Ending Maker Chapter 94
Ending Maker Chapter 94
Chapter 33 - Phoenix
Haragen, a high-ranking Demonic Human of the Devil's Eye and the overall commander of every operation unfolding in the Wild Lands, could no longer maintain a human form.
With his compound eyes, wings, and horns all exposed, the only way he could endure his rage was by roaring it out at the top of his lungs.
'Bilvain is dead?'
The Black Knight, Bilvain.
Among the mid-ranking Demonic Humans of the Devil's Eye, he was one of the most formidable in combat.
'What is it? What in the world is in the east?'
The Demonic Humans sent to corrupt the eastern Dragon Veins lost contact one after another, almost as if they had planned it.
When Zaracul first died, he had thought that could happen.
When Madga died, he had been greatly alarmed. So he had requested reinforcements from the Argon Empire, where the Devil's Eye's main base was located, and summoned Bilvain.
But Bilvain had met his death as well.
'The east.'
Nothing like this had happened in the west.
Yet unexpected setbacks kept occurring in the east.
'That Red Gale bastard's condition isn't worsening either.'
By his original calculations, Red Gale should have been dying or bedridden and unable to move by now, but according to the spies' reports, that was not the case at all.
If anything, his condition seemed to have improved compared to before.
'That's not the only problem.'
The Eastern Alliance.
Just as the west was about to be unified under the name of the Angry Rhino Tribe, intelligence was coming in that Red Gale was attempting to build an Eastern Alliance centered on the Great Storm Tribe.
'No, this cannot be tolerated.'
Why had he placed a curse on Red Gale in the first place?
Was it not to prevent exactly this kind of situation?
Yet the bastard's condition was improving little by little.
And just as he had feared, Red Gale was trying to build the Eastern Alliance.
'In the end, must this be settled by force?'
He had intended to corrupt the eastern Dragon Veins and neutralize not only the Wild Gods but also the tribes under their protection.
He had wanted to preserve as much of the Wild Lands' fighting strength as possible to throw into the war against the Saelun Kingdom, but it seemed that was asking too much.
'Once this expedition is over, I will gather the entire western force and strike the east.'
Having made up his mind, Haragen steadied himself with a deep breath.
Returning to the appearance of a prophet with a long white beard, he turned back to the map marking the locations of all the tribes situated in the Wild Lands.
'Great Storm, Rough Avalanche, Gentle Snow Breeze, the eastern holy ground.'
Who could it be?
Who in the world was protecting the eastern Dragon Vein?
Was it one person?
Or was it several?
"Who are you? Who are you?"
Haragen's low growl echoed through the tent.
* * *
At the same time, far away from Haragen, at the western edge of the region.
One of the people Haragen could not help but despise stirred and opened her eyes.
"Uuung......."
Cordelia barely managed to open her eyes with a sleepy groan, only to close them again.
But instead of falling back asleep, she let out another sound.
"Uuu......."
Her voice was thick with sleep.
Normally, a person who made such a sound would collapse and fall back asleep, but Cordelia was a little different.
She somehow forced her drooping eyelids open again and stretched.
"Uuuu......."
She groaned as joints in her back cracked.
With her muscles stretching, bringing a little pain but also a refreshing sense of relief, Cordelia finally managed to open her eyes properly.
"Ow."
"You awake?"
At Yuder's voice, Cordelia blinked, and only then managed to register her situation.
'I'm being carried on his back.'
She was wrapped in a carrying cloth and strapped to Yuder's back.
Instead of trying to recall how she had ended up in this situation, Cordelia first leaned her cheek against Yuder's back.
'It's cold.'
Had the leather cooled in the brief moment her head was away?
Still, it wasn't completely cold. Feeling a perfectly pleasant coolness, Cordelia answered.
"Yeah...... I'm awake. I'm awake."
Her voice was still heavily slurred, but compared to the first time, it was considerably clearer.
Yuder adjusted Cordelia's position on his back, glanced over his shoulder, and spoke.
"Why don't you just sleep a little more?"
"No, I'm getting up. I'm getting up."
Cordelia stirred again and lifted her head from Yuder's back, afraid she would fall asleep again if she kept resting against him.
Yuder spoke to her again.
"Aren't you tired? You caused such a scene yesterday."
"Huh? Yesterday? Yesterday I...... ugh."
Cordelia's face reddened as the memory returned, and she buried it in Yuder's back. She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.
Yesterday's scene.
Last night's atrocities.
"I'll understand since it was because of Beast Mode."
Yuder spoke in an indulgent voice. Cordelia groaned again, then huffed before answering.
"I was going to get down, but now I won't. I'm just going to keep riding. I'm going to keep living the good life. I'm going to bleed Yuder dry."
"If that is what my lady wishes. It's fine for me too—my back is warm, like I'm carrying a heater."
Cordelia grew even more annoyed at Yuder's teasing answer, but she had the feeling that pushing the exchange any further would only play into his hands.
So Cordelia changed the subject entirely.
"But Yuder."
"Yeah."
"How far have we come?"
"By my calculations... it should be coming into view soon."
"Huh?"
"Over there. Over there. See it?"
Cordelia stared quietly in the direction Yuder indicated with his chin, narrowed her eyes, and then cried out in surprise.
"Whoa! Gentle Snow Breeze's basin?!"
There, on a snowfield vast enough to resemble an endless sea, unmistakably lay Gentle Snow Breeze's basin.
Cordelia stared blankly at the mountain slopes encircling it like a folding screen, then suddenly gasped and looked back at Yuder.
"Good heavens. Hey, how long did you walk while carrying me? What time is it right now?"
"About half a day? Somewhere around 3 or 4 in the afternoon."
"Half a day?!"
In hours, it came to around six.
Startled, Cordelia squirmed in the carrying cloth and asked.
"Aren't you tired? Don't your legs hurt? Your back too?"
A full six hours.
Six hours was exhausting even without carrying anything, and he had walked all that time with her on his back?
On top of that, Yuder had one more burden. He was also pulling a sled loaded with luggage, small as it was, by a rope tied to his waist.
As Cordelia fussed and worried, Yuder pretended to wipe away tears and spoke.
"Our princess has all grown up now. She even knows how to worry. Daddy feels like crying."
"Wow. If you still have enough energy to spout nonsense like that, I guess you really are fine. Our Yuder has gotten seriously strong, huh?"
"It's all thanks to you, my lady."
It was no act; Yuder truly sounded completely at ease.
Cordelia felt Yuder's back and shoulders again and smiled brightly at his firm, sturdy body, which reminded her of a predator—no, a beast.
"Yes, Daddy. That's the right mindset. Keep being grateful. Ahem, ahem, I feel great."
Yuder smiled at Cordelia clearing her throat as if demanding more praise, then looked forward again and spoke.
"Anyway, we'll arrive if we go just a little further, so just keep riding."
It was visible, but the distance was considerable, so it would probably take about thirty minutes.
But Cordelia shook her head vigorously and tapped Yuder's back as she spoke.
"Yuder, Yuder. Can't we just whoosh and fly over? Like, making wind go whoosh whoosh whoosh."
"No, look. Don't you see the luggage sled? Walking is one thing, but running is out of the question."
If he did that, all the luggage would tip over.
But Cordelia spoke with a bright face, as if there were no problem at all.
"You can just untie the luggage sled for a bit, take me there, and then come back by yourself and get it."
"Excuse me?"
"I said you can untie the luggage sled, whoosh over with just me, and then Daddy can come back by himself to get the luggage."
She rephrased it in an innocent tone, but the content itself was utterly vicious.
"Are you actually Satan?"
"Hurry, hurry. Cordelia wants to get to the village, sit down comfortably, and drink hot tea."
"Has your conscience grown fur?"
"That's why my conscience is always warm."
Cordelia, who had answered nonsense with nonsense, beamed, and Yuder stared blankly for a moment before smiling.
"Well, fine. Why not give it a shot?"
"Huh? Really?"
Cordelia blinked in surprise and asked.
She had only been making a stupid joke, and he was actually going to do it?
"Our princess wishes it, so I should oblige."
"No, wait. Wait a second. I feel like this really makes me a piece of trash......."
That was as far as she got. Yuder untied the rope connected to the sled and then took off the carrying cloth as well.
He caught Cordelia as she started to slip, spun her around, tossed her into the air, and caught her again.
"Huh?"
She had definitely been on his back, so why was she now in his arms?
And why was Yuder's face right in front of her eyes?
"Let's go."
Yuder grinned as he spoke, and Cordelia couldn't answer right away.
Without realizing it, she blushed and only nodded.
And Yuder was satisfied with Cordelia's reaction. He adjusted her in his solid arms, then kicked off the ground and leaped.
"Black Wind Arrival."
A black gale and a golden whirlwind wrapped around Yuder and Cordelia.
* * *
In front of Gentle Snow Breeze, whom they were meeting for the first time in days, Yuder and Cordelia raised their voices at the same time.
"What?! My sister?!"
"What?! My brother?!"
"Yes. The people claiming to be your sister and brother came to see me. Their scent and everything else made it clear they really were blood relatives, so I told them the two of you had gone to Bladebeak Canyon... but judging by your reactions, it seems you missed each other on the way."
At Gentle Snow Breeze's words, Yuder clapped his hands without even needing to draw a map in his head.
Because they had come straight down diagonally without passing through Bladebeak Canyon.
Gale and Adelia were probably near the entrance to Bladebeak Canyon by now.
'If we'd come through Endymion, we might have actually run into them.'
Yuder was thinking that when—
"Wh-what do we do? My sister came? She must have chased after us, right? Right? She came to catch us, right?"
Cordelia flailed about, looking panicked.
Her face went pale. Adelia clearly terrified her.
"Calm down, Cordelia. The two of them came to find us runaways, not to hunt us."
"N-no, you don't get it. You're saying that because you don't know my sister. She might really have come to hunt us. Yeah, it's definitely a hunt."
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. Calm down. If my brother and Adelia came all the way here, they probably have a rough idea of what we're dealing with. So let's look at this positively. My brother and Adelia are strong. They'll be a big help in the fight against the west."
Yuder had never experienced their abilities directly in Hero Legend 2, so he could not be certain, but judging from the game's lore, both Gale and Adelia were unquestionably strong enough to face a mid-grade Demonic Human alone.
'And that's the bare minimum.'
Gale was the heir to Count Bayel, one of the Ten Great Swordsmen, while Adelia was a magical genius who had risen to become the youngest commander of the Royal Magic Corps.
Being able to handle a mid-grade Demonic Human was merely the minimum estimate; either of them could easily have been much stronger.
But despite Yuder's words, Cordelia still couldn't shake off her unease.
"No, you're saying that because you don't know. And you're in more danger than me. My sister might try to kill you."
"Come on, no way. And you know, don't you? I've gotten pretty strong now too."
That was true. So Cordelia seemed to calm down for a moment, but then she shook her head vigorously again and spoke.
"No, my sister is a mage, so she might curse you. Right, curses. We need countermeasures. I'll learn magic that raises magic resistance and spells that remove curses."
The spells recorded in the witch's grimoire numbered in the hundreds, far beyond dozens.
She had been learning mainly what she needed, so there were quite a few spells she hadn't touched, and it seemed she would have to learn them this time.
"Uh...... that seems a bit over the top, but learning them won't hurt."
"Ugh...... is there any other way to stop my sister?"
"There is one."
"What is it?"
"Well...... we do that thing we haven't done in a while."
"That thing we haven't done in a while?"
"My beloved......."
Words she hadn't said much since they had escaped the Count Hraesvelgr Household.
"My beloved Lord Yuder..."
"Okay, okay. That's enough. I get what it is, so that's enough."
Cordelia panted with a red face, fanned herself with her hand, and then wore a pained expression again.
"Ughhh...... fine, I'll do it. I'll do it. It's not the first time, so I can do it."
"Right, you're getting used to it."
"Right, I'm getting used to it."
Cordelia, who had unknowingly repeated the words Yuder had slipped in, nodded a few times and clenched her fist.
"I can do it. I'll protect you. I'll protect you, Yuder."
"Thanks, Cordelia. You really are the only one."
"Huh? Oh...... ahem."
Suddenly embarrassed, Cordelia blushed and cleared her throat before turning away—only to catch Gentle Snow Breeze staring directly at them.
"Um...... are you two done now?"
"D-done."
As Cordelia's face reddened even further, Gentle Snow Breeze chuckled and turned toward Yuder, who wore a sly smile.
"Yuder, actually, there's something more urgent than that."
"Don't tell me the west has launched an attack?"
Yuder asked in surprise, since none of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribespeople he had seen on the way showed any sign that war was about to break out.
"No, it's not an attack. A problem has come up in building the Eastern Alliance."
"A problem?"
When Cordelia asked back, Gentle Snow Breeze paused for a moment as if organizing the story, then began to explain.
"The formation of the Eastern Alliance was proceeding smoothly. Not only Rough Avalanche and me, but even Great Storm—with three wild gods stepping forward, the other nearby tribes and wild gods cooperated as well. The problem, however, is the Blade Song Tribe located in the north."
"Blade Song."
One of the strongest among the wild gods of the east.
The Blade Song Tribe under his protection was a warrior people every bit as tough and warlike as the Angry Rhino Tribe.
'If the Great Storm Tribe are elves, then the Blade Song Tribe are orcs.'
And they actually carried the blood of ancient orcs.
'The ones who always led the charge in battles against the Saelun Kingdom were the Angry Rhino Tribe and the Blade Song Tribe.'
If the Blade Song Tribe was causing friction over the formation of the Eastern Alliance, there could be only one reason.
"It's a power struggle."
"Yes. The Blade Song Tribe agrees to forming the Eastern Alliance, but they insist that one of their own must lead it."
"And this side is pushing for the Great Storm Tribe?"
"Not necessarily. But we do oppose the Blade Song Tribe taking the position of alliance leader. If the Blade Song Tribe takes the leadership, the fight against the west will cause far greater damage. Moreover, they will try to wage war against the Saelun Kingdom again with the united power of the Wild Lands."
It was a convincing story.
Cordelia, who had been listening quietly, tentatively raised a hand and asked.
"What does the Blade Song Tribe's wild god say?"
"The tribes of the Wild Lands inevitably come to resemble the Wild God who watches over them. Blade Song has always been an utterly ignorant warmonger, so there is no reasoning with him."
For Gentle Snow Breeze, who always used words as gentle as her name, to speak like that, it seemed impossible to resolve this through dialogue in the first place.
"Isn't there some way?"
"There is. And that method is what became the problem."
"Uh...... there's a method, but that method became the problem?"
When Cordelia asked again, Gentle Snow Breeze nodded and spoke.
"Yes. The Blade Song Tribe has challenged the Great Storm Tribe to a Karaval."
Karaval.
Cordelia blinked as if asking what that was, but Yuder frowned.
A memory tucked away in a corner of his memory palace had resurfaced.
"It's a one-on-one duel ritual. It means settling a dispute through combat."
Because it was such a crude method, tribes other than those that worshipped combat itself, like the Blade Song Tribe or the Angry Rhino Tribe, rarely carried out a Karaval—but no tribe in the Wild Lands denied the authority of the Karaval itself.
"Normally, Red Gale would have stepped up, but......."
Yuder had stopped the curse from progressing, but Red Gale was still very much an invalid.
"The Blade Song Tribe took that into account and sent out the chieftain's son, Sun Song, as their Karaval representative."
"Uh...... then this side just has to send out the strongest warrior after Red Gale, right?"
"No, that's not it. Since the Blade Song Tribe sent out Sun Song, this side must likewise send out the chieftain's child as the Karaval representative."
Once the explanation reached this point, Yuder and Cordelia understood the problem as well.
"Red Wind."
The Karaval representative this side had to send out.
Gentle Snow Breeze nodded at the name Cordelia blurted out.
She delivered a single sentence that summed up everything said so far.
"Red Wind must defeat Sun Song."
The only way to properly build the Eastern Alliance.
Yuder and Cordelia looked at each other.