Ending Maker Chapter 64
Ending Maker Chapter 64
Chapter 20 - Rough Avalanche
Just before Yuder opened the stone coffin, Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut without realizing it.
There was a strong possibility that a mummy or skeleton of Holy Fighter Galeon would be inside the coffin.
She had even gone so far as to climb onto Yuder's back, but that did not make her any more willing to see something she found unpleasant.
'I'll open my eyes after seeing Yuder's reaction.'
At least if Yuder screamed first, she would have time to brace herself before opening her eyes.
So Cordelia kept her eyes tightly shut and waited for Yuder's reaction.
"Oh."
'Oh?'
Well, it wasn't a scream.
Cordelia gathered her courage and cracked her eyes open, then immediately reacted the same way Yuder had.
"Oh!"
There was no mummy or skeleton inside the stone coffin.
In the place where a body should have been laid to rest, there was a single white garment decorated with gold thread, and on top of it rested a pointed triangular stone tablet.
And a single spear.
"What, what? Wasn't this a tomb?"
"Hold on, let me check the stone tablet."
"What does it say? Ah! I can read this too."
Ancient script was carved into it, and Cordelia was a mage, after all. She could interpret ancient script at least.
"Uh...... hold on. According to what's written on this tablet......."
"It's not a tomb."
This place was not Galeon's tomb.
Come to think of it, it made sense. Although the Solari Order had once held influence over the entire continent, it was odd for the tomb of Holy Fighter Galeon—of all people—to be sitting all alone in the Wild Lands, deep underground.
"A clue was left behind. Five of them. The path leading to the master. The holiest land on earth, guarded by the master."
Cordelia had been reading the inscription aloud in fits and starts when she suddenly threw her arms tightly around Yuder's neck.
"Yuder, Yuder. Is this what I think it is?"
"Yeah. Exactly."
There had been several unfinished quests in Hero Legend 2, and among them was one related to the Solari Order.
Garius, the most renowned of all Solari's champions throughout history, had died in battle against the Demon Prince Leisegang.
The Solari Order held a magnificent funeral for the holy hero, but they never announced the location of his tomb to the world.
The Tomb of Garius.
According to the scattered quest clues available in Hero Legend 2, Garius's tomb lay somewhere on the continent, and it was said to conceal the Solari Order's most important secret.
"It's a clue. If you collect them all, you can learn the location of Garius's tomb."
When Yuder lifted the triangular stone tablet and spoke, Cordelia quickly pictured the completed form of the tablet.
"A pentagram."
The reason was simple.
Hero Legend 2 already had one quest that awarded a similar stone-tablet fragment.
"There's also a hint about the tomb of Holy Knight Berfa. It seems like each tablet has a hint written on it about the location of another tablet."
"Then it's possible to collect them all?"
"Probably. Once you collect them all, the path to Garius's tomb will open."
"Solari's holy land."
Her heart pounded. This was the holy land of the Solari Order, an organization that influenced the entire Hero Legend series—and somewhere here was something described as its 'most important secret.'
"Hero Legend Tales is going to lose its mind."
"Right, it'll rack up like 100,000 likes."
After joking around for a moment, the two shifted their attention from the stone tablet to the other items.
The garment and spear were clearly at least several hundred years old, yet both looked as clean as if they were brand new.
"It's an Order garment. Is it the Holy Fighter's Robe?"
"Looks like it. Galeon was a Holy Fighter, after all."
Yuder quickly took out the garment and unfolded it. It was a martial-arts uniform of exactly the sort a hand-to-hand fighter would wear.
He couldn't check its stats right away like in a game, but since it was the Holy Fighter's Robe, it would not only increase the wearer's agility and strength but also help with the circulation of internal energy.
"Farewell to the rabbit set, then."
"Can't you at least keep the headband? And if possible, the tail too......."
Ignoring Cordelia's words, Yuder chuckled as he packed away the martial arts uniform, then turned toward the spear.
"I know this. It's Solari's Holy Spear, right?"
"Yeah. A throwing spear. It's single-use, but the power is exceptional."
The Holy Spear itself was not single-use.
What was single-use was the ultimate technique contained within the Holy Spear, 'Solari's Punishment.'
'If you used it, the Holy Spear itself would burn up and disappear.'
But as mentioned, its sheer power was exceptional, which made it ideal as a trump card.
"Nice, nice. A huge linked quest no one has ever completed. I can smell a jackpot. I want to head straight for Holy Knight Berfa's tomb right now!"
Cordelia suddenly deflated and trailed off at the very end.
That was only natural, since the two were currently investigating the Rough Avalanche incident, the first step toward stopping the barbarian invasion.
Yuder adjusted Cordelia on his back as though soothing a child, then spoke.
"It's spread across the whole continent anyway, so we can't do it right away. The triangular stone tablet discovered in Hero Legend 2 is in the Argon Empire, isn't it?"
"That's true. Still, it's a shame."
Cordelia let out a long sigh, then asked Yuder again.
"So, Yuder, are we going to investigate Rough Avalanche right away?"
"Well...... we should, but I think it'd be better to rest for about a day. We're both exhausted too."
Actually, Cordelia was the one Yuder was more worried about. She had burned through an enormous amount of mana.
"Huu... I'm out of mana. Completely out."
"Thanks to Solari's energy, monsters can't enter this place, so let's get a good rest and leave tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Dad. Make me something tasty."
"For our princess, tonight's dinner is jerky soaked in hot water."
"Wow. How fucking exciting."
Yuder laughed pleasantly at Cordelia's reaction, then turned his gaze to find a suitable place to spread out their bedding.
* * *
The next morning.
The two left the cave early and headed straight for Rough Avalanche's sanctuary.
As Great Storm had said, an ominous energy was mixed into the place. Even so, a sanctuary was still a sanctuary: once they entered its bounds, the blizzard stopped as if by magic, making the climb much easier.
But only for a moment.
Yuder and Cordelia raised their heads and furrowed their brows.
"We have to climb this?"
Rough Avalanche lived at the top of a rugged rocky mountain.
Even at a glance, it looked to be at least several hundred meters tall, and the path up looked incredibly treacherous as well.
"There are probably Devil's Eye or Angry Rhino Tribe members lying in ambush along the way, right?"
"Given that the Great Storm tribe warriors couldn't return, that's highly likely."
A rough, rugged rocky mountain.
Demon worshippers and barbarians would be lying in ambush among those crags.
Cordelia stared at the mountain for a moment, then turned to Yuder.
"Grinding isn't always the right answer."
"Every little bit adds up, but we still have to think about efficiency."
Climbing that rugged mountain while preparing for ambushes that could be anywhere was far too exhausting.
So, like the exemplary rotten fossils they were, Yuder and Cordelia decided to take a shortcut.
"We just need to get to the top, right?"
"Right, the route isn't fixed."
In fact, the two had already discussed this to some extent the previous night.
Thanks to that, putting Plan B into action was easy.
"Executing the Unicorn Plan."
"Yes, my lady."
Yuder answered immediately, attached several magic circles to the wooden board he had been carrying on his back, and activated them.
What he used was basic Fly magic.
After pressing down on the wooden board, which floated up to waist height, several times, Yuder gave Cordelia a thumbs-up, then covered the board with leather and a blanket.
"It isn't very powerful, but it lasts a long time. We stacked several of them, so this should be enough."
Cordelia nodded, took out an Arrow of Winged Wind, and attached it beneath the wooden board. It served as both the steering control and the engine of their improvised flying machine.
"Front? Back?"
"Back."
Because if she sat in the back, she could lean against Yuder's back. It was a decision made purely out of consideration for efficiency.
"Then, milady, your humble servant will take the front."
"Very well."
Once Yuder took his seat on the wooden board, Cordelia took her seat behind him and pulled the blanket over herself completely.
"Let's go."
And up they floated.
The wooden board carrying the two slowly rose toward the summit.
* * *
Yuder's prediction was not wrong.
On the midslope of the rocky mountain where Rough Avalanche made its home, more than a dozen Angry Rhino Tribe warriors were lying in ambush.
Every one of them had grotesquely swollen muscles and red light blazing in their eyes. The entire tribe had fallen under the influence of Belial, the Infernal Lord of Corruption, and become demonic minions.
"The Great Storm tribe has sent another investigation party. They will definitely show up today, so do not let your guard down."
At the words of Fearsome Horn, a warrior of the Angry Rhino Tribe who was now a Demonic Human of the Devil's Eye, the barbarian warriors each nodded.
The Great Storm tribe's investigation party.
They had already slaughtered two investigation parties, yet the bastards had still sent a third.
'It won't be long now.'
At the summit of the rocky mountain, Zaracul, an executive of the Devil's Eye, was carrying out some kind of work.
Once that work was finished, a direct attack on the Great Storm tribe would begin.
"Come as many times as you like. No matter how many you send, I'll slaughter them all."
Fearsome Horn caressed the blade of his beloved greataxe and looked down the mountain.
The other barbarian warriors also each wore vicious smiles. They had heard that this investigation party included a very beautiful girl.
"Hurry up and come, hurry......."
They had been waiting since morning.
Fearsome Horn's gaze, fixed on the only path leading to the summit, even held a hint of impatience.
But even one hour later, even two hours later, the investigation party did not appear.
The reason was simple.
Yuder and Cordelia were already higher up than Fearsome Horn.
* * *
"Hah...... hah! I-it's hard."
They had climbed about three-quarters of the way.
When they parked the wooden board on a relatively flat spot, Cordelia—drenched in sweat—gasped for breath.
"F-f**k... isn't this even harder?"
Thanks to the Fly magic circles, it didn't require that much strength, but the problem was time.
Even at the slowest speed, keeping the Arrow of Winged Wind active continuously consumed an enormous amount of mana.
Yuder looked at Cordelia lying facedown on the ground and gasping for breath, then spoke calmly.
"Hmm...... I think this is way more comfortable."
"Of course it is, you bastard!"
All Yuder had done was sit there.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down, our princess."
"Haa... hah... seriously, what is this, Princess Maker? The daughter is the only one suffering."
"Hang in there a little longer. We're almost there. You can do it?"
Cordelia answered Yuder's encouragement with her middle finger, then caught her breath a few more times before crawling back onto the wooden board.
"Let's go."
"Are you sure you can leave right away?"
"If it's going to be exhausting anyway, let's just finish it in one go."
Cordelia answered half-heartedly and gestured as if it was too hard to say more, and Yuder took his seat again.
It was just as they were about to set off again.
"Yuder, Yuder."
"Yes, my lady."
It was right after Yuder answered. Cordelia suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around Yuder's waist, pressed her whole body against him, and spoke.
"I wasn't going to go this far, but I think we need to share the pain."
What did she mean? Share the pain?
But Yuder did not need to ask. He found out the answer with his own body a moment later.
"Urk?"
"Haa......."
At the moment Yuder flinched, Cordelia's two hands began groping all over Yuder's body.
It was for Mana Drain, one of the witch's spells.
She was still too inexperienced to use it in a real fight, but if the target did not resist, she could cast it without trouble.
"Ooh... nice, nice. You bragged that your energy was pure, and wow, it really is clean, huh?"
Pure energy born from the union of extreme yin and extreme yang.
The more she groped Yuder's body, the brighter Cordelia's face became, while Yuder's face turned ashen in contrast.
"Hey, hey...... my Nine Yin Meridian......."
"How long are you going to keep milking that old Nine Yin Meridian Blockage? Ahem! Hold still!"
The excited Cordelia giggled and groped Yuder's body even harder—no, performed Mana Drain even harder.
But that only lasted a moment. Cordelia's face soon turned ashen again as the Arrow of Winged Wind began draining her mana in earnest.
"Ugh."
"Haaah."
Yuder's mana and life force flowed into Cordelia, only for the Arrow of Winged Wind to drain Cordelia's mana in turn.
Like the insane couple they were, Yuder and Cordelia began to become exhausted together.
"Something...... something about this seems wrong."
"We're...... almost...... there......."
And finally, near the summit.
Yuder and Cordelia collapsed on the wooden board, rolled off onto the ground, and disappeared into the deep snow.
"Hah... haa... hah..."
"Hng... huu... huu..."
Who was Plan B supposed to be helping, anyway?
"Haa...... ugh...... g-get up. If you stay like this, you'll catch a cold."
Thanks to Winter's Blessing, they didn't feel the cold much, but if they stayed buried in the snow while drenched in sweat, something was bound to go wrong.
Yuder, who still had some stamina left, rose like a zombie and went over to Cordelia. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet.
"Still, we made it."
"We made it."
Either way, they had reached the summit.
They had been too dazed during the ascent to notice, but now that their heads had cleared, they could feel an ominous energy hanging over the entire summit.
"Let's recover our stamina around here first, then start the investigation."
Yuder spoke quietly, dug out and packed the snow to make a reasonably comfortable spot, and Cordelia drank about half of what little mana potion remained, then held it out to Yuder.
"Here, you too."
"Thanks."
Internal energy and mana were different, but they shared the same foundation, so the potion still had some effect.
Yuder swallowed the ice-cold blue liquid, sat beside Cordelia, and spread the blanket wide enough to cover them both.
"Heat."
They didn't have many magic circles left now, but this wasn't the time to save them.
When Yuder tore the magic circle, warmth filled the space beneath the blanket and heated their chilled bodies.
"Sleepy......."
Cordelia leaned against Yuder and slowly closed her eyes, and Yuder was much the same.
'With the Heat spell active, they should be fine.'
And Winter's Blessing too.
Yuder wrapped his arms around Cordelia and closed his eyes.
An hour passed. Then another.
By the time Fearsome Horn's group, still waiting halfway up the mountain, finally gave up and started back down—
A sharp, wicked cry woke Yuder and Cordelia from their sleep.
