Chapter 69: Guardian (2)

I stared blankly at the guardian that had risen up imposingly.

The guardian’s form resembled the typical golem that usually appears in fantasy stories.

It had a figure very similar to a human’s, but its size was several times larger.

According to StarlightPrincess’s explanation, it was an existence inhabited by a spirit.

‘Why did it suddenly appear…?’

But more than that, the real problem was that the guardian had appeared out of nowhere.

No, rather than appearing, it felt as if it had awakened from a deep sleep.

Just moments ago, it had been nothing more than a pile of rocks, but those stones began joining together as it rose.

Kiiiiing—

The guardian made of orichalcum stared directly at me.

It had no eyes, but from the way it slightly tilted its head, it was obvious.

‘And that thing there…’

I slowly stepped back while looking at the center of the guardian’s chest.

Embedded in the middle of its chest was something especially blue.

It looked like a sphere or something similar, but in any case, it stood out clearly.

‘A core?’

I vaguely remembered it.

When I defeated Mad Dog and encountered a guardian, SwordMaster mentioned that I had to aim for the core in its chest.

To do that, I would first need to cut off its legs.

Its enormous size actually gave me a certain advantage.

‘If it comes down to it, I could aim directly for that core…’

Clack! Clack!

…That would be ideal, but things are never that easy.

As if putting on armor, the guardian’s chest became covered with another layer of orichalcum.

Thanks to that, its body became much thicker than before.

As if it were bulking up or something.

I was already starting to feel dizzy just looking at it, but I managed to calm myself down.

‘No. I can do this. I defeated the saber-toothed tiger too.’

The guardian still didn’t seem to consider me an enemy.

But it was clearly preparing to attack at any moment.

Just from the way it completely covered the core it had previously left exposed, it was obvious it was on guard.

“Kyuuu…”

Wonmo’s fur also stood on end as he prepared himself.

He seemed to understand that this thing was dangerous.

When the giant chicks chased him before, he had been trembling in fear, but now he was acting like a true wild beast.

Maybe he thought he could fight it because there was only one.

Even so, since I wanted to avoid fighting if possible, I slowly tried to retreat.

At that moment—

[Giiiiiiik—]

Boom!

With a mechanical noise, the creature stepped forward.

At the same time, nearby pieces of orichalcum began attaching themselves to it as if pulled by a magnet.

It seemed the core acted like a magnet and attracted the surrounding orichalcum.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The guardian made of orichalcum walked toward me with huge strides.

Just comparing sizes alone, it was far larger than the tiger, so I couldn’t help but tense up.

I carefully observed each of its strange movements while controlling my breathing.

As my breathing stabilized, the mana inside my body also began flowing more smoothly.

[Gigigik—]

The moment I circulated mana, the creature emitted a strange sound.

Then it raised one of its massive legs and slammed it into the ground.

Boom!

The impact made the earth tremble.

But what happened afterward horrified me.

Crack!

The ground rose into spikes and rushed toward me.

It wasn’t especially fast, but I was so shocked that I froze for an instant.

“W-what the hell?!”

I forced my stiff body to move and barely managed to dodge.

The spikes brushed past me by a hair’s breadth.

The guardian had ranged attacks too?

This was completely different from the saber-toothed tiger.

It didn’t seem like this would be an easy fight.

‘Either way, I have to get close.’

I tightened my grip on my sword and shield.

First, I planned to follow the advice SwordMaster gave me.

The main advantage and weakness of humanoid monsters was their upright posture.

If I could cut off one of its legs, it would lose a huge amount of mobility.

“Kyuaaa!”

While I was organizing my thoughts, Wonmo bravely charged forward.

But considering the difference in size, that wasn’t bravery—it was recklessness.

Startled, I reached out my hand, but Wonmo’s attack was faster.

Thunk!

An adorable full-body slam.

It did absolutely nothing to the guardian.

Seeing that made my blood run cold, but the guardian’s reaction was strange.

As if Wonmo didn’t even exist, it silently continued walking toward me.

‘Does it ignore the weak?’

I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking Wonmo.

Although each of its attacks was powerful, its movements were so slow that Wonmo also wasn’t in danger of being crushed.

Grrrrrrk—

The guardian, advancing heavily, slowly began raising both of its arms.

The moment I saw that, I sensed danger and quickly moved to the right.

Gigigik—

But the creature’s movement as it followed me was strange.

Its waist twisted at a grotesque angle.

By the time it lowered its arms, it looked as though it had turned nearly one hundred eighty degrees.

Boooom!

Its massive arms slammed into the ground.

And at the same time, just like before, the ground rose into spikes to attack me.

Its movements were slow, but once activated, the attack speed was extremely fast.

I couldn’t let my guard down.

‘Now!’

Like I said before, its movements were slow.

The instant just before it launched its attack was the opportunity I could exploit.

Wooooong—

Mana began rising like a mirage over the Heavenly Demon’s sword.

With a single strike, I had to cut off the guardian’s leg.

If I succeeded, the guardian would lose its balance and become far easier to defeat.

Grrrrrk—

The sound of grinding stones pierced my ears.

The guardian was beginning to lift its heavy leg.

“Kyuuuu?!”

Wonmo, who had been attacking that leg this entire time, got startled and clung onto it.

The guardian still didn’t acknowledge his presence.

I decided to attack the other leg before it slammed down.

Thanks to its slow movements, reaching the leg that remained planted on the ground wasn’t difficult.

‘Up close, it’s way bigger.’

My head barely reached the guardian’s crotch.

But the larger it was, the more openings it had.

I circulated the mana inside my body at an even faster speed.

The aura surrounding the Heavenly Demon’s sword became much more intense.

Now all I had to do was cut the leg with this.

Just before the leg Wonmo was clinging to came crashing down, I swung my sword.

To transmit the force properly, just as I had read in the gallery, I executed an inward-to-outward slash.

‘Good. It worked—!’

Swoooosh!

Just as I was about to smile in satisfaction, something completely unexpected happened.

The aura rising like a mirage was instantly absorbed by the guardian’s leg.

Like water touching a sponge, it disappeared in an instant after being completely absorbed.

Craaack!

To make matters worse, not even the Heavenly Demon’s sword managed to cut through the guardian’s leg.

It got stuck halfway through.

Even if the aura disappeared completely, it was still a divine sword capable of slicing through even solid wood like tofu.

‘Right… orichalcum absorbs mana…’

There was no other explanation.

One of orichalcum’s characteristics was that it temporarily hardened after absorbing mana.

Since I thought that effect was only “temporary” and unrelated to me, I overlooked it.

I focused so much on strengthening my attack that I forgot one important detail.

And that unexpected mistake turned into a crisis.

BOOM!!

The guardian’s foot slammed heavily into the ground.

The moment I saw it, I immediately raised my shield to prepare for the next attack.

At the same time, I quickly retrieved the Heavenly Demon’s sword.

Boooom!

The ground around the guardian’s foot rose up alongside a massive shockwave.

Thank goodness I extended my shield toward the foot.

Otherwise, it would have been truly dangerous.

“Khugh!”

But that didn’t mean I had blocked all the damage.

The force transmitted through the shield sent my body flying backward.

Even in the middle of that, I lifted my neck to avoid smashing my head.

SwordMaster had explained it in a post.

Even if it was difficult to soften the fall, you had to keep your head raised no matter what.

That minimized secondary damage.

Thud!

Just before I hit the ground, I felt as if someone gently supported my head.

Soon after, intense pain shot through my back, but at least my head was intact.

“Uugh… thanks.”

“……”

The one who held my head was none other than Sloth.

As always, he answered with his expressionless face.

While catching my breath after slamming my back, I looked around.

‘Wonmo? Where’s Wonmo?’

I got up frantically searching for Wonmo.

That attack had been incredibly strong.

I hoped he was okay.

“Kyuuu! Kyukyu!”

It didn’t take long to find him.

I didn’t know when he climbed up there, but he was on top of the guardian’s head.

He scratched it with adorable little claw swipes, but the guardian didn’t react at all.

It seemed incapable of recognizing Wonmo’s existence.

‘What the hell…?’

No matter how weak he was, it was strange that it couldn’t notice something clinging to its head.

Just as I tilted my head in confusion, the guardian turned its body toward me.

Grrrrrk—

The guardian’s chest opened, exposing the bright blue core.

I wondered why it would reveal something as important as its heart.

Then—

Wooooong—

The light of the core intensified even more.

The instant I saw it, it felt as though all the blood in my body froze.

I had to dodge it no matter what.

Otherwise, I would die.

The moment I hurriedly got up and threw myself to the side—

Wooooong!

The light of the core became even brighter than the Light magic floating in the air.

And then—

Kuwaaaaaaah!

It fired a beam worthy of appearing in a manga.

Boooooom!!

The beam barely grazed past me.

And the result was horrifying.

The ground had been completely blown apart, as if a shell had exploded there.

No matter how much orichalcum absorbed mana, it apparently couldn’t withstand destructive power on that level.

“Haa… haa…”

Breathing heavily, I stared at the enormous crater.

If that attack had hit me directly, there was no way I would have survived.

Clack! Clack!

The guardian’s core covered itself again as if wearing armor.

It seemed unable to fire that attack recklessly.

‘Did it absorb my mana and then release it?’

That was the only logical hypothesis I could come up with.

I let out a growl and stood up.

It was the first time my mana usage had been restricted like this.

At least there was one piece of good news.

It only absorbed mana released outside the body.

‘That means I can still reinforce my body…’

And on top of that, I still had the Heavenly Demon’s sword.

I still had chances.

If I kept fighting calmly, sooner or later I would find a weakness.

“Sloth. Can you cut that?”

“……”

At my question, Sloth shook his head.

Even a creature capable of slicing through iron with his claws seemed unable to pierce orichalcum.

Well, considering the guardian’s thickness, even Sloth’s claws might get damaged.

[Giiiiiiik—]

Boom! Boom!

The creature once again approached me while emitting grotesque sounds.

It had no eyes, yet it still knew exactly where I was.

And yet it still couldn’t notice Wonmo clinging to its head.

Rather than seeing me as a human, it felt more like it was “detecting” me through some kind of perception.

‘I’m still not sure.’

I needed to fight a little longer to confirm it.

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

Then the guardian slowly raised its arms.

This was my opportunity, right before it launched the same attack as before.

‘Without using aura… just with the Heavenly Demon’s sword…!’

I reached between its legs just before its arms came down.

Then I unleashed a slash with all my strength from the inside outward.

My target was the right leg.

Thanks to the mana acceleration, I could clearly feel every movement of my muscles.

Slash!

And the result was that one of the guardian’s legs was cut off.

As expected of the Heavenly Demon’s sword.

Once it lost a leg, the guardian’s balance completely collapsed.

BOOM!

The guardian fell forward the instant it lost the leg.

Wonmo, who had been clinging to its head, became startled.

But it still wasn’t enough.

As long as I didn’t destroy the core embedded in the center of its chest, the guardian wouldn’t stop moving.

Fortunately, it had fallen onto its knees, so climbing onto its back was easy.

Tap!

I jumped hard and landed on its back.

I immediately reversed my grip on the sword and raised it high.

If I drove the sword into the core, everything would end.

Since using aura might prevent it from penetrating, I accelerated only the mana inside my body.

“Haaaa!”

With a powerful shout, I thrust the sword downward.

Boooom!!

A rock that burst out from the guardian’s back struck directly into my abdomen.

‘…Huh?’