Ending Maker Chapter 6
Ending Maker Chapter 6
Chapter 1 - Pleiades #6
Yuder couldn't move at the sight before him.
For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.
A colossal being.
Even though it was kneeling and hunched over, its grotesque bat-like head touched the ceiling.
The wings sprouting from its back drooped limply, yet they covered the entire floor, making its presence unmistakable.
Leisegang of the Red Moon.
The Demon Prince who thirsted for blood.
Seeing it in the game couldn't compare to this at all.
Its appearance was the same, but the pressure it exuded was different.
Its limbs were bound.
Chains that looked thicker than Yuder's waist covered Leisegang's entire body.
But even so, a feeling of dread rose within him.
Just facing it made Yuder feel as though his own existence was being trampled and crushed.
"Snap out of it!"
At that moment, Cordelia shook Yuder by the shoulders.
Unlike Yuder, who couldn't handle mana at all due to the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage, she was a proper mage, even if only 1-star. She fastened the necklace she had hastily prepared around Yuder's neck.
"Are you okay? Are you with me?"
It was a magic tool that slightly amplified magic resistance.
She had brought it just in case, and it seemed she had made the right call. Yuder's eyes began to regain focus.
"Cordelia?"
"Yeah, it's me! Get a grip! Okay?"
Yuder blinked. He breathed. He coughed and swallowed dryly at the immense presence he felt behind him.
"Leisegang of the Red Moon......"
It was real.
A mighty Demon Prince stood right before his eyes.
'I can do this.'
Yuder thought. The Sun God's seal was still functioning. Bellastin's Magic Circle was also doing its job.
The time they had was about three minutes.
Bellastin's Magic Circle couldn't hold out any longer than that.
"There it is. There, at its waist."
Cordelia spoke in a voice taut with tension.
Leisegang's waist.
To be precise, the Sun's Necklace was hanging from the hilt of the sword at its waist.
"Phew."
Yuder let out a sigh and swallowed dryly again.
Leisegang had his eyes closed.
It had put itself to sleep to endure the time of the seal, and since the seal was still being maintained, it seemed unaware of the fact that it had temporarily emerged.
'This is my chance.'
Grab the Sun's Necklace and immediately release Bellastin's Magic Circle. Get the thing out of their sight.
'I can do this. I can do this.'
It was the moment Yuder took a step forward.
"Hey."
"Ghk?!"
When Cordelia suddenly reached out and grabbed his shoulder, the startled Yuder let out a bizarre sound, and Cordelia, startled in turn, leaped backward and let out a suppressed scream.
"You scared me!"
"I'm the one who got scared?!"
Anyway, why had she suddenly done that?
When Yuder looked at her, Cordelia swung a rod slightly shorter than her forearm in a wide arc. The rod instantly extended to five times its length.
"Here."
It wasn't magic—it was a collapsible baton that could be pushed inward from the start.
Yuder tilted his head for a moment, but soon understood Cordelia's intent.
"You want me to fish it out with this?"
"Better than getting up close, right?"
It was definitely better.
Yuder sent her a look of sincere gratitude, and Cordelia let out a pleased little snort.
In any case, time kept flowing even amid all this.
Holding the baton, Yuder crept step by step toward Leisegang.
"Here goes."
He stretched the baton out, and somehow it reached. Yuder slipped the baton through the necklace's chain and carefully lifted it.
"Good, good. Almost there."
He spoke very quietly, and Cordelia nodded, gulping dryly.
And then, right after.
The moment he finally pulled the necklace free from the hilt!
Yuder froze once again. This time, Cordelia did too.
Almost instinctively, the two raised their heads and looked upward.
Leisegang of the Red Moon.
Its eyes were open.
Just as when it had first revealed itself from the seal, it glared at Yuder and Cordelia with glowing red eyes.
One second passed.
No, a moment that felt like eternity.
"Grab it!"
"Run!"
Cordelia and Yuder shouted almost simultaneously. Yuder yanked the baton back and leaped backward. He snatched the Sun's Necklace as it slid down the baton.
[Worms!]
Leisegang spoke.
It opened its mouth and roared, shaking not only the seal site but the entire cave.
Yuder stumbled and fell.
Leisegang strained his arm to grab him.
Clank!
But the chains held.
The Sun God's seal still held Leisegang firmly in place.
"Hurry!"
Cordelia shouted. Yuder staggered to his feet, and Leisegang opened his mouth again.
And at that moment.
Yuder witnessed another unbelievable sight.
A small light burst.
Inside Leisegang's open mouth.
To be precise, an arrow of light that flew toward Leisegang's mouth exploded.
Magic Missile.
The most basic attack spell that 1-star mages possessed from the start.
It was Cordelia.
No, it was Yellow Storm.
The moment Leisegang tried to attack Yuder, the instincts of a fighter to the bone had kicked in.
"Hey! Are you insa—?!"
Yuder, about to shout loudly, blinked in surprise. And Cordelia did the same.
"Level...... up?"
Cordelia was enveloped in a ring of white light.
It was unmistakably the level-up effect they had seen countless times in Hero Legend 2.
"Ah."
Cordelia made a sound.
And then she cried out again. This time, Yuder joined her.
"Ah!"
They understood.
It was a bewildering situation, but the two rotten fossils instantly grasped what was happening.
Levels existed in Hero Legend 2.
But since the NPCs of Hero Legend 2 didn't have status windows, you had to go to a place like a level shrine to measure your level.
In any case, the important thing was that levels themselves existed within the world's lore, and that strengthening through leveling up was also possible.
Then why had Cordelia leveled up at this very moment?
'Combat experience.'
You didn't necessarily have to kill an enemy to gain experience. The very act of attacking an enemy could earn experience.
Of course, compared to the former, the latter was utterly negligible.
But with Cordelia and Leisegang...
A 1-star mage who had just started, and a mighty demon you could only face in the mid-to-late game.
An absurd level difference.
An opponent she normally couldn't even attempt to attack.
And so, the combat experience was amplified!
[You vermin!]
Leisegang roared again. But he was still bound by chains and couldn't move an inch.
Cordelia and Yuder looked at each other, and the moment their eyes met, they understood. Their veteran-gamer instincts had kicked in.
"Magic Missile!"
Cordelia shouted brightly and fired a Magic Missile.
Her face was filled with elation instead of fear.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Magic Missiles burst in succession. To Leisegang, it was a feeble spell that was nothing more than a tickle, but an attack was still an attack.
"Yes!"
After about three shots, a white ring appeared around Cordelia's body again.
It was her second level-up.
"Me too, I'm gonna level up too!"
Outboxer009's veteran-gamer instincts crushed his fear. He couldn't possibly let a jackpot leveling opportunity like this slip away.
"Here I go!"
Yuder closed the distance to Leisegang in an instant and swung the baton like a sword.
"Urgh!"
He swung hard, but it felt like striking steel. The recoil alone seemed like it would damage Yuder's wrist.
'But as long as I level up!'
This much pain was—
"Huh?"
But nothing happened. No white ring appeared.
"Why...... Ah!"
Like the rotten fossil he was, Yuder quickly identified the cause.
Cordelia did too, and burst into bright laughter.
"You're too weak!" they said in unison.
That was it.
Yuder was too weak.
So weak that Leisegang didn't even register Yuder's attack as an attack.
Literally, it didn't even tickle!
[You wretches, do you know before whom you dare to—]
Bang! Bang!
Leisegang's voice was drowned out by the explosions of Magic Missiles.
Cordelia giggled and kept producing Magic Missiles. The Sun God's seal had proven to be solid, so there was no reason to hesitate.
"Yes! Level up!"
Cordelia leveled up once again.
Thanks to that, Yuder grew impatient and thought and thought again.
He couldn't fall behind here. He had to land a valid hit somehow and earn combat experience.
But how.
But how......
"Bingo!"
Yuder shouted out of habit, threw the baton aside, positioned the Sun's Necklace's ornament over his fingers, and clenched his fist.
"The blessing of great Solari, Sun God, is with me. O glory that brightens the morning, O radiance that drives back the night—arise! Burn at my fingertips!"
As he recited the prayer of Solari, the Sun God, the Sun's Necklace began to glow with golden light.
Of course, Yuder was neither a follower of Solari nor capable of using mana, so the prayer's effect was minimal.
Even so, it was still the power of Solari, the Sun God—the power that destroyed evil and burned away impurity!
"Hah!"
Yuder dashed forward and punched Leisegang's shin.
Like Cordelia's Magic Missiles, it was an attack that might or might not even tickle Leisegang, but an attack was still an attack.
"Level up!"
A pure white ring appeared around Yuder's body too.
And Yuder could feel it.
He had gotten stronger, if only a little.
His overall physical abilities had risen.
[You wretches!]
Leisegang roared again, but Yuder and Cordelia didn't stop. It was the moment the two rotten fossils' hunger for level-ups crushed their fear.
"There's no time!"
"One more hit!"
Bellastin's Magic Circle had a time limit of three minutes.
Cordelia produced Magic Missiles even while drinking a mana potion, and Yuder swung his fists like a boxer pounding a sandbag, dripping with sweat.
[Graaah! You wretches! I have memorized your faces! I have branded your souls into my mind! The day I am freed! You will suffer torments worse than death— Wretches! Listen! I said listen!]
Yuder and Cordelia didn't listen. Only about ten seconds remained now.
They had to land at least one more hit before this ridiculously good grinding opportunity slipped away.
And then, ten seconds.
A fifth ring appeared around Yuder's and Cordelia's waists simultaneously.
Cordelia had started attacking first, but Yuder had begun at a bare level 1 because of the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage, so his experience gains were more efficient.
In any case, ten seconds passed, and Bellastin's Magic Circle ran its course.
As the space began to close again, Leisegang glared at Yuder and Cordelia and vented his fury.
[Wretches! We will meet again! I swear we will!]
"Yeah, see you in Act 7."
"It was fun meeting you. Let's meet again next time."
As Yuder and Cordelia smiled and waved, Leisegang choked with rage and closed his eyes. If his limbs had been free, he looked as though he would have clutched the back of his neck in fury.
And then, light again.
Golden light symbolizing Solari, the Sun God, filled the seal site, and Leisegang of the Red Moon vanished back beyond the space.
"Haa."
"Phew."
Once Leisegang's immense presence disappeared, Yuder and Cordelia sighed at the same time, then burst into laughter together.
"Ha, seriously. I knew it already, but you really are insane."
"Right back at you. You're not sane either."
Sealed or not, they had ignored a great demon's warnings and kept attacking it.
Yuder and Cordelia looked at each other again and laughed merrily.
In any case, this quest had been a huge success.
"So is the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage cured now?"
"It'll take some time, but it should heal."
Unlike the Sunfire Carp, the Sun's Necklace couldn't cure the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage in one go. The extreme yin energy blocking his entire body's meridians had to be melted away little by little with the power of the sun.
But that was enough. His condition would clearly improve day by day.
"Just you wait until I'm cured."
"Yeah, yeah. Once I'm cured, I'll hug you, carry you on my back, and even climb over your house's wall."
"What the hell is this crazy bastard talking about?"
Cordelia laughed softly, let her shoulders drop, then suddenly thrust out her fist.
It was one of the poses characters struck in Hero Legend 2 when clearing a quest.
So instead of sitting down, Yuder walked toward Cordelia. And he lightly bumped his fist against hers.
"Nice play."
"Nice play."
A little childish, but just like the game.
Facing each other, Yuder and Cordelia smiled at the same time.
Not only had they obtained the Sun's Necklace as planned, but they had also gained five levels, so it was truly a huge success.
"Let's go now."
"We're going to get chewed out, aren't we?"
"We are."
Engaged or not, two minors who weren't even married yet had run off in the middle of the—no, in broad daylight, claiming they wanted time alone.
"Ugh......"
Cordelia's shoulders slumped as worry set in anew, and Yuder quietly wrapped one arm around her shoulders.
"What is this? What are you doing?"
"Help me walk."
Because he was exhausted.
Cordelia, momentarily dumbfounded, asked with a blank face.
"Even after leveling up?"
"At least I'm not asking you to carry me on your back."
"True."
Cordelia chuckled and supported Yuder, and the two of them walked side by side in good spirits.
And that night.
After returning home, Yuder and Cordelia were grounded for ten days.