The Guardian

Chapter 258: We Are Already Too Old

Edward looked high in the sky where some state-of-the-art fighter jets were flying by.

It was morning and the sun’s brightness was brighter than other times, although it wasn’t as hot.

Was he thinking too much? It was hard to say that the day felt different just because of the general brightness or because of the situation at hand.

Today, all the allied forces would be on the move.

“Check your equipments! Check your weapons!”

Edward lowered his head, listening to the shouts of the captains spreading out across the camp, organizing the groups for the assault on the portal and the mission to close the rift.

The military were checking the colossal tanks and checking weapons, while the mercenaries and adventurers were taking a last look at the equipment they were carrying.

The more professional heroes were also checking their equipment and artifacts, while other heroes were recording themselves or virtually greeting their fans.

The allied forces forbade recording the battlefield, and those who did so would be punished according to Romanian law and their records would be marked internationally.

Many skill users participated in this raid, and some were teams of adventurers from different countries who were professionals and veterans.

Handpicked, what the allied forces were looking for was professionalism and skill.

The rift could be seen from afar, still present, surrounded by the dense dark fog, and Edward understood that when they got close enough, the monsters would come out in alarming numbers.

To deal with such monsters, they needed organized and united professionals to cooperate with.

Edward wiped the sweat from his hand and took a deep breath, calming the nervousness and excitement.

With each passing day, the concern increased and now that the authorities decided to act, he couldn’t hide the excitement of ending it all.

Perhaps that was the reason why he saw this day as a brighter day than usual.

Edward, controlling his breathing, calmed down and leaving the camp tower, got down and walked to the front of the camp, past the tents and the security area.

Those participating in this great assault were Duke Kristoph, Cardinal Auguste, Cardinal Najjar, Director Vincent and the Queen of the North, Eva Santos.

Those were the SS ranks that were recognized worldwide and as to whether there was a reinforcement force or anyone extra, Edward did not know.

Passing the soldiers and adventurers that were crowded at the front, Edward, as he approached, sensed that his master was looking at the sky.

Was he sensing that this day was brighter than usual?

It wasn’t heat; it was the brightness of the light that gave a unique glowing feeling.

“Is something wrong, master?” Edward asked curiously.

Director Vincent lowered his head and looked at him.

“No, I was just thinking about someone,” Director Vincent replied, and observing his surroundings, he added. “Humanity is united.”

Edward realized he had changed the subject, but followed his master’s gaze.

Soldiers, adventurers, mercenaries and heroes of all kinds all were gathered here.

From mages, swordsmen, shapeshifters, beast tamers, mechanics and those with innate abilities. Here, professions of different types and all kinds were gathering, preparing and ready to take on the abyssal portal.

“More can be done.” Edward said earnestly.

He wasn’t downplaying the value of those who came and while he was surprised, deep down, he knew he could do more.

Countries, guilds and skill user groups aside, heroes could do more.

“If the hero guild was more participatory and better organized, we heroes would have greater freedom and could get involved in different tasks. We would accomplish a greater goal.” Edward mentioned solemnly.

Here were individuals from the army, churches, adventurers, mercenaries, and heroes.

However, the latter were not fully organized, not at least as one would expect from heroes.

“Many would reject such a kind of organization. It is one matter to be registered with identity and quite another to be ordained.” Replied his master.

His master noticed what he was pointing out and immediately denied it, but Edward was unfazed.

“Is that so? But a lot of them like to use the ‘title’ and ‘status’ of hero, as if they were some kind of superstar, all having no responsibility,” Edward replied and, glancing at his master, he pointed out. “There are even some who buy their titles.”

He wasn’t lying.

It was true that in his master’s time, heroes went into hiding and there were many such individuals.

Heroes whose titles as well known as it was Director Vincent, the Steel Giant or the Silver Light and it was they who once acted while hiding their identities, until they eventually founded the Heroes Guild and revealed their identities to the world.

However, they ushered in an era of heroes who and many young people followed in their footsteps and wore masks to cover themselves, flaunting the status they had.

The Heroes Guild urged all heroes to register so that no one would cause problems by maintaining a secret identity, and while there were some heroes who continued to wear masks, they were usually registered by other institutions of importance.

Many heroes withdrew when they were forced to register and reveal their faces, and it was proof that change brought rejection.

For Edward, at least those masked heroes were not taking advantage of the image and title of hero to advertise and make money like today’s heroes.

It wasn’t wrong to make money, but in this case, most such individuals had the only task of protecting cities from a few unimportant monsters, leaving areas that needed powerful heroes unprotected.

For Edward, if those individuals wanted to use the status of ‘hero’ and make money, that was fine, but they had to fulfill the obligations that status carried and that was to use their strength where it was needed.

As for buying the titles... It was an open truth, and it was something that many people did, and it was all due to the lack of organization and direction of the guild.

“Still, change will bring a lot of rejection and more the change you seek,” said Director Vincent and giving him a look, he stated. “Get ready. Let’s get started.”

Without allowing him to respond, the man took to the sky and released his presence, revealing that an SS rank was present.

As one of the former founders of the Heroes Guild and who was now the Director of the Heroes Academy, Vincent was not interested in changing that old model.

Edward sighed, understanding that this was not the time to talk about it and also rose into the air.

He did not use his spell to change the weather and controlled his emotions so that any change would not happen.

That was because it was now a large scale battle and he did not wish to upset others with a weather change.

Adding the fighter planes that belonged to the Atlantean military, it was important not to create problems for their pilots.

Edward observed the rift in the distance.

The former Constantia City was enclosed and during the preparations, that enclosure shrank until they were now several hundred meters away.

A few monsters from time to time were attracted by the crowd, but it was not as much as at first.

“Let the march begin.”

A voice was heard over the loudspeakers of some tanks, and they all moved forward.

There were teams selected to exterminate those groups of monsters that were approaching and in the midst of all the assault force, there were priests to prevent corruption.

On the other sides they also advanced at the same time.

The forces numbered in the hundreds, with small groups of soldiers surrounding the Colossus Tanks that were used as shield and heavy artillery and then around them small groups of skill users.

Some focused on long range support with archers and weapons masters, others on close combat and others were those of ‘heavy fire’ who could do the most damage.

The marching noises attracted more monsters that came out of the ruins of the city and approached, but the skill users took charge from afar with ranged attacks.

It was a methodical way to assassinate the creatures and generated no tension.

The plans were made and not only the groups had tasks, but the SS ranks.

From Duke Kristoph, who was going to be in charge of protecting and ensuring that the abyssal portal was not damaged or destabilized more than necessary, to Cardinal Najjar, who was going to perform the ritual.

Leaving Cardinal Auguste in a more supportive position because of the information that had spread about him, which restrained him from the stares of the public.

The goblins were also present, but in another area.

“...”

Amidst the noises, they all observed the destruction as they approached the city limits.

Duke Kristoph destroyed most of the city and then with later artillery, everything else was also destroyed.

Now only remnants of ruins remained, which made it clear that there was once a city here.

The crack was at the top and was subtly visible because of the dark thickness that was around it, covering what would be the center where the portal was located.

Spells of light and prayers to the Goddess of Order along with the God Zabathza began to sound, trying to drive away that darkness that was spreading from the center.

This was the beginning... Although because it was now daylight, that darkness looked like darkness, it needed to be purified before coming any closer.

Or else it was possible that those participating in the assault forces would be corrupted.

Still, it would not be that easy.

“GRAAAAAA!”

Beastly, monstrous growls were heard from deep within the darkness.

They were not so far away now and they could notice a slight haze to their surroundings, but the whole encirclement had shrunk and they had already entered what was part of the city.

In the remains of the ruins created by Duke Kristoph’s corruption and spell, the soldiers and all the skill users readied their weapons.

They were at a safe distance from the rift, enough so that those of weak minds would have no thoughts of seeing inside the portal and incidentally not be corrupted by that darkness in the surroundings.

However, they were close enough that they could hear the wild and crazed growls of all the monsters.

For them, that darkness was dangerous, but for the monsters, they could prove to be a benefit.

“GRAAAA!”

And that proved to be the case as hundreds of those monsters came out of the advanced darkness for everywhere.

All sorts of grotesque creatures and abominations came out at the same time.

“Fire!”

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

The order came and the colossal tanks fired along with the ranged skill users.

Creatures of all sorts of shapes were shattered by the various spells, and the darkness trembled away from the shockwave of the explosions.

However, the destruction and noise attracted more monsters that advanced with momentum passing over the corpses of other creatures.

Edward moved in, casting his lightning magic spells to paralyze his enemies.

They needed to reduce the number hidden in that darkness as much as possible with ranged attacks before it became a close confrontation and the group that was going to close the portal approached.

“GYAAA!”

A shriek was heard as a large S-rank creature flew out of the darkness.

Chaos had corrupted a bird and turned it into a grotesque monster that only had the head, wings and beak of a bird. Its torso seemed to be created by different body parts that were hard to identify.

Director Vincent was the one who moved, opening his hand and generating a whirlwind that engulfed the creature, tearing the body into small portions of flesh.

However, that did not stop the monsters, and neither did it stop Chaos.

That energy they called divine could corrupt everything in its path, and that meant it was possible to corrupt animals, beasts, and even insects.

Some creatures came underground, through the tunnels and did not come out because they wanted to, but because of S-rank earth mages, who lifted them up for others to slay.

The leaders had thought of all the possibilities and there were about two dozen S-ranks, divided by their area, along with others in the rear.

However, the monsters were also many and as the priests purified that darkness trying to keep it away, more enemies were arriving.

Grotesque abominations were the most troublesome.

Created from multiple body parts of other creatures, some even stopped to devour the flesh of the fallen.

There was no definite shape, some were like large dogs, others resembled humanoid creatures and there were even grotesque shapeless monsters.

Although the abominations were savage and lacked intelligence, they were numerous.

The first stage of combat was just beginning.

******

Zrag jumped up and slashed the legs of a four-legged abomination and, turning around swiftly, slashed through the head of the vile creature.

His sword, unlike other fighting individuals, had greater speed as it pierced the creature that Chaos had corrupted.

That was because of his concept that he had managed to understand, after having ‘ascended’ in ‘rank’ as the earthlings called it.

His people called it a Sword of Salvation, but to Zrag, it was just a more effective means to kill any creature corrupted by ‘Chaos’.

Whether it had an aura that surrounded the body to ward off blows, pierce through hard corrupted flesh or to avoid the quick regeneration that some monsters could have.

It was an aura that was always infused in his sword and allowed him to purify and confront ‘Chaos’, managing to make it easier for him to exterminate all that had been corrupted.

Such a concept allowed him to kill and survive in his lands.

He was determined to exterminate all Chaos affected monsters, and he showed this by swinging his greatsword and slashing at the monsters that sought to attack him.

“Retreat! Large-scale attacks are coming!”

Hearing the voice over the small artifact in his ear, Zrag immediately retreated.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Two types of explosions came at his back. The first came from the mages casting their spells, and the second was the firing of what the earthlings called ‘tanks’.

Both caused explosions that ripped apart the bodies and monsters that kept coming out.

The standoff had gone on for quite some time, trying to reduce the numbers before beginning the ritual to close the rift.

Zrag, since he had made his decision to support and participate in this confrontation, had learned all he could learn about this world known as Earth.

He had also understood how the strike force was going to move and now knew that they were about to move on to the next stage.

To go into that darkness that was now less dense and prepare to perform the ritual.

“The second phase will begin. The Cosmos Enterprise makes way.”

The voice sounded in his ear again and Zrag, at that moment, gave a signal to the S-ranks under his command.

Goras the Great, who was actually a small feral creature and Ragas his only subordinate, let expressions of hatred show as they participated in this mission, but at his command, they obeyed.

Different were Bogas, his loyal subordinate, and the intelligent Wozikas, who let show seriousness in following his order.

“Jarka, command the remaining forces,” Zrag said and looking at the soldiers behind that shaman, he declared. “Then we will toast to our victory, as we did before we came.”

Jarka and quite a few remaining soldiers from his forces nodded solemnly and loyally, but others let out looks of displeasure.

Goras took advantage of the waiting time until he began the mission, plotting and inciting those dissenters to revolt.

Zrag ignored them.

Before coming here, they had had drinks according to his wishes where no one could refuse, but for him it was not a celebratory drink or a pre-battle drink... It was a farewell drink.

Looking at Wozikas, whose gaze was solemn, Zrag heard a loud sound from the sky and when he observed where it came from, he could see that it was the signal prior to the start of the assault.

The monsters were still coming out, but in one area, the shooting and attacks stopped.

*BOOM*

In that open area, metallic spheres fell from the sky with no one knowing where they came from and when those boxes opened in the middle of the field of monsters, figures came out.

There were ten figures, some were over two meters tall and others were three meters tall.

Their bodies were metal frames that reminded Zrag of the human knights of his world, but this time those metal giants gave the feeling of golems.

Each of them carried heavy weapons, similar to the ‘firearms’ that soldiers carried, but larger.

The one leading was a three-meter tall power armor that had a thick weapon and when a monster went to attack it, that silver-colored metallic hulk opened fire.

“Gh...”

“...”

The monster couldn’t even let out a grunt as the weapon released what could be described as a beam of light, which pierced through the monster.

“Assault team, advance and clear a path!” ordered the larger armor as it began firing those red beams of light.

The members of the metal armor team drew their weapons and advanced.

Some carried thick blades with saws that swung and pierced the creatures, while others fired their big guns, managing to create holes in the monsters’ bodies.

Zrag could notice a glow around some of those giant armors and guessed that the individuals inside were those they called ‘mechanics’.

From the looks on the faces of the other soldiers, they were all in awe of this team of metal giants that was now going deeper into the darkness, taking down all the monsters.

It was clear that the strength shown by that group of armatures was what the earthlings called S-Rank... Basically, those armors could take on the bosses among bosses.

“Time to move forward!”

The orders came and Zrag advanced along with the other teams, keeping his attention focused on Cardinal Najjar, who was in the center accompanied by paladins.

Arrows occasionally flew from a distance, and that was the other powerful individual on his side. She was known as the Queen of the North and Zrag was impressed by the arrows.

Such arrows hit even when their targets were on the other side of the darkness.

*BOOM*

“GRRAHH!”

Noises and explosions came from that darkness, generating a dark atmosphere, and Zrag could see how the metal giants were taking down the monsters.

The captain, who was three meters tall and carried the weapon that released beams of light that penetrated the monsters, was first shooting at all the enemies he encountered.

The others were at his back and one had pulled out a large weapon that released white magic-like flames that were extremely effective against the corruption in the area.

Monsters jumped out of the few ruined buildings, wanting to devour and destroy their enemies, but that was perfect for them to advance.

Zrag moved in, killing the monsters that were in that place.

The surroundings were covered in protrusions and the closer they got to the portal, he could notice thick roots throbbing.

At the top was a large crevice and inside it was all dark... No, if one looked at it for a while, one could see what shapes were stirring.

It was the Chaos of the Void.

Those who looked at it for a long time would have eerie thoughts appearing in their minds and when it merged with the darkness that was corruption, people began to be affected.

All those inside were S-ranks, and that was because those of lower rank would have difficulty resisting the corruption that generated that darkness, but even they had difficulty when they looked inside the rift.

Zrag could feel dark thoughts coming out of his mind, but he endured it.

In his team, Wozikas and Bogas withstood it, the former more than the latter, but it was Goras and Ragas who let themselves go, revealing vicious smiles.

They had lived in a world surrounded by Chaos and corrupted in extreme ways, but they still accepted those crazier thoughts.

“Do not hesitate!”

A voice spread through the surroundings and all the S-ranks trembled as that voice entered their minds.

The man who had spoken was Cardinal Auguste, who made use of his mental abilities to quell the darker thoughts.

However, Goras and Ragas looked at him with savagery, animosity, rancor and ambition.

Those bloody creatures were driven by their thoughts incited by Chaos without realizing that they could not only be corrupted, but driven mad.

Or maybe they were... For Zrag, it was the same.

He was just waiting for the next phase to put an end to his former companions.

He could not let such individuals continue to live, and even more so when he knew that they would not accept the values that humans touted.

That was why, with Wozikas who had poison spells in his repertoire, he made them all toast one last time.

Now it only remained for the final stage to begin, for Wozikas to strike the final blow... To those who could bring his people who wished to live well, to their end.

The dregs would finally come to an end in the same way as their usefulness.

******

Duke Kristoph watched from high in the sky. Right now he was maintaining the spell to stabilize the abyssal portal himself.

This spell had been improved and now generated a barrier on the outside and had some stable effect on the inside to control the abyssal portal from causing another tear like before.

Or at least delay it as long as possible.

He had prepared to maintain the spell, that it might take several archmages to maintain it and while he was on his own, he had no problem.

He could see that the fighting was continuing below, while behind him, the brightness of the day was growing brighter.

Duke Kristoph watched Cardinal Najjar, who was approaching the portal.

She was simply waving her hand and distorting the monsters’ surroundings, turning those creatures into shapeless masses of flesh because of the warped space.

Elsewhere, the goblins were fighting in a secluded area, and elsewhere, Director Vincent was with his student and another group, annihilating everything in their path.

However, everyone was attentive.

They had heard that a creature was at the entrance to the abyssal portal, but although the throbbing roots were visible, they had not yet seen the creature.

“The third phase begins,” Cardinal Najjar warned.

She was a moderate distance from the abyssal portal, and Cardinal Najjar’s gaze was directed at the rift that was beginning to tremble with subtlety.

His paladins, carrying tower shields created a powerful spatial barrier, which surrounded the priestess, allowing Cardinal Najjar to take out a child-sized statue that lacked detail.

The statue’s face could not be seen and could not be noticed.

Then, under the feet of the statue, the cardinal left cores and crystals that contained a large amount of magical energy.

The God they worshipped demanded magical energy as a sacrifice, but what they were carrying out was going to require a great sacrifice.

That was why those objects with a dense amount of magical energy were left to serve as a sacrifice, and the outside magical energy was not used.

While the magical energy would return to its natural levels as the hours passed, now the Archmages were using it for their spells.

Cardinal Najjar began to pray and the crystals along with the cores faded around the statue that was generating a strange sensation.

It was the size of a child, but its face that previously could not be seen began to be blurred as if hiding the details that had suddenly appeared.

Then, the statue broke into pieces, turning into dust as if time had completely destroyed it and that dust spread around.

Especially through the big rift and then.... Everything shook as the rift began to close.

“GRAAA!”

The creatures in the ruins of the city growled and moved towards the center where everyone was... Especially towards Cardinal Najjar who was praying.

The God of Time and Space was closing the rift, but they didn’t know what the monsters could do, so it was necessary to intervene.

“Freedom!”

Suddenly, a mighty roar echoed from where the portal had previously been and a grotesque creature rose from beneath the earth.

The roots throbbed and recoiled as that creature rose.

His upper body was that of a man with protrusions on much of his body, but his lower body was a set of thick, large roots that made his upper body appear small.

“FREEDOM!”

*BOOM*

The roar echoed through the surroundings, and monsters gathered because of the aura that creature emanated.

How much corruption would it have spread and how much vitality had that creature absorbed?

It had already entered the SS rank... Duke Kristoph simply watched earnestly while maintaining the barrier.

That creature that had previously been an S rank when they went to see the portal had risen in rank and now he reflected for a moment for not finishing it off when it was weak, even though he knew it could cause a disaster at the time.

However, his regret was short-lived.

*BOOM*

The grotesque creature thrust out its roots, causing great destruction, and then struck some S-ranks that were nearby, sending them flying in an instant.

“Freedom... AGhh...”

An arrow streaked through the air and pierced that creature’s stomach with a penetration and accuracy worthy of a sniper, but the creature didn’t die and roared back in fury.

Roots rose up in the surrounding area, destroying the few ruins and creating holes in the earth, but Cardinal Najjar stood in place praying.

The rift was closing, and Director Vincent approached, throwing whirlwinds to cut all those roots.

The mechanical soldiers in their power armor pulled out larger weapons and began to cut the roots, but it was their leader who fearlessly took to the sky.

His big laser gun turned into little cubes that reassembled around his mechanical arm, forming what to Duke Kristoph was a cannon and that mech fired the cannon.

*BOOM*

A powerful laser attack scorched the earth, split several tentacles and sliced through several approaching monsters.

The creature’s SS-ranged aura was potent and everyone understood that, if they let those thick roots be used carelessly, they would be the ones to suffer.

Still, it was the perfect time to eliminate it.

The creature’s aura was that of an SS rank, but it had neither the intelligence of a human nor the instincts of a beast.

Adding that the creature had recently ascended, it was at its weakest moment and the best thing was that in this place, there were quite a few powerful individuals.

“Coming!” announced Cardinal Auguste, forming a sphere of thoughts that managed to soothe and stun those watching.

That was a powerful mental attack so potent that it had manifested in reality and perhaps it was intangible, but that it could be visible let one see how powerful it was.

No... Duke Kristoph felt more calm and lucid, but at the same time calm as he looked at that sphere, letting it be seen that it could affect just by seeing it.

Then the cardinal immediately launched it and its speed was so fearsome that it turned into a wave that directly hit the monstrosity.

“...”

There were no screams, explosions or roars, simply the eyes of the human part that still remained healthy gained some lucidity even though it was a monster.

Cardinal Auguste had empowered the remaining human will and mind in that aberration, managing that Chaos could be curbed for a moment.

The former leader of the Victrix Guild observed himself and then looked at his surroundings.

Perhaps Cardinal Auguste had hoped to bring out the human side so that the man would control his more monstrous side and await death calmly, knowing that he could never be human again, but his plan failed.

“I want to live!” the creature roared, managing to avoid the Queen of the North’s arrow that broke part of its stomach, but was not lethal because of its grotesque regeneration.

Director Vincent turned the surrounding air into a powerful whirlwind that sought to cut the creature, but that human monster waved its tentacles to destroy it.

At that moment, which shook its tentacles madly, Duke Kristoph could see how Zrag pierced the chest of a small goblin and then pushed it into a tentacle that tore the poor creature apart.

The shaman at the goblin leader’s side did something similar with that little creature’s companion and, after casting a strange spell, such a creature vomited his guts, in what Duke Kristoph understood to be a spell of poison and corrosion.

That goblin leader was prioritizing his interests in this such a difficult situation, but Duke Kristoph did not care and looked at Cardinal Auguste.

That man turned the thoughts of calm into stunned, making that aberration stop.

Then Duke Kristoph pointed with his hand that slowly began to increase in size and get a gray color as his vampiric form manifested partially.

Controlling the spell to maintain an abyssal portal required his full attention, but that could change when he used his vampiric form because of the extraordinary increase in his capabilities.

However, before he could cast a second spell, he felt his back begin to burn, and he stopped.

*BOOM*

The next moment, the light from outside the darkness condensed into a point, and a pillar of light fell on top of that abomination.

“AHHHH!”

The attack was so powerful that it melted the earth and the light took on a silver hue as it melted the creature’s body.

It didn’t matter if the human part screamed in pain and fear of death, the silver light melted the body wherever it moved and no matter how many roots it tried to cover itself with, it ended up charred to a melted disappearance.

The pillar of silver light melted its flesh, its organs, the thick black roots and the earth behind it.

Until only a few roots and nothing else remained, leaving the whole place silent.

Light pierced the darkness, driving away that darkness and Duke Kristoph gave a glance to the sky that could be seen on the other side.

“Was it the Archangel Michael?”

“The Archangel of War?”

Murmurs spread everywhere at that individual who was known to be able to generate powerful light, but Duke Kristoph did not correct them, even though he knew they were wrong.

“Exterminate the remaining creatures and monsters while the rift closes.” Duke Kristoph ordered in a serious manner.

******

A figure landed in a secluded area several hundred meters from the ruins of the city Constantia.

“Exhausted?” a voice asked softly as the figure landed.

The figure was wearing a hood that prevented anyone from seeing its face or expression.

That figure picked up the sphere where the voice was coming from and then turned to watch the crack close.

“Not tired. Disgusted. The atmosphere is unpleasant for my current state. I prefer my vacation.” Replied the figure in a feminine voice pleasant to the ear, but with a certain coldness.

A soft male chuckle came from the communication sphere and in a low voice, he muttered. “Shouldn’t we tell them?”

“No, there’s no need. Besides, will it matter? Even if we tell her that she can’t count on her parents often. Aurora will likewise move as she wishes. As for Alice, she’ll follow her wherever she goes.” Replied the figure and inhaling, the surroundings trembled as her breath alone absorbed the magical energy. Then she looked at the rift and muttered. “It’s best to leave everything as it is and let her go about her business.”

Watching as the rift finally closed, the figure averted her gaze to the abyssal portal and, seeing what was happening, let out a long sigh.

“Everything else is up to her... We’re too old to help her now,” said the figure, managing that from the sphere a soft laugh came out.