Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: 10. The Guardians (2)
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Made Green like this?
It seemed like a comment about Bom, who was boiling over from the aftermath of the magical transfer.
Clank—.
With four massive suits of iron armor crammed into the narrow room, it felt incredibly cramped.
They were about to show up soon. A rift had opened in the sky above, and these things had peeked out from between the cracks in the dimensions.
The identity of these iron armors was the Guardians.
They resided in dragon lairs, protecting the dragons' treasures or hatchlings. At times, they also served as bodyguards for hatchlings venturing out to play.
These creatures were one of the things dragons had lost while crossing dimensional rifts.
"Where's your answer? Didn't I ask if you made Green like this?"
A harsh voice scraped out like grinding metal.
Thick mana from the Green Dragon emanated from the creature.
He ignored it and pondered a bit more.
Normally, he would have killed the Guardians.
They weren't slaves to dragons out of their own volition. The foul-tempered dragons would snag useful monsters or humans and slap a collar on them, ordering them to guard the house until death.
That collar was called the "Subjugation Spell."
But upon crossing dimensions, the Guardians had just been freed from the "Subjugation Spell." The compulsion to protect dragons was gone. In past regressions, the ones who found dragons realized they had no reason to protect them and scattered in all directions.
And so, in those past loops, he had killed all the Guardians.
It was because the release from the Subjugation Spell caused all sorts of troublesome situations.
However.
This regression was somehow different.
In other loops, only one would show up, or none at all. But this time, four had come. The guardians of spring, summer, autumn, and winter—all of them.
At the same time, it was the earliest they'd ever appeared.
Non-dragons couldn't hold hands and endure crossing dimensional rifts together. So, he figured he needed to investigate this bizarre situation.
"Why no answer, human—!"
As he stood silently, the Guardian bellowed. It was a piercing shout, but it didn't carry far. Yoo Ji-tae's mana enveloped the entire room of Bom's.
"Quiet down. You'll wake the kid."
He closed the door as he entered.
Did it think he was an easy mark? The Green Dragon's Guardian reached into empty air. A massive greatsword materialized from mana in its grasp.
The creature pointed the sword at Yoo Ji-tae.
"This is my final warning. Answer me."
"......"
But these bastards had some attitude.
"When you come into someone else's house, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
"You don't grasp the situation, it seems. Asking questions is the right of the strong. It means I get to question you here. You lowly human—."
In that instant, a deep purple aura erupted from the armor's body, engulfing the dorm. Soon, they stood in a black void as if tossed into space.
It was "Black Gaze," a guardian barrier spell one step below the dragons' "Celestial Order."
Shing—.
In response, the other Guardians drew their weapons. Axes, spears, longswords, and the like.
The Guardians eyed the suspicious man before them, feeling an inexplicable revulsion. It was a warning from their instincts.
Yet amid the tense standoff, the man showed no sign of tension.
"......Got it. Fine, I'll answer. The Blue Dragon was born. The Green Dragon overdid it teaching polymorph via magical transfer, and that's how she ended up like that."
"Then who are you?"
"Their guardian."
"Guardian? What a laughable introduction. Do you even know who you're claiming to protect?"
"Of course I do. Now it's my turn to ask. How did you get here so early? You were scattered across distant dimensional rifts."
"...You know too much unnecessary information. No need to answer a dead man."
The Guardian stepped forward.
His temper flaring, Yoo Ji-tae's eye twitched.
"I am the one who guards the history of cause and effect."
Its red eyes flickered ominously.
"And the protector of these children. Since you haven't harmed them yet, I'll express regret for what's about to happen. Normally, sending you off would suffice, but......"
A sharp gaze pierced through Yoo Ji-tae like an arrow.
"You reek of malice no matter how I look at you. If I hadn't seen it, fine—but now that I have, I can't let you live."
The Guardian drew a two-handed greatsword from its back. A blade with a sinister dark blue glow, seemingly a demonic sword forged from demon realm metal 'Lakshatium.'
Soon, ferocious killing intent poured from the Guardian's entire body.
Sure enough, this was how it always went with anything dragon-related—zero flexibility.
Scales Eye (SS) had triggered on the truth, revealing the skill's activation name.
The two-handed greatsword brimmed with corrupted mana, emanating sword aura. Dark blue currents wrapped around the demonic energy. It was highly refined power.
"No pain."
The Guardian leaped through space, closing in for a deep slash. A strike that could shred anything in its path. But with a light thud, its blade halted right before Yoo Ji-tae's nose.
Killing intent had surged. Yoo Ji-tae's Formless Sword (SS) had parried the first attack.
Its eyes flashed.
"How about we talk this out instead."
None of the Guardians responded.
Beams shot from their glowing red eyes, targeting Yoo Ji-tae's head. He ducked, and the other Guardians blinked in from all sides, thrusting their weapons.
Clang—!
Yoo Ji-tae dodged or blocked.
The coordinated assault didn't stop. Like machines. The Guardians synced perfectly, hounding him.
He countered calmly, bending fingers one by one to match their rhythm. He deflected a spear, bounced an axe, then bent his knees to evade a sword.
Boom......!
Then a heavy blow rushed in.
He blocked it. Mana exploded around the Formless Sword, flooding the Black Gaze sub-space like a tsunami.
Yet it didn't touch Yoo Ji-tae at the center.
"...You guys don't listen."
What was he thinking, trying casual chat? Self-mocking, Yoo Ji-tae slowly licked his lower lip.
He took one step forward.
Just one step. But the entire Black Gaze space trembled.
Sensing the shift in presence, the Guardians widened the distance. But Yoo Ji-tae was faster. As his form blurred, a sword struck one Guardian's head.
The Guardian hastily raised its sword aura.
Kagagang—!
Lacking killing intent, but enough.
With a chainsaw-like grind, the Guardian's sword aura shattered entirely.
Unable to withstand the shock, the Guardian slid back.
The others channeled mana.
A massive jagged rock erupted from the sub-space floor behind a Guardian. A spell borrowing power from corpse ghosts and spirits. Shadowy hands crossed the floor toward Yoo Ji-tae, grasping at life's essence.
Death Knight SummonDragon Fang Soldier Summon
Multiple dark steeds and black knights manifest
Dark steeds with mounted knights appeared in the air.
The strongest undead soldiers born from dragon fangs unfurled bony wings and rose.
These were the lair's ultimate defenses.
Soon, Guardians and monsters charged. As if drilled thousands of times, they meshed organically, pressuring Yoo Ji-tae.
Now.
The Green Dragon's Guardian, timing it perfectly, raised its two-handed greatsword high.
This was the demonic energy of a Living Armor demonkin.
Power converged. Judging Dragon Fang Soldiers, Death Knights, and corpse spirits had perfectly sealed Yoo Ji-tae's movements, the raised Hellsteed's Sword erupted demonic energy.
Secret Art. A power gained only after honing authority near its limit.
Like distilling extreme poison through repeated filtration, pure dense demonic energy poured toward Yoo Ji-tae in an instant.
*
Dark steeds and knights bisected, tumbling across the floor. A single strike severed a Dragon Fang Soldier's sword and head.
The corpse spirits fared no better. The man swung, slicing the sub-space. At impossible speed and trajectory. Shadow hands following were severed and lost power.
And the Secret Art shattered head-on.
No flashy abilities. No techniques worthy of "authority."
Incomprehensible. Yet it was reality. The strong needed no tricks. With killing intent transcending norms countless times, the man overwhelmed the Guardians.
That was just the beginning.
An invisible sword flew. It smashed one Guardian's armor. Refined killing intent bored in. It ground through barriers, forced through metal plating, and shredded the embedded mana core.
"......!"
One Guardian collapsed.
The man didn't stop. He seized a belatedly rising Guardian's helm and wrenched it with brute force unbelievable for a human. The armor's neck snapped awkwardly, joints bursting. He thrust the invisible sword through the gap. Mana tore apart.
Thus, all four Guardians took fatal blows and crumbled.
But one endured without falling. The Green Dragon's Guardian, half its upper body—including an arm—gone.
It knelt on one knee, propping its crumbling form with the broken greatsword.
Kagak......!
Shrieking metal grated from shattered joints.
Its fierce red glow faded to weak flickers.
"......"
The Guardian couldn't accept reality.
Power is inherent. Indiscernible until released.
So outwardly, it hadn't imagined such strength. But now, doubts surged belatedly.
Perhaps the being before it was stronger than an adult dragon.
What kind of messed-up world was this?
And.
"Who... are you......?"
Who was this transcendent existence?