Ending Maker Chapter 63
Ending Maker Chapter 63
Chapter 19 - Ruins #2
Angels were divided into nine ranks in total, and the guardian of the tomb before them was a rank 9 angel, the lowest rank.
But even a rank 9 angel was still a celestial being.
In terms of innate ability alone, it was a higher-order being far beyond comparison with creatures of the mortal realm.
Yuder and Cordelia recalled the tomb guardians they had encountered in the original game.
With their respective main characters, it would have been possible to sweep away even an army of tomb guardians, but the two of them were now barely level 30.
"If we go by levels alone, we absolutely can't win."
After all, a tomb guardian was effectively a level 40 monster.
Moreover, this place was a ruin imbued with Solari's power. If one factored in the buff effects the tomb guardian would receive, the two of them had no realistic path to victory.
But once a rotten fossil got fired up, that veteran stubbornness was not so easily discouraged.
"Still, we have to do it, right?"
"We have to. At the very least, we have to draw blood."
No one had asked him, but Yuder said that, and Cordelia nodded.
"Then we'll have to catch it."
"We'll catch it."
Drawing blood was literally the bare minimum.
The two looked forward again at the tomb guardian seated majestically atop Galeon's sarcophagus.
Perhaps thanks to Solari's buff, its entire body was wreathed in golden light, and it truly looked strong.
"This brings back memories."
"Of when?"
"Of when I first played Hero Legend 2."
To Cordelia, who had just started as a newbie back then, the tomb guardian had been a terrifying boss that could truly be called despair itself.
"Yeah."
Yuder remembered his own newbie days, when he had happened to pick up Hero Legend 2 after retiring.
'If I hadn't met someone, I wouldn't have played it this long.'
There were two reasons why Yuder in his previous life—Outboxer009—had obsessed over Hero Legend 2 so intensely.
One was because it was fun, and the other—
"Why? You're thinking something weird, aren't you? Your eyes look sleazy."
"Maybe."
"What?"
Yuder smiled again.
After all, once he clawed his way into first place, teasing Yellow Storm in second had become one of the great joys of his life.
Honestly, even Yuder himself thought it was a truly childish thing to do.
If his old comrades found out, they would all make disappointed faces and ask what the hell he was doing.
But even so, he couldn't help it.
Hero Legend 2 had simply been that much fun with Yellow Storm in it.
"It's because of you."
Both playing Hero Legend 2 for so long, and cramming all sorts of knowledge into his head that was utterly useless in reality.
"No, what's been going on with you! We're in a situation where we have to do a boss fight, you know?"
At Cordelia's urging, Yuder nodded and looked back toward the sarcophagus.
True to its name and role as a guardian, the tomb guardian was not an aggressive mob.
Until this side attacked first, it would just sit atop the sarcophagus like that and watch.
"In other words, we have time to prepare."
"We can't chant a powerful spell in advance. It reacts to spells."
"I know, so let's do this."
At Yuder's glance, Cordelia frowned, then nodded.
"Yeah, let's do that."
"Got it?"
"Roughly. Besides... if we're counting how many times we've beaten tomb guardians, I've done it at least twice... no, probably three times as often as you."
She was already working out what they could do with their current strength and everything they had on hand.
When it came to combat, Cordelia really could only be called a natural. Yuder nodded again and said:
"Good, then let's start right away."
The two could practically communicate telepathically with nothing but their eyes, but there were still details they needed to coordinate out loud.
After a rapid exchange, the two began preparing at the same time and finished everything in just over a minute.
"How should I put it, it's a bit strange, but it really does wait for us."
"It's a good kid. It's an angel, after all."
Yuder and Cordelia each tossed a remark at the solemn tomb guardian staring down at them. Then they both drew a breath and slowly exhaled as they settled into their fighting stances.
Golden holy fighting spirit bloomed over Yuder's entire body.
Cordelia's hair turned black as a blue glow kindled in her eyes.
"Let's go."
"Haste!"
Acceleration magic wrapped around Yuder's entire body. Yuder immediately stepped into the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and the tomb guardian reacted to Yuder as he shot forward.
"Aaaah—!"
Holy Echo.
It was a forward-spreading sonic attack with a debuff that lowered the stats of anyone it hit.
The tomb guardian's attacks always began with Holy Echo, and because of that, Yuder was already prepared.
'Holy Cross Thrust.'
A massive golden cross manifested from Yuder's fist and blocked his front like a shield. It collided with the Holy Echo, and at that moment, the tomb guardian flew up.
Whoosh!
Yuder charged straight ahead. The tomb guardian's second attack, Barrage of Light, was an area-of-effect skill.
The best way to keep the blades of light pouring down from the ceiling like rain from reaching Cordelia was to change the starting point of the Barrage of Light itself.
Fwish! Fwish! Fwish!
As expected, the blades of light poured down toward Yuder, who had charged forward.
With his senses sharpened, Yuder frantically stepped through the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He dodged the blades of light with whirlwinds, and deflected them with the wind barrier granted by Great Storm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blades of light collided with the ground and exploded.
Amid the thunderous impacts, Yuder moved like a gale, counting silently before he shouted:
"Hurry!"
"Coming!"
At the moment Cordelia flung out her hand, the witch's black blade shot toward the tomb guardian positioned in midair.
The tomb guardian turned toward the black blade and simultaneously activated a barrier of light.
Crack!
The black blade made of dark power collided with the holy barrier, and sparks flew.
And Cordelia smiled.
"Bingo."
Yuder's catchphrase.
As the black blade charged head-on, the Arrow of Winged Wind skimmed low across the floor toward the tomb guardian's rear, then shot upward. Before the guardian could react, it pierced straight through its back!
"Gah!"
The Arrow of Winged Wind itself was not very powerful.
Its penetrating power was also mediocre, to the point that it could be blocked by a goblin's skull.
But Cordelia had never intended to use the Arrow of Winged Wind as the actual attack.
The Arrow of Winged Wind was only a shuttle for delivering something else.
The real weapon was the Bicorn horn tied to the shaft of the Arrow of Winged Wind.
"Raaagh!"
The Bicorn's curse burrowed into the tomb guardian's body.
But it was still not enough. It was insufficient to drag down a celestial being.
"So I prepared one more shot."
As Cordelia spoke, Yuder hurled a Bicorn horn.
The Bicorn horn flew at terrifying speed and buried itself in the distracted tomb guardian's flank, doubling the Bicorn curse afflicting it.
"Rrraugh!"
The tomb guardian charged violently toward Yuder.
Cordelia chanted a witch's curse, and black energy spreading from the Bicorn horns wound around the tomb guardian's entire body.
"Grrraah!"
But it was the tomb guardian.
The celestial being endured the pain and opened its jaws wide. A massive wave of light burst from its mouth.
It was the tomb guardian's ultimate skill, Holy Breath.
"Yuder!"
As the terrifying wave of light filled her vision, Cordelia cried out in alarm. Yuder answered by reminding her of something she had forgotten.
Using Fairy's Footsteps, he passed through the wave of light itself and charged at the tomb guardian!
Boom!
He kicked hard off the ground, hurled himself toward the tomb guardian's flank, and drew back his fist.
The tomb guardian's gaze snapped toward Yuder, but it was too late. His fist was already about to slam into the half-embedded Bicorn horn—or rather, the dagger forged from one.
Boom!
Another thunderous crash rang out. Yuder's fist struck the Bicorn-horn dagger like a hammer driving a nail, forcing it deep into the tomb guardian's body.
"Raaagh!"
The tomb guardian twisted its body. It swung both feet wildly at Yuder, and sharp claws tore through the air.
Yuder stayed calm. He used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps to evade the attacks while setting up his next move, counting silently in his head.
'Two Bicorn horns.'
He had removed all of the celestial energy surrounding the tomb guardian.
But this much was not enough. He had to drag it down further.
What was the best way to bring down a celestial being?
The answer was in the classics.
Corrupt it.
Bring it to ruin.
Drag the celestial being down to the earth.
He had poured curse after curse into it through the Bicorn horns. Now, in the midst of its wild attacks, Yuder found an opening.
He flung his body in with a whirlwind and seized another opportunity to attack.
His fist.
But it was not ordinary.
Several months had passed since he had opened his eyes in Pleiades. In that time, Yuder had learned a great deal and reached one conclusion.
There was no need to go exactly like the game.
Because this was reality.
Because this was a place where he could do things that were systemically impossible in the game.
So he would just do it.
He would mobilize everything he could do and raise his combat power.
Boom!
Yuder's fist slammed into the thigh of the tomb guardian's hind leg.
At the same time, something changed in the knuckle weapon Yuder had specially commissioned from the Great Storm tribe's forge.
One of the rolled-up magic circles inserted into the front of the knuckle weapon ignited.
What he used was a basic curse spell that slightly reduced the enemy's stats.
He drove the magic circle directly into the enemy at point-blank range. If he had to name the trick, perhaps it was a physical curse.
"Gah!"
The curse gnawed at the tomb guardian. Yuder did not stop and continued punching.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The magic circles loaded into the weapon like bullets ignited one after another.
"Curse! Poison! Curse! Poison!"
They were not very strong spells, but the tomb guardian had already lost its celestial protection because of the Bicorn horns. As the curses and poison stacked, its condition visibly worsened.
Moreover, Yuder knew the basics of combat.
Hit the place you already hit.
Break the place that is already broken.
"Rrgh... gh...."
After taking repeated blows to the thigh, the tomb guardian's leg buckled and it dropped to the ground. Unable to mount a proper counterattack, it desperately beat its wings and took flight.
"Grrraah!"
It flew up and unleashed Holy Breath once more.
Yuder threw the hand axe and dagger at his waist in succession toward the flying creature.
The barriers of light had already reformed and blocked the crude thrown weapons, but that did not matter.
Their only purpose had been to draw the creature's attention.
"Is that enough now?"
Cordelia answered Yuder with action, shouting at the creature whose attention was completely fixed on him:
"Spear of Calamite!"
The witch's spell.
Drenched in sweat, Cordelia gripped a long, massive mass of black light in her right hand.
The tomb guardian hurriedly turned toward Cordelia, but it was already too late. Cordelia, blood trickling from her nose, hurled the Spear of Calamite at the creature.
FWHOOSH!
It was not fast. But it was not something that could be dodged, either.
The tomb guardian desperately cried out a Light Echo, but it had already lost most of its celestial power due to the stacked debuffs.
The Light Echo shattered like a windowpane. The Spear of Calamite charged straight through and slammed into the tomb guardian's face!
"Raaagh!"
The Spear of Calamite punched through the creature's open mouth, then engulfed its body in black flames and burned it away.
Thud!
The tomb guardian crashed to the ground.
Cordelia collapsed, panting, and Yuder drew the Sword of the Eastern Warrior, but there was no need.
Rings of pure white light.
The rings rose one after another and wrapped around Yuder and Cordelia. Information about new titles surfaced in their minds as well.
'You have acquired the titles "Attacker of Heaven" and "Angel Slayer." All stats increase by 1% when fighting angels. You have gained slight resistance to angels' mental attacks.'
Even if it was the lowest rank, it was still an angel.
Yuder grinned and counted the rings of light.
'As expected of level 40.'
Satisfied with the three light rings, Yuder let out a long breath and turned toward Cordelia.
"Uh...... you okay for now?"
"Haa...... haa......."
Cordelia made no effort to wipe away the nosebleed streaming down her face. She flopped backward onto the ground, still smiling.
"I got the last hit."
"Congratulations, my lady."
Yuder clapped for Cordelia, who was wrapped in four rings of light, but instead of going to her he walked over to the tomb guardian's corpse.
'Good thing it's a gargoyle-like thing.'
If it had been an intelligent angel, killing it would have felt much more uncomfortable.
'No, then maybe we wouldn't have fought at all.'
They might have been able to reason with it, after all.
Either way, it was dead now. Yuder retrieved the Bicorn horns and, for lack of anything better at hand, collected the angel's blood in a water bottle.
"It's all sparkly."
It was red, but a golden light faintly shimmered within it.
"Do you think...... we can use it?"
At Cordelia's faint, exhausted voice from behind him, Yuder furrowed his brow slightly and answered:
"First, we'll take it and run some experiments."
Ancestral Regression itself seemed possible, but if they were going to do it anyway, it might be better to use something superior—in other words, blood from a higher-ranking angel.
'Moreover, she might become even more of a beast than now.'
Either way, this was the blood of a beast-type angel.
Yuder briefly pictured Cordelia becoming even more beast-like and smiled. Surprisingly, the image suited her.
"Ah, time's up."
The tomb guardian's corpse turned into light and vanished. Just as demons became ash when they died, angels became light.
Yuder gathered all of the angel feathers dropped by the tomb guardian before approaching Cordelia.
"My lady, please get up."
"Took you long enough...."
Cordelia, who answered while panting, grabbed Yuder's outstretched hand and stood up.
"Will you be okay? Want to just lie down and rest more?"
"I'm going to rest. After we check what's inside the sarcophagus."
If you beat a boss and didn't even check the loot, you weren't a rotten fossil—hell, you weren't even a gamer.
Yuder agreed and simply picked up Cordelia, who didn't even have the strength to stand.
"Let us go, my lady."
"Onward, my manservant."
After reaching the sarcophagus, Yuder set Cordelia down and took another deep breath.
The sarcophagus of Holy Fighter Galeon, one of the three disciples of Garius, Solari's greatest champion, and a warrior who had felled countless demons.
Just what could be inside?
"Open it?"
"Wait, wait. Just carry me on your back. So we can see it together the moment it opens."
"Can you hold on?"
"No, so use a baby wrap."
"What a high-maintenance young lady."
Yuder clicked his tongue, but still obediently granted Cordelia's wish.
After firmly carrying her on his back and securing her with the baby wrap, he stood before the sarcophagus again.
"Open it?"
"Okay!"
Cordelia spoke with a face full of anticipation, and Yuder, calming his pounding heart, slowly opened the sarcophagus.
What they found inside was completely unlike anything either of them had expected.
And in a good way, at that.
* * *
At the same time, at House Chase.
Count Bayel and Count Chase sat facing each other for the first time in a while, enjoying a chat.
"Come to think of it, it's about time we heard from Gale and Adelia."
"Since Yuder and Cordelia are at the northern edge, it seems to be taking some time, but if it's Gale and Adelia, there shouldn't be any problems."
"I suppose so."
Both of them deeply trusted their respective eldest son and eldest daughter.
And with good reason—hadn't the two distinguished themselves in their respective fields since childhood?
"They'll probably bring Yuder and Cordelia back before long."
"I should also start drafting an apology letter to send to Count Hraesvelgr."
"Using this opportunity to increase exchanges wouldn't be bad either."
At Count Chase's words, Count Bayel slowly nodded.
People assumed House Bayel must resent House Hraesvelgr for taking over the margrave title—or rather, they wanted House Bayel to resent them. Count Bayel himself, however, bore House Hraesvelgr no particular grudge.
To him, the margrave title felt less as though it had been taken and more as though he had passed it on.
"You are a heavenly martial artist—no, a swordsman, I mean."
Count Bayel merely shrugged at Count Chase's remark and took another sip of tea.
Perhaps because some of his worry over Yuder and Cordelia had eased, the tea smelled better than usual.
Then, immediately afterward—
The sound of rough, thudding footsteps came from outside the door, and soon the door burst open.
It was Norden, the butler of the Count Chase Household.
He was normally impeccably composed, yet now he looked visibly alarmed.
"What is the matter?"
Count Chase, looking somewhat startled himself, asked what was wrong. Norden swallowed hard before delivering the urgent news.
"We've lost contact with Lady Adelia."
"What?"
"We've lost contact with Lady Adelia. Judging by the circumstances, it appears she cut communications deliberately."
Count Chase could not understand for a moment.
Why would Adelia cut off contact?
As if on cue, a knight from House Bayel came rushing through the already-open door, breathless.
The moment he spotted Count Bayel, he spoke as if shouting.
"We've lost contact with Lord Gale!"
It was not only Adelia. Gale's contact had also been cut off.
Why?
For what reason?
"He vanished after setting out for Lankebust."
"Lady Adelia also disappeared after reporting that she was heading for Lankebust."
Norden added immediately after the knight.
Since the two had been traveling together, it made perfect sense that both had gone silent in the same place.
But why. For what reason.
"No way."
Count Bayel blurted it out before he could stop himself. Count Chase turned toward him, then spoke just as unconsciously.
"Could it be?"
It was hard to imagine Gale, Count Bayel's heir and already a master-level swordsman, or Adelia, commander of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, simply falling victim to someone.
That left only one answer: they had disappeared deliberately.
A handsome young man and a beautiful young woman had been traveling together, then suddenly vanished.
Didn't this situation seem awfully familiar?
"N-no way!"
"Th-that can't be."
In truth, they had taken the drastic step because they feared their families would oppose crossing the border. The two counts had no way of knowing that.
Following the second son and second daughter, now even the eldest son and eldest daughter.
Consternation settled over the faces of the two counts as they faced each other.