Nobody moved.
The crimson eyes beneath the broken visor stared at the survivors without a trace of emotion.
The ancient warrior stood motionless in the center of the bridge, both hands resting upon the hilt of the broadsword buried in the stone.
Behind them, the endless sea of undead continued drawing closer, their dry footsteps scraping against broken stone.
Miss Grace slowly raised her hand, her stance dropping low.
“…Everyone, slow down.
Nobody move recklessly.” Beside her, Daniel activated Eye of Truth.
Blue haze swirled faintly in his eyes as he mapped the entity before them.
The Guardian’s breathing…
None.
Its posture…
Flawless.
Its grip…
Immovable.
This wasn’t a mindlessly wandering corpse.
It stood like a veteran who had cut down thousands on this exact bridge.
“…Be careful, guys,” Daniel muttered, cold sweat trickling down his neck.
“That thing is different.
It isn’t like the others.” Godwin stepped forward, his knuckles white as his Hero Sword flared with bright, silver-white light.
“If we don’t defeat it…” Godwin gritted his teeth, “…how are we crossing this bridge?” The Guardian remained completely still, watching him.
Godwin lunged, driving his shining blade toward the armor’s exposed neck.
Slash!
Clang!
The Guardian moved.
With a single hand, it drew the massive broadsword just enough to intercept the swing.
Sparks exploded across the stone.
Godwin’s eyes widened.
“…What?” The Guardian subtly twisted its wrist.
Boom!
A wave of dense, physical force slammed into Godwin’s chest.
He was thrown backward off his feet, rolling five meters across the ancient stone before digging his boots in.
“Godwin!” Emma called out.
Godwin forced himself back onto one knee, coughing breathlessly.
“…I’m okay…
It’s just…
that thing is ridiculously strong.” Maxwell hissed through his teeth.
“Mtcheeew.” He slammed his fists together as electric-blue Aether crackled over his arms.
“Why are you people panicking over just one enemy?
Attack together!” Lightning exploded from Maxwell’s fists as he charged.
Victor followed on his left, wind tearing around his palms.
John roared, dark fur bursting across his shoulders as he lunged.
Wisdom thrust both hands downward, pulling sharp, light-blue crystal pillars straight out of the bridge stone to pin the Guardian’s boots.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Lightning, pressurized wind, crystal spikes, and beast claws struck at the exact same moment.
The bridge shuddered under the sheer weight of the assault.
The Guardian didn’t fall.
It shifted its foot half an inch, shattering Wisdom’s crystal pillars instantly.
It moved its broadsword in short, terrifyingly precise arcs, parrying Victor’s wind blades and deflecting Maxwell’s lightning-infused fist into the stone floor.
Clang!
Victor’s wind blade scraped across the dark breastplate, leaving not even a scratch.
John’s beast claws slammed into its shoulder—the Guardian barely swayed.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed behind the blue haze of his vision as his mind raced.
The armor isn’t cracking…
Its reaction speed isn’t just fast.
It’s reading our attacks.
Boom!
A single, heavy horizontal sweep forced every attacker back.
Maxwell staggered, Victor was thrown off balance, and John crashed onto his side.
Miss Grace stepped in immediately.
Blue Aether strengthened her body as she dashed forward, blurring across the gap.
Bang!
Her spinning side kick slammed directly into the side of the Guardian’s helmet.
For the first time…
its head tilted slightly.
She didn’t give it room to recover.
Another kick.
Front kick.
Roundhouse.
Hook kick.
Every strike flowed naturally into the next, her boots leaving faint blue trails in the air.
The Guardian raised its forearm, blocking each blow with solid metal.
Its free hand shot forward like an iron vice.
Miss Grace crossed both arms before her chest to guard.
Boom!
The impact launched her sliding ten meters back across the bridge.
Her boots dug deep grooves into the pavement before she finally ground to a halt.
She exhaled sharply, her arms trembling under her sleeves.
“…It’s too strong…” From the middle of the crowd, a frantic voice called out.
“Move aside!” Victoria pushed her way through, raising both hands as orange flames flared into a roaring wave.
Whoosh!
The blazing inferno swallowed the black armor whole.
Hope flared across several faces.
Heavy footsteps echoed from inside the roaring fire.
Clang…
Clang…
Clang…
The Guardian walked out smoothly, unharmed.
Its black armor glowed faintly red from the heat, but it didn’t slow down for a single second.
Victoria’s confident smile shattered.
“…Impossible…” Ella stepped beside her, mist spilling from her lips as deep frost-blue cold swirled around her ankles.
Frost raced across the ancient bridge stone.
Crack…
Crack…
Crack!
Thick, heavy ice climbed up the Guardian’s greaves, freezing its legs solid up to the waist.
The students cheered.
“We got it!” “It can’t move!” Ella leaned over, breathing heavily.
“I…
I did it…” Boom!
The Guardian calmly took one forward step, and the entire block of thick ice shattered into countless flying shards.
Ella froze, her face turning pale.
“…No way…” The Guardian kept walking as if nothing had happened.
Terror returned to the crowd like a heavy blanket.
Emma hurried between the fallen fighters, soft white light coating her hands as she closed their wounds.
Near the flank, Success watched the black armor advance.
Her single controlled undead stood rigidly beside her.
She swallowed hard.
“…Go.” The corpse sprinted toward the Guardian without fear.
The ancient warrior didn’t even turn its gaze.
Slash.
Its broadsword flashed once.
The controlled undead split cleanly in half at the torso, collapsing into dead meat before it hit the floor.
Success lowered her head, clutching her skirt.
“…It died…” At the rear of the bridge, the ordinary horde had finally caught up.
“They’re reaching us!” Ayomide shouted, looking back.
Adesewa nodded quietly, stepping up beside him.
Bang!
Her fist drove straight into a corpse’s throat, the sheer force blasting it completely off the side of the bridge into the abyss below.
Ayomide swung his rusted iron blade.
Crack!
Another head rolled across the stone.
But three more rotten figures stepped into its place immediately.
Ayomide frowned as another undead closed in.
I already died once today…
Am I really going to die again on the exact same day I came back?
His grip tightened around the rusted sword.
…No.
Panicking won’t change anything.
His eyes shifted toward Adesewa, then toward Miss Grace battling the Guardian.
Even Adesewa’s raw strength wasn’t far from Miss Grace’s, yet neither of them could break that black armor.
If we rush over there, we’ll only become two more people lying on this bridge.
His gaze settled on Tunde and Kemi.
Their abilities could attack from a distance.
They’d be more useful at the front.
“Tunde.
Kemi.” The two turned back, panting.
“Huh?” “Go help the front,” Ayomide said, severing another undead’s arm.
“Your powers have range.
It will help more over there while Adesewa and I hold the rear.” Tunde frowned, pushing a corpse back with a short kinetic pop.
“But—” “Don’t waste time,” Ayomide cut him off sharply.
“If that black armor breaks through the front, all of us are finished.” Adesewa took half a step forward, raising her blood-stained fists.
Her stance made it clear she was staying.
Kemi bit her lip.
“…Be careful.” Ayomide gave a faint, cynical smirk.
“Just go already.
Or do you two want to follow us everywhere?” Tunde let out a short laugh despite the bloody chaos.
“Alright.
Just don’t die before I come back.” Tunde and Kemi sprinted forward toward Miss Grace and the main squad.
Zara watched them leave, standing right behind Ayomide and Adesewa with her rusted spear.
Terror gripped her, but her ears suddenly twitched.
The chaotic noises around her split into distinct, sharp layers—footsteps, heavy breathing, steel against bone, and the faint clack of rotten fingers pulling up over the stone edge.
She turned her head left on pure instinct.
“Left!” Ayomide ducked down immediately.
Whoosh!
A rusted hatchet passed harmlessly through the space where his neck had been a millisecond prior.
He pivoted and drove his iron blade through the attacker’s skull.
Ayomide glanced at Zara over his shoulder.
“…Nice.” Zara stared at her trembling hands in confusion.
…How did I hear that coming?
Nobody had time to reflect.
Up front, the clash between the Guardian and the combined forces of Miss Grace, Godwin, and Maxwell shook the entire bridge structure.
Spiderweb cracks began spreading outward from the Guardian’s boots, rippling across the ancient stone floor.
Daniel’s blue haze flickered as his jaw dropped in sudden horror.
Wait…
He watched the Guardian effortlessly parry three attacks at once without taking a single step back.
Cold sweat drenched his back.
It hasn’t blocked us because it has to…
It hasn’t even attacked us seriously yet.
…It’s still testing us.
“…Miss Grace!” Daniel yelled, his voice cracking with panic.
Miss Grace blocked a sweeping strike with her arm-guards, gritting her teeth.
“What is it?” Daniel pointed downward, his voice trembling.
“…The bridge!
It’s starting to crack!” Miss Grace’s expression shifted drastically.
The Guardian slowly raised its massive broadsword with both hands, lifting it high above its head.
For the first time since the fight began, a suffocating, blood-red killing intent burst from the black armor, crashing over the survivors like a mountain.
Everyone froze.
Nobody could breathe.