Ending Maker

Chapter 317: Zainan Gorge (2)

The fourth slate of the Solari denomination.

The only slate found in the game was in Zainan Gorge.

But now, it was somewhere in the destroyed Zainan Gorge.

Cordelia closed her eyes. She looked back at Jude and with an awkward smile, stuttered.

“I-it’s not there, right?”

The slate’s not there, right?

It’s outside the damage area, right?

Jude gave an honest answer to Cordelia’s question.

To be exact, he shook his head.

“It’s there.”

“Uwaaaa…”

We came here to find the fourth slate, but the slate is now gone!

Cordelia had somehow destroyed it, so she was even more upset.

“I-it will be fine, right? That’s right! Since it’s a divine item of the Solari denomination, it should be unbreakable!”

If it was a normal slate, it would have likely been broken, but it was something divine, so it would not break easily.

Jude nodded his head with some hesitation.

“Yes, it will be fine… It will be fine.”

Probably.

But their problem was still there.

The earthquakes and the rockfall.

It had turned the place into a mess.

In the game, the fourth slate was in a small stone chamber, but it was questionable if the stone chamber was still intact now, let alone the slate.

“Still…”

Jude’s words trailed off at the end, and he stood up and quietly looked at Zainan Gorge.

The earthquake was definitely strong, but he thought that it was still possible to find the slate even if the stone chamber had been destroyed.

“Let’s hope that it hasn’t gone too far.”

Maybe it’s near the place where it should have been.

Cordelia understood what Jude had meant, so she put her hands together and prayed.

And a dozen minutes later.

“Hweeeh…”

Kirara who was on Jude’s back opened her eyes as she let out a strange cry.

Although she had not lost her consciousness, she was so shocked and exhausted that she had fallen into a daze.

“Are you okay now?”

“Mas…ter?”

Kirara blinked her eyes and slowly checked her surroundings.

She had heard Cordelia’s voice a little below Jude’s broad and firm back.

Since Jude was very tall, the Kirara on his back was naturally higher than Cordelia.

So Cordelia stood on her tiptoes and stretched out her hand to pat Kirara’s head.

“It’s okay. It’s over now. Were you that surprised?”

Cordelia had asked kindly, but the Kirara who always reflexively bowed her head and enjoyed Cordelia’s head pats had flinched now.

“Hiiiie.”

Perhaps it was a kind of PTSD.

Beastkin had parts that were closer to beasts than humans, so when they experienced too much fear or shock, they often acted like beasts.

Cordelia felt even more sorry when Kirara trembled with a pale face and her tail stiffened.

“Uhh… my Kirara looks so pitiful.”

[Mistress Cordelia, isn’t this your fault that she became like that?]

Melissa’s comments were often correct, but she was ignored like always.

Cordelia stroked Kirara’s head a few more times, and Kirara purred like a cat despite her conflicting emotions of fear and relief.

“By the way, Cordelia.”

“Yes?”

Jude had slightly lowered his posture to make it easier for Cordelia to pat Kirara, and he pointed to one direction with his chin.

The head of a large and white snake with its tongue sticking out could be seen lying under some huge rocks.

“I think that… it’s still alive?”

“Eh?”

Surprised by Jude’s words, Cordelia turned to Serpent King Nagaros.

‘I’m sure I got the last hit and all the experience points though?’

She recalled the ring of light earlier.

Moreover, it did not appear to be alive from Cordelia’s eyes. The snake had its eyes closed, and it was not moving.

“Are you sure that it’s alive?”

“Yes, I can feel its life energy even though it’s weak.”

Jude said before putting down Kirara on his back and approaching Nagaros.

It was a monster with a body length of several dozens of meters, so its head was so huge that it seemed like it could swallow one person whole.

“Serpent King Nagaros.”

The raid boss of Zainan Gorge.

Its leather, teeth, venom, and so on were all valuable.

Jude narrowed his eyes as he recited a small chant before he suddenly jumped over its head.

“Jude?”

Instead of replying to her, Jude increased his concentration.

He used his ability to see through things and inserted his sword-like hand into the center of Nagaros’ head.

“Black Dragon Tentacles.”

[My successor? Are you really going to use that name?]

Valencia never said anything when Jude shouted the skill names whenever he seriously fought.

Because just like Jude, Valencia often shouted the skill names during the time she was alive.

But skill names should have some dignity and elegance.

It’s Black Dragon Tentacles. Black Dragon Tentacles!

At Valencia’s protests, Jude’s lips squirmed but he stood firmly with the skill name.

He had first used the skill when he previously fought the Sword Masters of the empire. The skill had allowed him to control several black dragons as if they were tentacles, but he could also precisely control it by making it small and thin as it was now.

[Umm… Intuition is indeed one of the things to consider when naming a skill. But still…]

Valencia still could not let go of her complaints, but the energy of the small black dragon that stretched out from Jude’s fingertips had penetrated deep into Nagaros’ head. Like a doctor controlling an endoscope, Jude looked inside the Nagaros’ head with his see-through ability while controlling the black dragon’s energy, and soon grabbed something small and delicate.

“Kiaa!”

The small crying sound was like the cry of a baby.

Jude grabbed the neck of the little snake with the black dragon before dragging it out.

Cordelia asked in surprise.

“Is that Nagaro’s kid?”

“No, rather… it’s Nagaros’ rebirth?”

A snake’s rebirth.

Since ancient times, snakes that shed their skins were often regarded as symbols of immortality.

And that was true for Serpent King Nagaros who was capable of resurrecting from the dead like a phoenix.

“It’s like a phoenix.”

The phoenix they met in the wild lands was reborn as a baby instead of being resurrected in its adult form.

It seemed difficult to tell if the present Nagaros was exactly the same as the previous Nagaros though.

“What should we do with it?”

Cordelia asked again and Jude looked down at Nagaros for a moment.

As a highly intelligent creature, the Nagaros that had shiny white scales and yellow eyes knew very well on what action it must take now.

“Kyiiii…”

That moment had proved that even snakes had facial expressions.

Nagaros pretended to be as pitiful as possible, and Jude grinned before turning to Cordelia and Kirara.

“Let’s give it to Kirara.”

“Eh?”

“Oh!”

Kirara was bewildered while Cordelia was amazed and clapped her hands.

“That’s right, that’s right. It’s good to give it to Kirara. It’s a baby now, but it’s still the serpent king, so it will greatly help her, right?”

At Cordelia’s suggestion, Kirara blinked a few times before glancing at Jude and Nagaros again.

“Kyiiii.. Kyiii…”

It could not speak properly because it was still a baby, but they could understand what it was saying from the look of its eyes and the tone of its voice.

Please spare me.

Just spare me.

It was scared.

Its cries sounded desperate.

Like the phoenix, some of its past life memories remained.

“I-I’ll give it a try!”

Kirara somehow felt pity and compassion for it, so she raised her hand and spoke. Nagaros whimpered as Kirara climbed up the dead Nagaros’ head.

“Uh… Nagaros! W-would you like to come with me?”

Kirara’s monster taming was more of a supernatural skill than magic.

Her face had somehow turned red from embarrassment, but when she held out her hand as a sign of friendship, Nagaros immediately responded. It eagerly nodded its head and twisted its body.

“I-I did it.”

Why did it remind me of the phoenix in the wild lands? (Jude)

As Jude relaxed his grip, Nagaros quickly transferred to Kirara’s arm and settled on her shoulder as if it was a pet snake she had raised for a long time.

“Wow, did you succeed?”

Cordelia excitedly asked after she jumped up with her telekinesis, and Kirara happily nodded.

“Yes, I succeeded. He’s my friend now.”

“Wow, my Kirara is amazing. Let me praise you a lot.”

Cordelia gently stroked Kirara’s head, making Kirara smile again.

And Jude who was watching them thought to himself.

‘It’s a happy ending.’

Nagaros’ life was spared, Kirara got the Serpent King, and Cordelia was happy that Kirara did a good job.

Jude particularly liked the last part, and nodded his head with a pleased expression before saying.

“It’s small but it’s the king of snakes, so it must have a strong venom. Make good use of it.”

“Yes, Master.”

Kirara shyly replied and smiled as she stroked Nagaros’ little head with her fingers.

It was truly a heartwarming and pleasing sight.

But it did not last long. Because Nagaros was not the important thing now.

“Well then… shall we go?”

To the place where the fourth slate was originally located.

It was not an exaggeration to say that it had collapsed along with the gorge, but they still had the coordinates.

‘Even if it was swept away and buried, it would still be nearby.’

It’s probably within a 100 meter radius.

Jude had a bitter smile at the number he thought, and he led Cordelia and Kirara to the estimated location.

But right after they arrived there.

“Huh?”

Cordelia suddenly tilted her head and spread her wings. She revealed her halo and fully turned into an angel, flapping her wings as she said.

“I think I know where it is.”

Because it was an item from Solari.

The slate emitted a divine energy similar to that of Cordelia who was from Solari’s lineage.

Cordelia flapped her wings and flew to a certain place. She used her telekinesis to remove the pile of stones.

And around 5 minutes later.

Cordelia, who was sweating profusely, jumped from her spot and shouted.

“I found it!”

The fourth slate of the Solari denomination.

It seemed to have reacted to Cordelia’s power as it emitted a faint white glow.

“Oooooh.”

The excited Jude applauded before lifting the fourth slate that Cordelia had found.

It was undoubtedly the real one.

And like the last slate, something different happened.

The moment the fourth slate was found, all three of the remaining slates shone in resonance.

“Take it out quickly!”

At Cordelia’s urging, Jude searched the space expansion bag and pulled out the three remaining slates.

Two of the three slates were real, and the last one was a copy that Jude had made, but all three had the same reaction, as though what mattered was the engraved inscription rather than the slate itself.

White light emitted from the letters.

The slates floated in the air. It seemed to go round and round before interlocking with each other and forming a key-shaped light in between the slates.

‘Material creation!’

It was as Jude had thought. The key-shaped light sucked in the debris on the ground and other surrounding materials, and soon became a real and tangible object.

Crecrecreak!

Loud sounds were heard in succession.

It was not a coincidence. The sounds came from the place where the slate was originally located.

“The slates are falling!”

At Kirara’s cry, Jude quickly turned to the slates.

The slates landed on the floor like the time it flew, and Jude recovered the key that was floating in the air.

The key was big and around the size of a man’s forearm.

“Cordelia.”

Jude handed Cordelia the key and retrieved the slates before running to the direction of the sounds.

He cleared the pile of rocks and used his see-through ability.

What existed under the rocks.

It was a cuboid shape that anyone could tell was artificial!

When about ten rocks were removed, white light began to be seen through the remaining rocks. Jude sped up in clearing the rocks, and finally saw the flat ground surface.

A prayer to Solari was engraved on the floor that was as smooth as metal.

Jude lightly stroked the white letters and removed more rocks nearby, excavating the sides of the stone chamber.

“There’s a keyhole.”

It was at the side of the stone chamber. A large hole was in the middle of a sculpture carved into something like a door.

Cordelia’s face became heated in her excitement.

There was a key and a hole, so one could not be human if they did not insert it there.

“Open!”

Cordelia inserted into the hole the large key she was holding, and used her strength to turn it.

A click was heard, followed by mechanical rumbling sounds again.

“Wow.”

Kirara let out her voice in admiration as light faintly shone out.

The door of the stone chamber opened wide.