Ending Maker Episode 454
SS #37 Kang Yu-jin (7)
The very act of sensing life was a realm of instinct.
A sense that every human being is born with.
And that sense could be honed through training.
Sharper.
More sensitively.
That’s why Eugene didn’t miss the secret murderous intent that flew from behind his back.
Pot!
The response also happened in an instant.
It was thanks to the movements imprinted through training that unfolded reflexively before Eugene’s body could even command anything with its innate senses.
As he stands up and turns around, he lowers his posture and pulls out the knife he had been hiding in his shirt.
He spreads his left hand out to protect Yuria, and his two eyes take in the entire front to grasp the situation.
Eugene held his breath.
Since childhood, Eugene had traveled with his father to the Guiana highlands, the Amazon jungle, and even the African plains and deserts, so he had seen not only common wild animals but also wild beasts with his own eyes many times.
But despite being like that, Eugene couldn’t help but flinch and stiffen for a moment when he saw the creature – no, the monster – appearing before his eyes.
It was a strange creature.
A monster with a head resembling a dragon, a large lion’s body reminiscent of an elephant, and a tail made of a snake.
There was a distance of about ten meters between me and the thing I was approaching, keeping my posture very low, but it didn’t feel that far away because it was much larger than an average large passenger vehicle.
‘chimera.’
Even though it was my first time seeing it, I could tell its name.
This is the first time I’ve seen it in person, but it’s a monster I’ve encountered countless times in the Heroes series.
Eugene’s breathing became ragged.
It wasn’t to the point of being out of breath, but it was far from quiet.
And it was so natural.
It was the first time in my life that I encountered a real monster.
Perhaps because they had been caught approaching him, the murderous intent that they began to display openly was at a level that could not be felt on Earth.
An ordinary person would have collapsed and foamed at the mouth or screamed in panic the moment they encountered the Chimera’s murderous intent.
So, Eugene’s response of maintaining a guarded posture even though his breathing was a little rough was praiseworthy.
But Eugene couldn’t be satisfied with that.
It was a real situation, and I wasn’t alone.
‘I have to protect Yuria.’
-Always keep your victory conditions in mind.
Alexei’s teachings filled Eugene’s head.
For Eugene, the most important thing right now was protecting Yuria.
That’s why I only thought about how I could protect Yuria.
If it were Kang Jin-ho or Yoo Deo, they would have expanded their thinking and found another rationale, but Yoo Jin was Kang Jin-ho’s child and Hong Yoo Hee’s child at the same time.
Eugene focused solely on ‘protecting’ Yuria, and he began to figure out a way to protect Yuria from the monster in front of him by mobilizing all the brains he inherited from Kang Jin-ho and the thinking ability he had developed through training.
Fight head on and win.
impossibility.
By focusing the monster’s attention on herself, Yuria buys time to escape.
Relatively possible.
So how do we increase our chances of success?
What’s a more surefire way to get his attention?
Thoughts occurred at the speed of light, and several plans were formed in Eugene’s head in an instant.
And that was the moment.
“Thank you, Eugene. And I’m sorry. If it’s a Chimera, it could be really dangerous, so I can’t help it. I’ll take care of it.”
The calm, continued voice was full of sincerity.
But Eugene couldn’t look back at Yuria.
This was because I was in a situation where I had to focus all my energy on confronting the monster.
And at that sight, Yuria smiled complicatedly again.
Yuria knew what Eugene was thinking right now.
I could tell how serious she was, and that she was willing to risk her life to protect Yuria.
That’s why a complicated smile appeared.
I’m truly sorry, Eugene.
I am truly grateful to Eugene.
Yuria didn’t take a step right away.
Because he knew that Eugene would restrain himself with his long outstretched left arm.
So instead of taking a step forward, Yuria opened her lovely lips and whispered in a small voice.
“The nine heavens and the nine earthly gates, the gates open.”
Nine heavens.
Nine doors.
It is like reaching the horizon and realizing the truth, understanding and accepting the providence of the world and opening the path to transcendence.
“First gate, second gate, third gate.”
Every time Yuria’s voice spread, the surrounding area shook.
The atmosphere shook with the sudden release of a powerful energy that was growing in size, and the world’s systems reacted to the elevation of existence.
The chimera crouched lower and growled.
The snake-like creature’s two eyes were only focused on Yuria, and Eugene saw the back of Yuria’s body as she passed by him and advanced forward.
Yuria put her hand inside her skirt.
She took out a sword that was surprisingly long, which was hidden somewhere inside her skirt, and slowly let it hang down.
Yuria was still a small and pretty girl.
But Eugene swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.
And looking at her small back, he remembered one thing that he had forgotten, something that Kang Jin-ho and Yudam would definitely have recognized.
‘Yuria is Yuria.’
The child of Uther and Cordelia, the guardian deities of the Pleiades.
He was not an ordinary human child.
From the beginning, she was a girl who could not have been a normal human being.
bang!
With a loud noise that interrupted my thoughts, the chimera soared up.
The moment Yuria took hold of the sword, his instincts screamed at him to run away, but his pride would not allow it.
Despite its huge size, its movements were lightning fast, and a distance of a dozen meters was virtually non-existent to it.
As soon as I jumped, the distance disappeared.
The bastard’s teeth and claws were aimed at Yuria.
And before that, Yuria’s sword drew a beautiful trajectory.
The Twelve Swords of Snow, the second flower bud.
Snow flowers in full bloom.
The blue air that followed the trajectory of the sword drawn by Yuria formed the shape of a flower in full bloom.
And that twisted the flow.
The Chimera, which was like a runaway train, changed direction on its own and rushed towards a large tree instead of Yuria and Eugene, crashing into it and making a tremendous noise.
For Eugene, it was something he couldn’t understand.
All Eugene could tell was that Yuri had swung her sword, that the ground was frozen, and that the side of the Chimera was covered in frost as it suddenly changed course and collided head-on with a large tree.
The Twelve Swords of Snow Flower.
A hidden swordsmanship of the Paragon royal family that only those with extreme strength can draw out its true power.
Eugene blinked and exhaled.
And once again, he painfully realized what kind of child he was trying to protect, and whose child it was.
“Brother, are you okay?”
Yuria asked cautiously, and Eugene’s face turned bright red.
It wasn’t just because the sight of Yuria still wearing her bunny headband, her expression a mixture of regret, gratitude, and awkwardness from not knowing how to treat herself, was so beautiful and lovable.
‘Tea, it’s embarrassing.’
I was embarrassed.
I was really, really embarrassed.
Who are you stepping forward to protect?
How did I look in Yuria’s eyes?
Did it look like a puppy growling at its owner?
I was embarrassed.
I felt like I wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
“Brother?”
Yuria spoke again, and Eugene took a deep breath as her expression was now not only worried but also slightly fearful.
And that was the moment.
Okay!
A torrent of water poured down from above, engulfing Yuria and Eugene.
* * *
It was simple logic.
As expected of a huge tree, the leaves were also huge, and the amount of water held by those huge leaves was enough to create a torrential downpour.
And the impact of the chimera was powerful enough to shake all the leaves.
So the torrential downpour.
Nature’s sprinkler.
“Uh, uh uh uh.”
It was Eugene who made a dumb sound.
That’s understandable, since he has only just now regained his senses.
Just after the torrential downpour.
Eugene and Yuria, who had become like wet rats in an instant, looked at each other, and after that, they couldn’t remember anything properly.
No, to be precise, I should say that I was half out of my mind because of the series of unexpected events that occurred and the things that happened afterward.
It started like this.
“Oh, let’s stop.”
“uh?”
“Let’s dry your clothes. If you stay like that, you’ll catch a cold.”
Even if she was Yuri, she was bound to catch a cold if she stayed wet in the cold night air.
‘No, I wonder if it will work?’
Looking at the opening of the Gocheon-gumun Gate, it seems like it is also a heavenly body.
But if you think about it, even Yuder, who is synonymous with the cold, would often catch a cold, so it doesn’t seem like Yuria wouldn’t be immune to catching a cold either.
So Eugene thought as he had been trained.
If your clothes are wet, you will catch a cold.
In a situation where the night air is cold like now, it may not end with just catching a cold.
So, you need to dry your clothes and keep your body warm.
“How do I dry… clothes?”
“uh?”
“No, those, clothes.”
“Uh… … Take it off?”
Light a fire, make a makeshift clothesline with branches, and hang clothes on it to dry.
Survival skills I’ve practiced with my father dozens of times.
Eugene, who reflexively answered Yuria’s question, flinched for a moment, and Yuria pursed her lips as if she was thinking about something, then nodded while hiding a smile that would have made Vivian exclaim, “You’re so dirty!” if she had seen it.
“Okay, then let’s stop it.”
And now.
After lighting a fire in a small cave found a little way away from the trees, I put my wet clothes on a hanger made of branches and grilled them over an open fire – no, I quickly dried my clothes over an open fire, and in the process, I also warmed up my body that had cooled down from the campfire.
Although it was an action he had done dozens of times, Eugene, who had barely regained consciousness, couldn’t help but feel like he would lose his mind again at any moment.
That’s because it was Yuria, not her father, who was with her now.
‘Hey, is this okay? Is this okay?’
Eugene himself was wearing only underwear, so-called boxer briefs, with his top off.
Although he hadn’t seen Yuria, Eugene knew that he was wearing only his underwear and his outer garment, the only thing that wasn’t wet, was wrapped around him.
A man and a woman, although still young, are together in a dark place, practically naked.
Of course, sufficient safety measures were in place.
Eugene himself was blindfolded and had his back turned to Yuriah.
Even if I want to see it, I can’t.
Even if he were to lose his mind and do something strange, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Yuria would be dozens of times stronger than Eugene himself.
‘Yeah, okay, fine, no problem, no problem.’
The fact that he kept thinking nonstop seemed to represent his current state, but Eugene did not stop brainwashing himself.
It was because I felt like I would lose my mind if I stopped brainwashing even for a moment because of Yuria’s presence behind me.
And when Eugene was struggling in such distress.
A heated debate was going on in the guild house in Yuria’s mind.
“I think it was a really good idea to hide the fact that you can dry clothes with magic and lead to the current situation.”
“Because Eugene won’t know that we can use magic.”
“I thought you were completely being investigated?”
“Oh, so you don’t really have to worry about getting caught. For now.”
“The timing of the sudden downpour of water was also good. Thanks to that, the awkward atmosphere was instantly reversed.”
“But isn’t Eugene oppa so cute and cool?”
The other Yurias nodded in agreement to Yuria’s words while wearing a rabbit headband.
“Have you seen it stand up to a chimera?”
“I saw it, I saw it. And that left arm. Is that to protect us?”
“Hey man, hey man.”
“How can you be so cute and lovely?”
“No, it was cool. It’s true that it was cute and lovely, but it was cool.”
“Ha, I just wanted to keep protecting you.”
“I wish it had just been a wild boar.”
“So, why did the chimera appear?”
“But thanks to the appearance of the Chimera, a secondary event like this one has occurred, right?”
“That’s true.”
Again, the Yurias nodded their heads with dark smiles.
But one of the Yurias pouted his lips as if he was slightly dissatisfied.
“But isn’t Eugene such a gentleman?”
“Yeah, I expected you to turn around, but you’re blindfolding yourself.”
“Eugene oppa, your ideas are cute. You’re lovely.”
Basically, Yuria was a cool, proud, and cool city girl, but with one flip of a switch, she turned into a woman who could outsmart Vivian.
Just like Uther.
“Anyway, what should we do? The current situation itself is very good.”
“Yeah, yeah, that sounds good. How about chatting while looking at the campfire? It feels kind of romantic.”
“I’m a little concerned that one of us is blindfolded, but I’m all for talking.”
“me too.”
“me too.”
It was then that the Yurias raised their hands one by one and agreed.
“Are you really satisfied with this?”
It was Madame Yuria, the leader of the guild house.
Although she was somewhat less dignified and haughty than usual due to wearing a rabbit headband, she still had a sense of haughtiness and ambition compared to other Yurias.
“Let’s go just a little further.”
“What, what’s the progress?”
“I’m going to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. If your shoulder is a bit too much, how about your back?”
At Madame’s suggestion, Yuria and I thought of the same picture at the same time.
Two people standing shoulder to shoulder, looking at a campfire.
The breath and sweet scent of flesh felt right next to me.
Two people smiling with blushing faces, either because of the campfire light or because of something else.
“It sounds good.”
“Is there a picture?”
“As expected of Madam!”
Madame Yuria smiled at the compliments from Yuria and the others, then adjusted her rabbit headband and said.
“Then let’s put the plan into action.”
“Yes! Mem!”
Immediately after Yuria answered loudly.
The real Yuria blushed bright red and coughed a few times before secretly sitting up, adjusting her posture and even her position.
It was to rub shoulders with Eugene.
“Hey, Yuria?”
“It’s to warm your body up faster.”
If Vivian had seen it, she would have shouted, ‘Look at that thing, it’s all black! The eyes and the lips, it’s all so sinister!’ But sadly, she wasn’t there.
Yuria swallowed dry saliva after blocking Eugene’s movements with a haughty voice that pretended to be logical.
‘Let’s sit down.’
Right next to Eugene.
And let’s lean on each other’s shoulders.
Eugene flinched.
Yuria was like that too.
The faces of the two people who were already reddened became even redder.
“There was a miscalculation.”
Madame Yuria spoke with a blush on her face, and the other Yurias nodded with their mouths tightly shut.
Because when I sat right next to him and leaned against him, it wasn’t just my shoulders that were touching.
The thighs and calves touched.
Bare skin and bare skin!
‘Oh, so soft!’
‘It’s solid!’
In front is Yuriah, in back is Eugene.
Eugene gritted his teeth at the contact with Yuria, who was so soft and warm that it made one wonder if there was such softness in the world, and Yuria swallowed dry saliva once again at Eugene’s muscles, which were firmer than expected.
Of course, since both of them were still young boys and girls, and the current situation was already enough to make them faint from the rush of blood to their heads, there was no way they could make any more progress.
The two of them were at their limit as they simply leaned against each other, swallowing dry saliva and their hearts pounding.
But this was enough.
Because just being like this made me feel incredibly happy.
And one minute, two minutes.
The two people, who had gradually become accustomed to the current situation, opened their mouths almost simultaneously.
“Hey, Yuria.”
“Oh, brother.”
The two people, whose words were tangled and who let out awkward laughter, opened their mouths again to speak.
“Tell me first.”
“Brother, you speak first.”
It was a conversation that could be said to be routine, but it wasn’t really a problem for the two of them.
Eugene and Yuria laughed again, and this time they opened their mouths at the same time.
But this time, there was one thing that was ahead of the two.
“Stop moving.”
A cold and hard voice.
Eugene and Yuria flinched at the same time at the voice that was filled with a cold air that was like the essence of extreme jealousy.
The owner of the voice, Juder August Bayer, the guardian of the Pleiades and the family, looked down at Eugene and Yuria with his eyes wide open.
