< Chapter 28 - Returnee #4 >
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Hell Gate.
A direct connection between hell and earth.
Therefore, there was no need for a separate summoning operation.
The demons could descend to Earth on their own power without the hassle of using sacrifices.
“no.”
Cordelia said without realizing it.
Uder also agreed.
It was too early.
It was the gate of hell that appeared only in the very latter half of Heroes Chronicles 2.
The only good thing was that the gates of hell had not yet fully formed.
In the current state, which was nothing more than a crack, there was a limit to both the quality and quantity of demons that could come through.
But if left alone, it would be a disaster.
Once the Gates of Hell were established in perfect form, even the overlords of Hell could descend to Earth.
‘That’s why.’
Now I completely understand.
The reason why Lena died from exhaustion in Blade Beak Canyon.
It was because of the gates of hell.
It was clear that Lena had sacrificed her life to close the gates of hell.
It was a difficult problem.
If the gates of hell were left open, catastrophe could not be avoided.
But in order to close the gates of hell, a sacrifice of someone as powerful as Lena was needed.
‘No, let’s not be so quick-witted. We shouldn’t be quick-witted.’
I still didn’t fully understand the situation.
All we know is that Lena sacrificed her life to close the gates of Hell, but we don’t know how she did it or how she expended her power in the process.
So it’s still too early to give up.
Maybe there was another way.
“Woof, woof!”
It was just then.
Bellagio suddenly started barking, and Uther and Cordelia, who were distracted by the gates of hell, suddenly came to their senses.
“Woof, woof! Woof!”
“Lena! You know where Lena is! Let’s follow her!”
First, let’s meet Lena. Let’s meet, get some information, and find a way to resolve this situation.
Cordelia was right. Uther lifted Kaplan, who was suffering from the aura of hell, and winked at Cordelia.
“Luke! Guide me!”
“Woof, woof!”
Bellagio, under Cordelia’s orders, started running at full speed.
The direction is straight ahead.
It was like a race towards the gates of hell.
And then Juder saw.
The closer I got to the gates of hell, the clearer my vision became.
They were beasts of hell.
Among the purple hues of hell and the poisonous green, the silhouettes of countless monsters were visible.
Among them, there were some demonic ones that looked quite powerful.
‘Even if it’s small, it’s one hundred.’
It was the number of monsters that had already passed through the door.
Even if they somehow managed to close the door, it was questionable whether they would be able to deal with that number of monsters.
“Woof, woof!”
“Uder!”
Bellagio has once again drawn attention.
Cordelia brought Uther’s mind back to the reality before his eyes.
“Lena.”
Even Yuder could feel it now.
A place just two hundred meters from the Gates of Hell, located in the center of the city.
Lena was inside a five-story building that looked like a tower. I could feel her energy.
And the opposite was also true.
“Huh?”
As Cordelia let out a small scream, Uther felt his vision turn dark.
For a moment, I lost my freedom and floundered in the air before seeing the light again.
“ouch!”
It was Cordelia. She fell from the air and fell on her butt, and as expected of a celestial being, Yuder, who had used his falling technique to land, put down Kaplan and looked straight ahead.
As expected, a person was standing there.
“Didn’t I tell you to run away?”
A blonde woman wearing a gray robe pulled down to her head.
It was polite, but there was anger and a little annoyance mixed in. No, it was closer to impatience.
“You must know this now. This place is dangerous. Run away from the monsters. I don’t have the capacity to take care of you!”
The tone was firm, as if no objection would be tolerated.
But Uder couldn’t follow her words.
Instead, I had to change her mind.
And Uther knew what he had to say.
“Greetings from Yuder Bayer, disciple of Landius.”
It was a short statement, but it was enough to shake Lena’s heart.
She paused for a moment at Yuder’s words, then quickly spoke in a faster tone.
“Can you prove it? No, even if you are truly Landius’s disciple······.”
“May your muscles always be with you!”
It was Cordelia.
When she suddenly got up from her seat and shouted, Bellagio and Kaplan suddenly blinked as if they were wondering what the hell she was talking about, and even Yuder was taken aback.
But it wasn’t Lena.
She nodded, visibly dazed despite her face being obscured by the robe.
“An acquaintance of Landius… a close acquaintance at that.”
Because Landius was the only one who made such a strange greeting.
Furthermore, although Uther and Cordelia did not know it, Landius was the one who only asked for the protection of muscles from his very close acquaintances.
“That’s right! Yuder is Lord Landius’s disciple!”
When Cordelia spoke again, Yuder suddenly came to his senses and added.
“I am receiving the teachings of the Nine Heavenly Gate from the Master. As I mentioned earlier, I am Yuder Bayer. This is my fiancée, Cordelia Chase.”
Lena reacted to Uther’s words once again.
The nine heavens and the nine earths.
A divine skill of the sage that Landius declared he would dedicate his life to after the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom.
Lena wasn’t the only one surprised.
Kaplan, who had been barely keeping up with the conversation, expressed his shock at something completely different from what Lena had said.
“Bayer and Chase! You are the children of the twelve northern houses!”
It would not be an exaggeration to say that among the twelve northern families that ruled the northern part of the Kingdom of Seilun, the most famous were the Counts Bayer and Chase.
“No, wait. So you’re saying that you’re a descendant of one of the twelve northern families, a researcher at the Royal Academy, the direct disciple of Iron Man Landius, and a member of the Holy Cross Guardians?!”
“Yes, almost.”
Because I wasn’t a researcher at the Royal Academy.
Cordelia had become accustomed to the ‘I didn’t lie’ speech style that she had learned from Uther.
Anyway, what was important now wasn’t Kaplan.
Uder took a step closer to Lena and said.
“The gates of Hell must be closed. It is still in the early stages – the end of stage 1 to be exact – close to the beginning of stage 2, but if it continues to grow like this, it will be a catastrophe. If it reaches stage 4 and even the Demon Prince descends, the tragedy of Paragon will be repeated in the wild lands.”
It was something Lena already knew, but Uder insisted on mentioning it.
It was to let Lena know that they were by no means ignorant of the Gates of Hell.
“I am a disciple of Lord Landius. I have only been able to open the third gate, but I am the successor to the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates, and Cordelia is the one who inherited the power of the witch – the ‘Witch of the Western Forest’. I will be of help to you in any way, big or small.”
Lena reacted again to the words that poured out like a machine gun.
The Witch of the West Forest and the Nine Heavens Gate – The name of the witch who had previously confronted the overlords of Hell was enough to move her heart.
“But… but it’s really dangerous.”
“Of course. It’s dangerous. But you too, Lady Lena, are in danger at the gates of hell. So please allow me to help you. There’s a saying that even a blank piece of paper is better when held in one hand.”
At his sincere words, Lena covered her face with both hands and nodded.
“Okay, let’s go together. I think you already know this… but I’m Lena Einsberg.”
“This is Yuder.”
“It’s Cordelia!”
Cordelia, who had been watching Uther persuade Lena with a longing expression, followed him.
“Uder and Cordelia. The person over there is······.”
“This is Indiana Kaplan. I am a professor at the Argonne Imperial Academy.”
Kaplan stuttered a little as he introduced himself, and Lena nodded and spoke to Uther and Cordelia again.
“I think you already have a grasp of the situation, so I’ll speak quickly. As Yuder said, the Gates of Hell are currently in the very late stages of Stage 1. If we leave it like this, it will enter Stage 2, and then higher-level monsters will appear. Demons with nicknames will also be able to descend. So we have to close the Gates of Hell before that happens.”
There were two ways to close the gates of Hell, the most major of which was the ‘Heavenly Seal’, a celestial spell transmitted to Earth by the sun god Mithra.
“Are you trying to open the heavenly seal?”
Lena was momentarily surprised by Yuder’s question, but then nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. However, I lack the strength to use the Heavenly Seal, so I was preparing a plan.”
“You say you lack strength?”
It was Cordelia who asked, blinking.
That was understandable, because the one standing before his eyes was none other than the Archangel Lena.
Having obtained the power of an angel through ancestral regression, she was no longer human.
If we simply discuss the amount of magical power, she was the strongest among the five heroes.
But I couldn’t understand why Lena didn’t have the strength to properly open the Heavenly Seal.
‘There’s something.’
Although the Celestial Seal was a spell that required enormous magical power, it was not a power that would take Lena’s life.
But Lena sealed the gates of hell and died with all her strength.
Why is that?
What is the missing link between the two?
And one more thing.
‘How did Lena know to come here?’
As Uther himself and Lena had said several times, the current gates of hell were in the latter half of stage 1.
To this extent, the aura of hell did not leak out beyond Endymion.
Even the Fairy Queen, who currently shares her territory with the outer reaches of Endymion, appears unaware of the existence of the Gates of Hell.
But how did Lena know?
‘By chance?’
The gates of hell opened just as Lena came to Endymion?
It wasn’t an impossible story.
But here another question arises.
Who opened the gates of hell?
Why did the gates of hell open?
Questions were listed in my head.
Lena’s death.
Lena’s condition where she can’t even use the Heavenly Seal properly.
Lena was the first to capture the opening of the Hell Gate to Endymion.
Instead of asking for help from anyone, she faces the situation alone.
‘The Gates of Hell. The reason the Gates of Hell opened.’
During the time that Lena hesitated and did not answer Cordelia’s question right away, Uder made a deduction.
It led to one answer.
“It’s you, Lena.”
A word that has been cut off from both the front and back.
That’s why Cordelia and Kaplan can’t understand.
But it wasn’t Lena.
She gritted her teeth and shrugged her shoulders. Her face was hidden by the robe, but I could imagine her suffering face.
“Uder?”
At Cordelia’s call, Uther closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
He came up with one answer that could explain the entire current situation.
He said this while looking at Lena, not Cordelia.
“Lena, you opened the gates of hell.”
It wasn’t the devil’s eye.
They had nothing to do with this incident.
The one who opened the gates of hell was Archangel Lena.
At Uther’s words, Cordelia’s face became blank, and Lena nodded. She took off the robe that was pulled down to the tips of her hair and spoke.
“You’re right, Uther. I… opened the gates of hell.”
< Chapter 28 - Returnee #4 > End
