Ending Maker Chapter 72
Ending Maker Chapter 72
Chapter 23 - Rotten Fossil
Yuder and Cordelia did not know much about the Wild Lands.
In Hero Legend 2, opportunities to visit the Wild Lands were rare, and even when it was possible, the areas that could be visited were extremely limited.
Moreover, they had intervened in an event that was not covered in the game in order to twist the barbarian invasion, which could be called the central axis of Hero Legend 2's early scenario.
Therefore, no matter how much of a pair of rotten fossils Yuder and Cordelia were, they did not know the beginning or course of the events now unfolding. And since they were twisting even the outcome with their own hands, it was no exaggeration to say they were facing the unknown.
But even so, Yuder and Cordelia were rotten fossils.
Even if they could not know the events, they knew the people.
"The one who made it rain was Madga."
"A mid-grade Demonic Human of the Devil's Eye, a shaman."
"Originally from the Angry Rhino Tribe. She was cast out once by her master, a grand shaman, but met Haragen and gained demonic power, then returned as a powerful demonic shaman."
"If you look at it positively, she has an enterprising personality. Career-oriented and cautious. Perhaps because she was abandoned by her master once, she's full of suspicion."
"She's the type who can't rest until she handles everything with her own hands."
"She's overly confident."
"An arrogant personality."
Having said that much, Yuder and Cordelia turned to look at each other, and Cordelia laughed as if dumbfounded and said.
"You crazy bastard, why memorize Madga's personality instead of her stats?"
"Come on, of course I memorized her stats too. But you know her surprisingly well yourself?"
"Because I’m just as rotten as someone I know."
"You’re rotten enough. Going to turn into oil next?"
"Stop with the lame jokes."
"Yes, ma'am."
After finishing their mutual compliments, the two rotten fossils looked forward again—more precisely, down below their ambush point.
"They're coming."
Yuder said in a low voice, and Cordelia held her breath.
The two were now lying prone on a high peak, not on Moonview Hill.
A path that had to be crossed on the way from Madga's main camp to Moonview Hill, and a peak overlooking that path.
Perhaps their waiting since morning had paid off, because they were able to spot the warriors of the Angry Rhino Tribe heading toward Moonview Hill.
'As expected.'
'Indeed.'
Madga was positioned in the middle of the column.
Thanks to the helm made of beast bones and the skull staff, she was easy to recognize even from afar.
After confirming, the two crawled from their original position a bit further down and then looked at each other.
'Madga really came.'
Madga, who was originally from the Angry Rhino Tribe, knew the Wild Lands well.
Naturally, she also knew about the Essence of the Blue Moon, and she knew the location of Moonview Hill as well.
Madga was suspicious by nature and could not rest until she handled important matters herself.
Therefore, Yuder and Cordelia thought.
That there was a high probability Madga herself would come to take the Essence of the Blue Moon.
And that prediction became reality.
So Cordelia signaled Yuder with her eyes, and Yuder nodded.
'Let's go according to plan.'
A plan prepared for when Madga personally took command.
A smile spread across Cordelia's face, and the two quietly rose from their spot.
They hurried their steps to get ahead of Madga and her party.
* * *
Madga, who had arrived at Moonview Hill, narrowed her eyes.
Moonview Hill was a place even animals avoided, but the complete lack of any presence was excessive.
'Indeed, a trap.'
For Gentle Snow Breeze, who was cornered, the Essence of the Blue Moon was her only hope.
But if it was this quiet, there was nothing to think of other than a trap.
"Madga?"
"Wait."
Madga, who had restrained the warriors of the Angry Rhino Tribe, stared quietly at the only path leading up the hill, then let out a scoff.
"How crude."
They seemed to have tried hard to hide it, but traces of traps laid in the middle of the path were visible.
While the area above and below was clean, a single footprint was planted right in the middle of the path.
"It seems they've set traps on the path."
At Madga's words, the warriors, including her adjutant, looked at the path in surprise.
Madga kindly pointed at the footprint stamped in the middle of the path and continued.
"They might be lying in ambush on top of the hill. But it's all a foolish act. After all, the Essence of the Blue Moon is not something we absolutely need."
At Madga's words, the adjutant tilted his head as if he did not understand, but only for a moment.
Soon his eyes widened with admiration.
"Ah!"
"Yes, our goal is to prevent the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe from getting their hands on the Essence of the Blue Moon. We don't necessarily need to obtain the Essence of the Blue Moon ourselves. And even if the Essence of the Blue Moon is right there, the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe cannot obtain the essence until the phantom moon rises."
In other words, there was no need to climb Moonview Hill; they only needed to surround the area.
"Even if they obtain the Essence of the Blue Moon, they'll have to come down the hill to return. We just have to wait. There's no need to climb onto the stage they've prepared."
"Oooh......."
All the Angry Rhino Tribe warriors marveled at Madga’s explanation.
They loved battle, but they did not love just any battle.
What the warriors of the Angry Rhino Tribe loved was a battle they could win.
Madga looked again at the path and the hill beyond it, then snorted and said.
"It would be good to see how long their patience lasts. Spread out and rest!"
"Understood!"
The warriors who had followed Madga took positions spaced out so they could watch all of Moonview Hill, then truly began to rest, each sitting down or setting down their weapons.
'The ones whose patience runs out first will be you.'
Because time was on Madga's side.
The difference between themselves, who would seize victory once tonight passed, and those who would lose even their last hope once tonight passed, was no exaggeration to call the difference between heaven and earth.
"Fools."
Madga smiled again, sat down comfortably, and began to meditate.
And one hour, then two hours.
Finally, around sunset.
Madga slowly opened her eyes and frowned as she looked at the sky where the sunset was beginning to spread.
'Their patience is stronger than I thought.'
Were they planning to grab it and flee the moment the Essence of the Blue Moon appeared?
Madga, who had been staring at the still-silent Moonview Hill, narrowed her eyes and signaled the warriors with a jerk of her chin.
It was almost time for the phantom moon to rise, so battle would begin in some form.
A few minutes passed like that.
When darkness spread beyond the sunset and the curtain of night unfolded.
Moonlight streamed down.
Light rose from the two moons that had risen among the starlight, and the moon-gazing flowers on the hill opened their buds all at once to greet the moonlight.
And one more added.
The warriors of the Angry Rhino Tribe watching from below let out exclamations without realizing it.
Droplets seemed to shoot up among the profusely blooming blue moon-gazing flowers, and soon blue light concentrated at the center of the hill.
"The Essence of the Blue Moon."
An excited voice slipped from between Madga's lips.
The distance was far, but even so, she could not help but have her gaze stolen.
The essence of moonlight revealing itself within the blue light.
A blue, beautiful star-like gem floating in the air.
"Ahh......."
Madga let out another exclamation, then soon opened her eyes wide.
Because if those lying in ambush on the hill were going to reveal themselves, now was the moment.
The warriors of the Angry Rhino Tribe sensed it too. They drew their weapons and steadied their breathing like beasts eyeing their prey.
One minute passed like that.
Then two minutes.
"Mad... ga?"
The adjutant turned to Madga, and Madga frowned.
Were they aiming for a time difference?
Were they trying to lure this side into carelessness by not taking it immediately and waiting?
No.
It was not that.
"Go up!"
The warriors reacted immediately to Madga's command. As they sprinted up the slope, a response came right back.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted all over the slope. Warriors who could not dodge in time were caught in the explosions, but Madga felt relieved without realizing it.
The traps were real.
As expected, they had to be here.
But that was only for a moment.
Even in the chaos as the slope traps activated, no one took the Essence of the Blue Moon.
What was going on?
Could it be that they had given up on the Essence of the Blue Moon?
"Get out of my way!"
Madga, who had let out a shout without realizing it, ran straight up the slope.
Several traps activated, but she was a mid-grade Demonic Human. She protected herself with powerful magic, rendering the explosions and other traps ineffective.
"The Essence of the Blue Moon."
Madga, who had reached the center of the hill in one breath, took the Essence of the Blue Moon floating in the air.
It was not a fake.
It was real.
The gem sparkling on her palm was definitely the Essence of the Blue Moon.
Therefore, Madga could not understand.
The traps were real.
For Gentle Snow Breeze, the Essence of the Blue Moon was her only hope.
Yet they had left the Essence of the Blue Moon unattended.
They had even set traps, yet not a single trace of them could be seen.
Why.
For what reason.
"Madga!"
She turned her gaze at the adjutant's shout. Where the adjutant's fingertip pointed, a red bird was flying in.
It was a shamanic messenger bird used by the shamans of the Angry Rhino Tribe for communication.
The direction it flew from was where the main force was.
The entrance to the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe's basin.
The main force that had formed a siege line to pressure the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe's main camp while Madga herself took the Essence of the Blue Moon.
A shamanic messenger bird signaling an emergency had flown in from there.
Why.
She had told the main force only to form a siege line and not to fight.
The Gentle Snow Breeze tribe did not have the strength left to fight outside their walls.
While her mind tangled in confusion, the shamanic messenger bird arrived. It opened its mouth wide and cried out.
"Emergency! Emergency! The Wild God has descended!"
Gentle Snow Breeze.
The Wild God whose power was suppressed and who should not be able to move.
She who should be desperately waiting for the Essence of the Blue Moon to release her power.
Madga lowered her gaze and looked at her own hand.
The Essence of the Blue Moon was there.
It had not fallen into Gentle Snow Breeze's hands.
Then why.
Then how—
"Impossible."
Madga understood.
What had happened. What was going on.
And so she turned her gaze.
She looked toward the direction of the base, not the main force.
* * *
About ten minutes before the phantom moon rose.
Yuder and Cordelia did not miss the essence of the matter.
The important thing was not the Essence of the Blue Moon.
The Essence of the Blue Moon was needed in the first place to release Gentle Snow Breeze's full power.
"So we don't need it."
There was no need to obsess over the Essence of the Blue Moon. Because a more direct method to release Gentle Snow Breeze's power existed.
When they confirmed that Madga was heading to Moonview Hill.
Yuder and Cordelia immediately began to act.
Instead of running toward Moonview Hill, they ran like mad toward the enemy base from which Madga had departed.
It was a simple theory.
'We just need Madga to be gone.'
Mid-grade Demonic Human Madga.
A powerhouse they could not yet defeat through ordinary means.
Her location had become clear.
The place where she was not had also become clear.
Therefore, Yuder and Cordelia could move freely.
Boom!
Twenty-Four Gale Steps.
A whirlwind and a gale arose.
As if in response, Cordelia’s hair turned black, and orbs of magic rose around her.
"Block them!"
"Stop them!"
Madga was not a fool.
Naturally, she had left defensive forces at her base as well.
Though few in number, there were warriors of the Angry Rhino Tribe, and even one low-grade Demonic Human stationed there.
"Yeah, a low-grade Demonic Human."
Cordelia smiled brightly.
A smile spread across Yuder's face too. He closed the distance to the low-grade Demonic Human—specifically, Karaba, whose attribute was water and type was warrior—in an instant and unleashed a Holy Cross Thrust.
He pursued the enemy sent flying backward and detonated a Thunderclap Strike, and the black blade Cordelia had launched gouged into the enemy's chest.
"We still can't beat a mid-grade Demonic Human."
He admitted it calmly.
Because it was the truth.
And what this statement meant.
Cordelia hurled demonic orbs in all directions to hold back the warriors of the Angry Rhino Tribe. Yuder delivered the final blow with the Sword of the Eastern Warrior to Karaba, who was clutching his chest in agony.
SHING—!
A ring of pure white light rose near Yuder and Cordelia's chests. This time, Yuder charged toward the warriors of the Angry Rhino Tribe.
He spread the Blessing of the Windbreak to block arrows and wreaked havoc among the enemies with Twenty-Four Gale Steps.
"Hah!"
Cordelia roughly stirred up the witch's power and advanced toward the Spear of Corruption.
With blue light shining in her eyes, she said with a somehow wicked smile.
"But we can beat a low-grade Demonic Human, you know?"
As long as Madga was gone.
Only Madga.
Inside Madga's tent.
Cordelia seized the Spear of Corruption. As if a hero drawing a holy sword, she drew the demon's spear and released the power of the Dragon Vein.