Chapter 98: The New Guardian
Loyo suddenly lifted her head and released a long, powerful howl that carried across the entire forest. It wasn’t a sound filled with grief. It was filled with pride.
The sound seemed to become visible as it traveled, golden ripples spreading outward through the trees, shaking loose leaves, sending birds scattering into the sky, and coaxing flowers open along the forest floor.
Everyone looked up.
Luka whispered, "She’s calling everyone."
Across the forest, Goblins stopped working wherever they stood. Hunters stopped mid-stride. Every single one of them instinctively looked toward the World Tree, something inside them pulling gently in the same direction, telling them all the same thing. Come home.
The Su Tribe arrived first, followed soon after by members of the Mu Tribe, and then dozens more Goblins from across the forest gathered in the clearing. Nobody spoke as they arrived. They simply stopped the moment they saw him.
Voro stood whole, alive, covered in softly glowing leaves that drifted around him like a second skin. Some of the gathered Goblins smiled immediately at the sight. Others began crying without trying to hide it. An elder near the front whispered, "Guardian," his voice trembling.
Children broke away and ran toward their parents, and one by one, every Goblin in the clearing bowed. Nobody had told them to. They simply wanted to.
Voro smiled at all of them. "My family," he said.
Silence held for a long moment before he continued gently.
"I’m not dying," he said. "I’m moving forward. So you can continue moving."
The tribe trembled at his words.
"A Guardian who refuses to leave," he said, smiling faintly, "eventually becomes his children’s cage."
Everyone cried at that. One elder stepped forward, his hands shaking at his sides. He looked at Voro for a long moment, and then he smiled.
"Then," he said, bowing low, "go."
He laughed through his tears. "We’ll become Goblins," he said, "even you have to look up to."
Silence followed his words.
Then Voro laughed, a real laugh this time, warm and unguarded. "I’ll be looking forward to it," he said.
He turned toward Vedas.
"He will be your new Chief," he said.
Vedas stiffened where he stood. One of the Su Tribe members near the front paused before speaking. "He will?" she asked, uncertain.
The Mu Tribe answered before Vedas could. One after another, they began speaking up.
"Don’t worry, Vedas is an amazing chief," one Hunter said. "He helped train us."
"When I wanted to quit..." Another one rubbed her hair. "...Chief Vedas stayed with me."
Another Goblin smiled. "When I failed my first hunt he hunted with me until I succeeded."
The Su Tribe slowly turned to look at Vedas again, and this time their expressions shifted. They no longer saw someone simply replacing Voro. They saw someone trying his best.
A few of the children who had been hiding behind Melo slowly peeked out. One of them stepped forward. "We’re sorry," she said quietly.
Another bowed his head. "We were mean," he admitted.
Vedas smiled gently at them. "It’s okay," he said. "I wasn’t any better."
The children blinked at him. "Really?" one of them asked.
Arthur grinned immediately. "He cried over everything," he said.
Vedas’s face turned red instantly.
Arthur kept going, clearly enjoying himself. "He was scared of almost—"
Mithra clamped a hand over his mouth before he could finish. "Ignore him," she said.
Everyone laughed, even Voro.
One of the children looked between Vedas and Arthur, curiosity winning out over shyness. "Then," she asked, "how did you become Commander?"
Mithra smiled and pointed toward Arthur.
"This one," she said.
Arthur blinked. "Huh?"
"He never stopped believing in Vedas," Mithra continued. "He simply kept walking." She smiled wider. "And eventually, Vedas started walking too."
"I wasn’t born a Goblin Commander. And so I didn’t have the courage that came with it."
Silence.
Vedas smiled. "I borrowed it." He looked toward Arthur. "...Until I found my own. And that helped paved the way for me to become like this."
Silence settled over the clearing for a moment.
Arthur smiled and looked toward every child gathered around them. "And now," he said, "so can you."
"Courage isn’t something you’re born with," he added. "Sometimes it’s something someone lends you."
Arthur knelt down to be closer to the children’s height. "You already have people," he said. "The Mu Tribe. The Su Tribe. Your Chief." He gestured toward the rest of the group. "Us."
Then he smiled.
"And your new Guardian," he said, pointing toward Melo.
Melo blinked. "Kyuu?" she asked.
Her nine tails slowly wrapped around every child standing near her, and they smiled at the warmth of it.
The adults froze at the announcement.
Voro nodded. "I choose her," he said.
Then he shook his head slightly. "No," he corrected himself, smiling. "They chose her."
Luka stepped forward. "She saved Voro," she said. "When the Golden Spring failed to finish healing him, she finished it herself."
The adults looked at Melo in stunned silence.
Mara spoke next, her voice soft. "And she gave our children the courage to smile again," she said.
The Su Tribe trembled at that, and slowly, one by one, every Goblin in the clearing bowed. Not toward Arthur. Not toward Vedas.
Toward Melo.
An elderly Goblin knelt first. "Thank you," he said.
Another followed. "For protecting our Guardian."
Another. "For protecting our children."
Another, smiling through tears. "For protecting our future."
One tiny Goblin looked around at all the adults.
Then awkwardly copied them.
His bow leaned a little too far forward, almost making him fall over.
Melo immediately panicked. "Kyuu?!"
Mithra laughed. "Looks like you’ve got a fan."
Arthur suddenly froze mid-laugh, his vision distorting for a brief moment.
[Species: Fox]
[Dream Guardian Fox]
[Mirage Fox Sage]
[Nightmare Cosmic Moon]
Requirements appeared beneath it.
[Level 15: 1/1]
[Gain the Faith of 50 Beings]
[50 / 50]
[Evolution Paths Discovered: 21 –> 22]
Arthur’s eyes widened. "Melo," he murmured before a smile slowly spread across his face. "You finally found your path."
Then the notification vanished, gone as quickly as it had appeared, as though it had never existed at all.
Mithra suddenly placed a hand over her heart, smiling. "You finally found it," she said.
Melo looked toward her. "Kyuu?" she asked.
Her body began glowing, colors shifting through pink, purple, blue, and silver, swirling together across her fur. Above the clearing, a moon appeared in the sky despite it still being broad daylight.
Dreamlike symbols drifted through the air around her, ancient moons and stars and constellations forming and dissolving in slow, graceful patterns. Flowers bloomed beneath every step she took.
The light grew brighter.
Her first tail split.
Then another.
Gasps spread across the clearing as silver moon patterns slowly spread through every strand of fur. Dream mist drifted gently around her paws.
Ancient symbols appeared one after another before dissolving into tiny stars. Her ears twitched before the crescent mark on her forehead slowly opened into a third eye.
The entire clearing watched in complete silence as the new Guardian was born.
The children stared in complete wonder.
As she continued evolving, every child in the clearing unconsciously drifted off for a single second, their eyes fluttering shut all at once.
Then they woke again, smiling, unaware of what had happened.
It wasn’t because she had forced anything on them. It was because, for that single moment, whatever nightmares lingered in the backs of their minds had simply disappeared.
Light burst outward from her, and when it faded, Melo stood transformed.
Five tails trailed behind her now instead of three, each one marked with silver moon patterns. A third eye had opened on her forehead, bearing the shape of a crescent moon at its center. Her fur had shifted into a cosmic blend of pink and blue, and thin trails of dream mist drifted behind her wherever she moved.
Ancient sigils shaped like moons orbited slowly around her body, and every step she took left behind a faint trail of glowing stardust.
[Fox → Dream Guardian Fox]
[Evolution Paths Analyzed: 9 → 10]
Nobody said anything.
Nobody could.
Melo blinked a few times, tilting her head and then she slowly looked toward Mithra. "Mithra."
The clearing froze.
Mithra grinned. "You can finally talk!"
Melo nodded once. "I can."
The children gasped and even Arthur stared.
Melo looked around at everyone before her gaze settled on Arthur. She frowned. "Crazy person and..." Arthur blinked. Then she added another word. "...Provoker."
Silence.
Arthur looked around. "I understand the crazy part..." He pointed at himself. "But what do you mean by provoker?"
Sun immediately looked away.
Mithra covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh.
Athena suddenly became very interested in the ground beneath her feet.
Vedas coughed into his fist while looking down.
Finally, Melo tilted her head. "You’ll understand later."
Arthur sighed. "...That’s somehow worse."
Voro smiled at the sight. "Beautiful," he said softly. His eyes rested on Melo for a long moment. "My successor."
Melo blinked. "Yeah?"
He laughed quietly.
"Take good care of them."
Melo looked toward the children gathered around her. Then back toward Voro and her ears lifted. She gave one small, determined nod. "Of course."
Voro’s smile widened. "Thank you."
He then suddenly looked toward Arthur. "You’ll meet him one day."
Arthur blinked. "Who?"
Voro smiled. "The King."
Arthur stared.
Voro chuckled. "Don’t keep him waiting."
Before Arthur could ask another question. Voro and Loyo began to dissolve into golden light, their forms softening at the edges and drifting apart like smoke caught in a warm breeze.
There was no sadness in it.
Only peace.
The children smiled through their tears as they watched.
Voro raised one hand toward them. "Until next time," he said.
The light drifted toward Arthur, flowing directly into the King’s Mark on his hand. The Mark shifted through shapes as it absorbed the light, a hammer, then a spear, and finally settled into place. A glowing dome of light appeared beside him.
[King’s Mark Updated]
[Stored Guardian Spirits: 2 / 3]
[Guardian Skills Available: 2]
Arthur whispered without thinking. "Guardian Shield," he said.
Golden light erupted around him, and behind him, Voro’s form appeared once more, standing tall and solid, Loyo at his side. A massive golden dome expanded outward, spreading over the entire clearing, covering everyone gathered there.
The Su Tribe froze in place.
One child gasped. "Guardian?" she said.
One little Goblin cautiously walked forward and she reached out and touched the glowing barrier.
Her eyes widened. "It’s warm."
Another child placed both hands against it and he smiled through fresh tears. "Just like Guardian Voro."
More children gathered around the shield, gently touching it with quiet wonder.
Another smiled through fresh tears. "He’s," she said, "he’s still protecting us."
Voro’s spirit smiled one final time before fading gently into the shield surrounding them all.
Arthur looked down at the King’s Mark, then out at the tribe gathered around him.
He smiled. "Looks like," he said, "he found one more way to protect everyone."
The Su Tribe laughed and cried at the same time, the sound overlapping across the clearing. Luka wiped at her eyes. Raku smiled quietly to himself. Mara closed her notebook and held it against her chest. Vedas looked toward the children still gathered around Melo, watching them reach up to touch her new tails with wide, delighted eyes.
Arthur turned toward the forest entrance.
"Come on," he said, smiling.
"It’s time to move forward."
Everyone followed him toward the forest path. Behind them, the clearing slowly grew quiet once more. High above the towering tree, one tiny golden leaf appeared on one of its oldest branches.
It shimmered softly in the afternoon light. Then settled peacefully among the others. The forest had accepted its new Guardian.
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