Volume 2 – Chapter 14
Steel clashed against crystal.
The Colony Guardian let out another earth-shaking roar as the five soldiers charged together.
“Kael!” Raimer shouted.
“I’m on it!”
Kael planted his shield into the ground just as the Guardian’s claw came crashing down.
BOOM!
The impact pushed him several meters back, his boots carving deep grooves into the stone.
“I won’t…
let you pass!”
“Finn!” Raimer called.
Finn grinned despite the danger.
“Already moving!”
Using the collapsed buildings as cover, Finn darted through the streets.
The Guardian’s eyes followed him, giving Mira the opening she needed.
She inhaled slowly.
“One shot…”
The arrow glowed with mana before flying across the battlefield.
THUNK!
It pierced the Guardian’s remaining eye.
The beast roared in agony, thrashing wildly.
“Now!” Alyra yelled.
She raised both hands.
Sharp pillars of wind erupted around the Guardian, forcing it to stumble and exposing the cracked crystal armor on its chest.
“Raimer!”
Without hesitation, Raimer sprinted forward.
His body screamed in pain, but he ignored it.
Every step echoed with his grandfather’s words.
“Strength without purpose is meaningless.”
He leaped.
His sword glowed with pale silver mana.
The Guardian swung blindly.
Raimer twisted in midair, barely avoiding its claws.
Then…
He drove his blade into the crack Alyra had exposed.
CRACK!
Black energy burst from the wound.
The Guardian staggered backward, letting out one final, deafening roar before collapsing onto the ruined streets.
The ground fell silent.
No more growls.
No more trembling.
Only the sound of five exhausted soldiers catching their breath.
Finn was the first to break the silence.
“…So…”
“Is it dead?”
Kael picked up a loose rock and threw it at the Guardian’s head.
Nothing happened.
“I’d say that’s a yes.”
Finn immediately flopped onto the ground.
“I’m never fighting anything bigger than a horse again.”
Mira laughed.
“You said that after the forest exam.”
“I was serious that time.”
“You were serious last time too.”
Even Alyra let out a quiet laugh.
Raimer couldn’t help smiling.
Against all odds…
They had survived.
The governor’s journal was finally recovered from the ruined hall.
Inside were detailed maps of the underground tunnels, sketches of the Shadow Crawlers, and notes describing the strange black crystals spreading beneath Nocthollow.
“This is exactly what the army wanted,” Mira said.
Raimer nodded.
“Our assignment is complete.”
As they prepared to leave, Alyra noticed a small flower growing through a crack in the stone beside the fallen Guardian.
White petals.
Untouched by the darkness.
She carefully picked it and tucked it behind her ear.
She noticed.
“What?”
“…Nothing.”
She smiled faintly.
“I’ve heard that before.”
Finn, of course, saw everything.
He leaned toward Kael and whispered far louder than necessary,
“He’s doing it again.”
Kael grinned.
“Should we tell her?”
Raimer’s face turned red.
“I can hear you.”
“We know,” Finn replied with a laugh.
For the first time since entering Nocthollow, the ruined colony echoed not with screams…
But with laughter.
As the five walked toward the colony gates, none of them noticed the black mist gathering around the Guardian’s corpse.
A single shadow rose silently from the monster’s remains.
It wasn’t the Guardian.
It was something…
else.
A tall figure wrapped in a tattered black cloak.
Its face was hidden beneath a cracked porcelain mask.
It looked toward the departing squad.
Then its gaze settled on Raimer.
“…The heir…”
A distorted voice echoed through the empty streets.
“So the bloodline truly survived.”
The figure slowly turned and descended into the darkness beneath Nocthollow.
Far below…
Deep within the Shadow Realm…
Ancient eyes opened.
“The game…”
“…has finally begun.”
End of Chapter 14