Chapter 27: The Ancient Guardian
—Meow.
The sound echoed throughout the chamber.
Small.
Simple.
And yet it sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
The Fat King sat in front of the Ancient Guardian.
His eyes were no longer closed.
He was watching.
Judging.
And clearly, he was not impressed.
Kael swallowed.
He had seen that look before.
It never ended well for the target.
The Guardian took another step.
The giant roots creaked under its weight.
Magical pressure filled the air.
Seraphine still stood next to Kael.
Blood trickling slowly down her arm.
The cat looked at her again.
Then at the Guardian.
Then looked away with obvious disdain.
As if the monster wasn’t even worth his attention.
Kael decided to seize the opportunity.
"Fat King."
"Meow."
"We need help."
"Meow."
"Fish for a week."
The cat yawned.
"Two weeks."
Nothing.
"Three weeks."
Nothing.
"One month."
The cat started cleaning a paw.
Kael felt like crying.
"What else do you want?"
The cat flicked an ear.
Kael thought.
He looked at Seraphine.
Looked at the cat.
And remembered something.
"I’ll stop Seraphine from hugging you."
Both ears shot up immediately.
Silence.
Absolute.
Seraphine froze.
Her expression remained the same.
But somehow, everyone felt the emotional devastation.
Aurelion looked away.
"That was cruel."
"It was necessary."
Darius nodded.
"It was a tactical move."
"Thanks."
"I wasn’t backing you up."
"I know."
The Fat King finally stood up.
The crowd of students watched intently.
The cat stretched one paw.
Then the other.
Then arched his back.
And finally sat back down.
Kael almost fainted.
"Don’t sit down again!"
"Meow."
"We have a deal!"
"Meow."
"You agreed!"
"Meow."
"That was definitely a yes."
The Guardian gave them no more time.
Its enormous arm descended.
BOOOOOOM.
The platform exploded.
Everyone jumped in different directions.
Aurelion reacted first.
"Mirage!"
The creature of light appeared.
It split into five copies.
Then ten.
Then twenty.
The illusions surrounded the Guardian from every angle.
For the first time, the monster hesitated.
Just a fraction of a second.
But it was enough.
"Now!"
Seraphine raised both hands.
Dozens of ice spears erupted from the ground.
This time, they didn’t aim for the body.
They aimed for the joints.
CRASH.
CRASH.
CRASH.
Ice wrapped around one leg.
Then an arm.
The Guardian’s mobility decreased.
Darius smiled.
"My turn."
His summon charged forward.
A massive armored rhino covered in runes.
The impact shook the entire hall.
BOOOOM.
A crack appeared in the Guardian’s shell.
Small.
But visible.
Everyone saw it.
Everyone smiled.
Because it was the first time they had damaged it.
"It’s working!"
"We can break it!"
"Again!"
The group’s morale shot up instantly.
Kael watched everything.
Thinking.
Analyzing.
For the first time, he wasn’t relying solely on the cat.
And he realized something.
Everyone had a role.
Aurelion created openings.
Seraphine immobilized.
Darius broke defenses.
So then...
What did he do?
The Guardian answered the question.
It struck the ground.
A shockwave rippled through the entire chamber.
The students lost their balance.
Several summons vanished.
Others were sent flying.
Chaos.
Pure chaos.
And Kael understood.
"Don’t attack separately!"
Everyone turned to him.
"What?"
"The cracks!"
"Always hit where it’s already broken!"
Aurelion looked at the armor.
"He’s right."
"The fractures connect."
Seraphine nodded.
"It’s a defensive structure."
Darius frowned.
"And that means?"
"That we’ve been hitting different spots."
"Like idiots."
"Ah."
"Yeah."
That made sense.
Kael pointed at one crack.
"Everyone there."
"All of it."
"No exceptions."
The group agreed.
Because honestly, no one had a better idea.
The second assault began.
The Mirage created illusions.
Seraphine froze movements.
Darius charged.
The other students supported.
Attack after attack.
Impact after impact.
All the pressure concentrated on a single area.
And finally...
CRAAAAACK.
The Guardian’s armor broke.
A massive fragment crashed to the ground.
The crowd celebrated.
The monster roared.
For the first time.
A horrible sound.
Ancient.
Full of fury.
And then it stopped ignoring them.
Now it was annoyed.
"That doesn’t look good."
"Confirmed."
"Definitely confirmed."
The Guardian threw a punch.
Aurelion dodged.
Another.
Seraphine partially blocked.
Another.
Darius went flying.
"I’m okay!"
"Nobody asked!"
"How rude!"
The battle became frantic.
It was no longer a stationary enemy.
Now it was furious.
And that made it far more dangerous.
Kael ran between destroyed roots.
Searching for an opening.
Searching for something.
Anything.
And then he saw the cat.
Still watching.
Like a disappointed supervisor.
"Are you going to help?"
"Meow."
"That doesn’t answer anything!"
The cat flicked his tail.
Nothing more.
Kael sighed.
"Unbelievable."
"The strongest creature I know is also the most useless."
The Guardian raised both hands.
A massive buildup of energy appeared above him.
Aurelion paled.
"That’s definitely bad."
Seraphine felt it too.
"Very bad."
Darius pointed at the sphere.
"What does it do?"
"I don’t want to find out."
Reasonable answer.
The energy kept growing.
More.
And more.
And more.
Until even the roots began to disintegrate.
Kael watched.
Thought.
And made a decision.
"Everyone back!"
He ran forward.
Straight toward the Guardian.
"KAEL!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
"Probably!"
The monster saw him approaching.
Perfect.
That was exactly what he wanted.
Kael picked up a stone.
He threw it.
The stone hit the main crack.
Tock.
Nothing impressive.
Except that all the previous attacks had already weakened the structure.
The crack spread.
A little.
Then more.
Then a lot more.
The Guardian realized too late.
"NOW!"
Aurelion reacted first.
The Mirage struck.
Seraphine froze.
Darius rammed.
The other students followed.
All the accumulated force hit the same spot.
CRAAAAAAAAAASH.
The armor exploded.
Thousands of fragments shot outward.
The core was exposed.
A golden sphere suspended in the center of the chest.
Silence.
Everyone saw it.
Everyone understood.
That was the weak point.
"DON’T LET IT RECOVER!"
The Guardian roared.
Tried to protect the core.
Too late.
Aurelion smiled.
"Nice strategy."
"Thanks."
"It’s still insane."
"Thanks as well."
The final blow came seconds later.
It wasn’t the cat’s doing.
It wasn’t any single person’s doing.
It was everyone.
Seraphine’s spears.
Darius’s charge.
The Mirage.
The other students.
And Kael directing the attack.
The core exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
A golden blast filled the chamber.
The Guardian went still.
The lights in its eyes flickered.
Once.
Twice.
And went out.
The colossus fell.
Slowly.
Like a collapsing mountain.
The impact shook the entire dungeon.
Then...
Silence.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
They just breathed.
Because they were still alive.
And that was already enough.
Darius was the first to break the silence.
"We almost died."
"Yeah."
"It was amazing."
"You have issues."
"Many."
Aurelion started laughing.
Then Kael.
Then several students.
Even Seraphine smiled slightly.
Just a little.
But it happened.
And that was rare.
Very rare.
The Fat King watched the scene.
Then casually walked to a corner.
Lay down.
And went back to sleep.
As if nothing had happened.
Kael pointed.
"See?"
"That’s what I have to put up with."
"Honestly, I pity you."
"Thanks."
"Don’t get used to it."
After a few minutes, they began exploring the hall.
Now that the danger was gone.
Behind the altar, they found a hidden chamber.
Small.
Ancient.
Full of chests.
The reward.
The students celebrated again.
There were coins.
Magic crystals.
Artifacts.
Relics.
All kinds of treasures.
And then Kael saw something strange.
Very strange.
On a solitary pedestal.
Far from the rest.
As if it had been deliberately placed there.
There was an object.
Small.
Simple.
Ridiculously normal.
A wooden stick.
Nothing more.
Kael blinked.
"Is that...?"
Aurelion approached.
"Looks like junk."
Darius nodded.
"Ancient junk."
"Which is usually valuable."
Seraphine examined the object.
"It’s very old."
"How old?"
"Very."
"Excellent time reference."
"You’re welcome."
Kael picked up the stick.
It was light.
Warm.
Oddly comfortable.
As if it belonged in his hand.
And that was weird.
Very weird.
Because sticks normally didn’t do that.
"This is definitely suspicious."
"Extremely."
"Completely."
But nothing happened.
No explosion.
No voice.
No strange window.
Nothing.
So he ended up putting it away.
Probably to sell later.
Because it was clearly a useless relic.
Far away from them.
Without anyone noticing.
The stick emitted a faint glow.
Just an instant.
So brief it seemed like an illusion.
Kael didn’t see it.
No one saw it.
And that was probably worse.
Because something told him he had just made a huge mistake.
