Ending Maker Chapter 62
Ending Maker Chapter 62
Chapter 19 - Ruins
The reason the Saelun Kingdom did not extend its reach into the northern wild lands was simple.
"Because it's hard to live there."
It was not for nothing that they had stopped at Thunderdoom Fortress.
There were two main reasons the wild lands were hard to live in: one was the harsh natural environment, and the other was the monsters that appeared from all directions.
"It's cold and barren, and on top of that there are monsters everywhere, so it's no place for people."
That was also why the barbarian tribes knocked on the northern border every few years.
The north was hard to live in, while the south was livable.
They came down seeking better land to live on.
"Hah...... hah...... I'm tired. Seriously, there's nothing but snow."
Cordelia panted as she carved new footprints—deep, sinking footprints—into the pristine white snowfield where not a single footprint existed before.
At first she had liked it because it was pretty, but the prettiness lasted only a moment; once she actually started walking, she only hated the endless expanse of snow.
The environment of the wild lands was truly harsh.
The Great Storm tribe's village was at least livable—roughly comparable to the northernmost settlement in Count Hraesvelgr's domain.
But the moment they left the village's territory, it was, with only slight exaggeration, as though Frost Anvil itself stretched out before them.
Relentless blizzards and deeply piled snow.
If not for Winter's Blessing, it would have been hard even to breathe properly.
"The barbarians being...... hah...... strong...... hah...... there's a...... huff...... reason."
Living in this kind of environment, they could not help but grow strong.
No, in the first place, the weak would not even survive.
Unlike Cordelia, who panted but still managed to say everything she wanted to say, Yuder simply kept his mouth shut and checked their direction with a compass.
Northwest from the Great Storm tribe's village.
After estimating the distance in his head, Yuder soon sent a hand signal to Cordelia.
"What? Just a little further? You've been saying...... hah...... ha...... that...... hah...... for a while now, haven't you?"
Yuder answered with a hand signal again instead of replying, and Cordelia lost her temper.
"Oh, damn! Just talk with your eyes instead!"
Because that was easier to understand than some incomprehensible hand signals.
'Now that I think about it, it's amazing. How does that work? Is this some kind of animal instinct? As expected, a beast?'
"Wanna die?"
Cordelia, who had perfectly read Yuder's gaze, weakly smacked his back.
Yuder continued speaking with his eyes.
'We really just have to go a little further. See that spot slightly raised over there? When we get there, there's a path going down. An underground cave?'
Cordelia frowned at Yuder's gaze, groaned, and asked for clarification. Apparently, the message had become too long for her to read properly from his eyes.
"Uh...... so you're saying there's a path going down over there?"
'Right.'
"Fuck, just use words too. Use words, I said!"
"Okay."
Yuder gave a short answer to Cordelia's complaint and took the lead again. Cordelia followed behind, panting.
Thanks to the Sunflower Herb, the two's relationship in terms of stamina had completely reversed.
And about five minutes later.
Yuder and Cordelia finally arrived at a large cave entrance.
As Yuder had said, it was a large cave going downward, and it looked exactly like a dungeon entrance.
'In the original, it ended here.'
The game had even displayed the line, 'There seems to be something here,' yet still refused to let the player go any farther.
Yuder swallowed and smiled faintly. His heart was pounding again at the thought of finally entering a place he had never been able to explore—a genuine step into the unknown.
Cordelia, unlike Yuder, simply bounced in place and said:
"Anyway, let's hurry and go in. I don't want to get hit by the blizzard. It'll be better once we're inside, right?"
"......You have no sense of romance."
"Romance is for when your back is warm and your stomach is full. I'm freezing to death—what the hell am I supposed to do with romance?"
Cordelia rattled off the utterly unromantic line at machine-gun speed, quickly conjured a magical light, and started down first.
"Be careful."
"Yeah, you too."
Once they began descending, Yuder naturally moved to the front, three steps ahead of Cordelia. He could feel her blatantly staring at his tail, but from this point on, walking side by side was no longer an option.
He took the front line and protected Cordelia in the rear.
He became a shield protecting Cordelia from danger.
"You seem a little dependable?"
"Hm?"
"No, I said your tail is cute."
Cordelia giggled, and perhaps because the blizzard had disappeared, instead of getting angry, she looked around with curious eyes.
The cave leading downward had a very high ceiling, and strangely, its structure widened the further down they went.
"Ugh...... I'm starting to get scared."
After descending nearly thirty meters, the cave had grown so large that the small magical light could no longer illuminate all of it.
A dark, damp cave with no telling what might be lurking around them.
Water dripped rhythmically somewhere in the distance. Then came the faint rustling of insects.
"Cordelia, can you make the light a little brighter?"
"Yeah, hold on."
Making the light brighter naturally consumed more mana, but securing visibility of their surroundings took priority.
When Cordelia chanted a spell and injected mana, the magical orb that had been giving off a soft light instantly more than doubled in size, and its brightness more than tripled.
Whoosh—!
As if a light had been switched on in a dark room, the light swallowed the darkness in an instant.
The surrounding scenery became clearer, and at that moment, Cordelia almost screamed.
Dozens of pairs of eyes surrounded them.
So many monsters were stuck to the walls and ceiling, staring at them, that it was astonishing they had not noticed until now.
"Cordelia! Get close!"
Yuder shouted in that instant, and Cordelia understood immediately. She spun around and pressed her back against Yuder's, and instead of drawing the Sword of the Eastern Warrior, Yuder clenched both fists.
Even at a rough count, the number seemed to exceed twenty and approach thirty.
Fortunately, the monsters themselves were a species they already knew.
"Snow Goblins!"
"They live in packs! White skin with a bluish tinge! Blue eyes!"
"Obviously ice-attribute!"
"Their claws and teeth are poisonous!"
"Cowardly and sneaky! The moment the fight turns even slightly against them, they run!"
Yuder and Cordelia shouted in turn.
But soon they had no choice but to correct the information.
"Hey! Their eyes are red!"
"Corrupted version! When they're like that, they don't run away!"
"Berserk mode!"
But if these Snow Goblins had been warped by exposure to the power of Belial, the Infernal Lord of Corruption, that changed everything.
These bastards were vicious fighters who attacked again and again until the last one died.
"They're coming!"
"Just trust me!"
Just then, Cordelia cried out confidently and sent the Arrow of Winged Wind at her waist shooting into the air. She activated Witchification at once and shouted:
"I'll sweep them all away!"
"Cordy!"
Yuder watched the Arrow of Winged Wind with expectant eyes while Cordelia formed the so-called sword-finger stance and moved her hand nimbly to guide it.
Fweee—!
The Arrow of Winged Wind shrieked through the air at terrifying speed and shot straight between the eyes of the Snow Goblin in front of Yuder.
"Aaargh!"
The goblin struck in the head collapsed. Yuder cheered, expecting the Arrow of Winged Wind to keep going and punch through the others in succession like something out of a movie.
But that was it. The Arrow of Winged Wind had lodged in the Snow Goblin's skull and could go no farther.
"Uh...... this isn't right."
Cordelia said, and at that moment, the Snow Goblins let out shrieks simultaneously and began their charge.
"Fuck! I knew this would happen!"
"Great Storm, you fraud!"
Cursing for the first time in a while, Yuder held his breath and launched into the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He whipped up a fierce whirlwind as he swept rapidly around Cordelia.
He kept them from approaching Cordelia.
He felled enemies in single strikes and steadily reduced their numbers.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A succession of thunderous impacts rang out. The four Snow Goblins leading the charge from all sides went down with their heads, throats, or chests smashed in.
But there were only four of them. The remaining Snow Goblins surged forward heedless of the losses, like a raging wave.
"Let's run!"
Each one was weak, but there were simply too many. At the very least, they had to change their fighting position.
Yuder hooked an arm around Cordelia's waist and, in the next instant, slung her over his shoulder like a bundle.
Normally Cordelia would have had something to say about it, but perhaps because they were in battle, she stayed quiet. Yuder kicked off the ground and soared upward.
"Raaagh!"
The Snow Goblins that had covered the spot where Yuder had just been standing snarled fiercely, and Yuder tried to go back up the path they had come down by stepping on the bastards' heads.
But that was impossible. Newly arrived Snow Goblins had already cut off their retreat.
'Was this an entire settlement?!'
Snow Goblins often formed colonies even larger than ordinary goblins. If this was truly a proper settlement, their numbers could exceed a hundred.
'To higher ground.'
Yuder first looked for higher ground to avoid being surrounded by the bastards. And that was the moment.
"It's fine! I'm going to do it again, so carry me on your back! No! Hold me!"
Cordelia suddenly shouted, and Yuder reacted on instinct. He shifted her from where she had been slung over his shoulder like baggage into a princess carry.
"Go!"
Cordelia shouted. At the same time, a sharp wind swept around Yuder and Cordelia.
FWHOOSH—!
It was the Arrow of Winged Wind.
It tore free from the first Snow Goblin's head and streaked between the others at terrifying speed.
No, it did not simply pass through.
"Gah!"
"Ghk!"
"Screee!"
The tip of the Arrow of Winged Wind tore across the Snow Goblins' necks, waists, and exposed skin, leaving wounds wherever it passed.
'Insane.'
It was a terrifying display of control.
If she could not pierce them, she would slash them instead.
The idea itself was simple, but this was an arrowhead. Making it skim across their hides and leave wounds while moving at that speed was practically acrobatics.
'But.'
Inflicting mere grazing wounds was meaningless.
Snow Goblins were not so weak that they would collapse from just that much.
Cordelia knew that fact well. That was why she had taken one additional measure.
"Ghk!"
"Screee!"
The Snow Goblins wounded by the Arrow of Winged Wind suddenly began letting out death rattles.
The reason was simple.
"Poison!"
"That's it!"
Poison Blade.
Cordelia had used a witch's spell to coat the arrowhead in potent poison. And her combo did not end there.
Repeated level-ups had unlocked a new spell for her.
"Explosive Scatter!"
Cordelia dropped the sword-finger stance and clenched her fist. The Snow Goblins' wounds swelled, then burst apart in flashes of purple.
Poison Explosion.
In short, a poison explosion.
It was a spell that detonated poison accumulated on an enemy, growing stronger with every additional stack.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of explosions went off in rapid succession, blending into a single continuous roar.
Cordelia had only just learned the spell, so her Poison Explosion was still weak. But she had accounted for that—no, she had understood it instinctively.
The Arrow of Winged Wind had not wounded them at random.
It targeted only places where even a small explosion could deal fatal damage.
"Kieee!"
One Snow Goblin collapsed clutching its ruptured throat. Another had its groin burst and could not even scream properly. Others were crippled by wounds to the waist or ankles.
"Hah... hah... h-how's that?"
Cordelia had burned through a huge amount of mana and concentration at once. Sweating cold, she looked back at Yuder, who checked their surroundings first.
The dozens of Snow Goblins that had surrounded them were all sprawled on the ground, groaning.
'As expected of Cordelia.'
She had caught up to Yuder through hunting alone, and when it came to fighting many enemies at once, she could arguably be called the strongest in Hero Legend 2.
"As expected, the queen of trash-mob slaughter."
"No... I'm not. I kill strong ones... just fine too, you know?"
That was as far as she got. As Cordelia spoke with difficulty, a nosebleed streamed down from her nose, and Cordelia's arms dropped limply.
"I'll finish them off, so rest for now."
"F-f**k......."
With that resentful cry, Cordelia fainted on the spot. She had pushed herself too hard.
'Still, she's amazing.'
Yuder and Cordelia had just reached level 30. At this level, Cordelia was probably the only one who could produce a sight like this.
'I can't wait to see what she becomes.'
How strong would she become later?
Yuder smiled faintly at Cordelia's aggrieved expression even in unconsciousness, then began finishing off the groaning goblins.
* * *
"Ah."
Cordelia opened her eyes.
Her head hurt and her whole body was weak.
"Ugh."
She groaned again. A familiar voice answered.
"You're awake?"
Instead of answering, Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut once, then opened them and looked around.
Still inside the cave.
She was being carried on Yuder's back.
"Ugh...... where are we?"
"Inside the cave. The deeper we went, the fewer Snow Goblins there were."
"Why."
"......Isn't it obvious?"
"My head hurts. I don't want to think."
Cordelia whined and bumped her chin against Yuder's shoulder several times. Yuder clicked his tongue and answered:
"The holy energy is getting stronger. You remember that Leisegang sealing site? It's like there."
"So we came to the right place?"
"Yeah. There are definitely ruins of Solari here."
"Hey, how exciting."
After answering weakly, Cordelia took stock of herself and realized she was strapped to Yuder's back in something like a baby wrap.
"Sorry, I couldn't get a diaper."
"Don't be ridiculous."
Instead of creating a magical light, Cordelia looked at the torch Yuder was holding and continued speaking.
"So how much further do we have to go?"
"I think we're almost there."
Yuder was right. Cordelia looked ahead and found an unmistakable stone door standing in their path.
"It's Solari's emblem."
"These aren't just ruins. It looks like a tomb."
Yuder held the torch close to the emblem carved into the stone door, narrowed his eyes, and continued.
"Cordelia, can you walk on your own?"
"Probably?"
"Then let's get you down first."
When Yuder untied the wrap, Cordelia looked somewhat unsteady, but soon succeeded in standing on her own feet.
"Hoo... the Arrow of Winged Wind burns through way too much mana."
"Its power was a bit weak, though. Its mobility was amazing."
"If I pour in more... mana, I think it'll hit harder too... but I'd need to gain a lot more levels first."
Having said that much, Cordelia took out a mana potion from her waist and gulped it down.
"Ugh...... bitter. Anyway, let's go in now."
Solari's ruins.
And if it really was a tomb, there should be artifacts inside that could help them fight demons in the future.
"Wait a moment."
Yuder rolled his shoulders lightly, then carefully opened the stone door.
"Wow."
Beyond the stone door was still a cave, but its appearance was completely different.
Jewels emitting blue light were embedded everywhere, creating a mysterious atmosphere rather than a dark and gloomy one.
The water flowing along the walls was so clear that they could see straight through nearly a meter of depth.
"It's definitely Solari's energy."
Thanks to the Sun's Necklace, Yuder was familiar with Solari's power.
"Can you tell whose tomb it is?"
Instead of answering Cordelia immediately, Yuder looked toward the far end of the cavern, where a stone coffin stood.
A massive stone coffin reaching 1.5 meters in height and 4 meters in length.
Several sacred characters were engraved on the coffin in addition to Solari's emblem.
"Good heavens."
"Why?"
"It's Galeon's tomb."
Cordelia blinked at Yuder's answer, then her eyes widened and she asked:
"Galeon? Garius's disciple? Holy Fighter Galeon?"
"Yeah, Holy Fighter Galeon."
Garius, the champion of Solari who had sealed the Demon Prince Leisegang, had three disciples who inherited his legacy.
Holy Fighter Galeon, Holy Knight Berpa, and Holy Warrior Amelia.
"Wow, then isn't there something amazing here?"
"Probably?"
Galeon had been a prominent figure even within the Solari Order.
Cordelia's eyes began to sparkle.
"Let's hurry and open it."
If there was something, it would be inside the stone coffin.
Moreover, Holy Fighter Galeon was a figure who could be called the ancestor of the Divine Strike Fist used by the Guardians of the Holy Cross.
There was a good chance the coffin held something useful to Yuder as he was now.
'But come to think of it, isn't this grave robbing?'
It was not some sealed demon or villain, but the tomb of a saint.
"Still, we have no choice, right?"
The two of them might clash with the Devil's Hand even while checking on Rough Avalanche's condition.
To prevent the future from hurtling toward catastrophe, they needed the power to fight demons.
"Still, let's at least offer a prayer."
"Yeah, and have a moment of silence too."
This was not a game anymore, after all.
Yuder and Cordelia offered a prayer to Solari side by side, then had a moment of silence for Galeon.
And one minute later.
Yuder and Cordelia looked at each other, exchanged faint smiles as if by unspoken agreement, and placed their hands on the coffin.
Trembling with excitement at the possibility of discovering completely new items, they tried to release the seal on the coffin.
And that was the very moment.
[Who dares disturb the tomb of the Holy Fighter!]
A harsh roar shook not only Yuder and Cordelia's minds, but the entire cavern.
"Yuder!"
The moment Cordelia clapped both hands over her ears, Yuder hooked an arm around her waist.
He launched into the Twenty-Four Gale Steps and shot away. As though perfectly timed to his movement, a bolt of lightning crashed down where he had been standing.
BOOM!
Blue lightning.
Then blue light gathered above Galeon's tomb, and soon took the form of a winged leopard.
[Defiler of the tomb! You shall not escape Solari's punishment!]
A massive leopard with blue fur stood atop the coffin and glared at Yuder and Cordelia.
It was clearly a tomb guardian that often appeared in Solari-related ruins.
"Tomb guardian."
"Lowest-rank angel."
"No intelligence. Practically a gargoyle. Its lines are probably pre-recorded."
"Holy attribute. Since it's Solari's angel, add sun attribute."
"What do we do?"
"We fight."
As expected, prayer and a moment of silence alone had not been enough.
Either way, now that things had come to this, they had to fight—whether they meant to open Galeon's coffin or simply flee.
Moreover, the party had one more reason they had to fight.
"But hey."
"Yeah."
"It's an angel?"
An angel.
Lowest-rank, but still an angel.
A being like a gargoyle, but still a being made of blood and flesh.
"Angel's blood."
Cordelia said, and Yuder nodded.
The two rotten fossils' eyes began to sparkle.