Landius had done it.
That was why Kamael nodded.
"Very well. I will move according to your plan. But before that..."
Trailing off, Kamael walked straight toward Yuder and stopped one step away. He looked directly into Yuder's eyes and asked.
"I heard you consumed the Sunflower Herb. But by any chance, was there a problem during the absorption?"
At Kamael's question, Yuder hesitated briefly, then nodded.
Because it was true.
While absorbing the Sunflower Herb to save Cordelia, Yuder had broken off once and gone into battle.
But Yuder did not look back at Cordelia. He was worried that she might feel burdened.
Cordelia fidgeted with the hand clasped with Yuder's.
Kamael spoke again.
"Indeed, the absorption was not completed properly. It is not that you failed to absorb all of it... it did not fully settle into your body. Thanks to that, your Nine Yin Meridian Blockage was only partially treated."
Having said that much, Kamael placed a hand on Yuder's shoulder. Looking down at him, he continued.
"A complete cure is impossible right now. But I can correct the distortion caused when the flow was interrupted during absorption."
At Kamael's words, Cordelia's face instantly brightened.
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
After all, Yuder was none other than Landius's disciple.
Had it been anyone else, Kamael would have ignored the problem regardless of whether the absorption had gone properly.
"I will correct the distortion. Once I do, your Heavenly Martial Body will be able to draw out more of its true power."
"Wait, its proper power?"
Cordelia asked again.
No—then what in the world was the Heavenly Martial Body boost Yuder had been enjoying until now?
"The Heavenly Martial Body is a talent for martial arts bestowed by heaven. Merely correcting the current distortion will not allow it to exert its full power. The years during which the Heavenly Martial Body has been suppressed by the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage are far too long."
In short, the current Heavenly Martial Body was not the true Heavenly Martial Body.
Even after Kamael's treatment.
'The Heavenly Martial Body is completely broken.'
Cordelia looked at Yuder with an expression of disbelief, but her face soon brightened again.
Because it was not someone else who was absurdly overpowered. It was her Yuder.
"There is no time. May I begin right away?"
"Yes, please."
Yuder was not one to turn down a fortuitous opportunity.
No—he had met the protagonist of the first game, so he deserved at least this much of a fortuitous opportunity.
When Yuder agreed, Kamael gave a slightly mischievous smile—uncharacteristic of him—and said,
"It will hurt like you are dying."
"What?"
That was as far as it went.
Agonizing pain assaulted Yuder's entire body.