Chapter 111 : Chapter 111

Chapter 111 : Audience (6)

A stone statue of a knight in black armor.

It was a statue reaching 2 meters in height, with a long beard intricately carved.

The statue, which looked as if it were alive, was the guardian of the cave.

…And inside that guardian’s body was the insignia of a god.

“It’s definitely watching us.”

The guardian’s eyes rolled back and forth, following the movements of myself, Bea and Everchen.

The guardian had a dignified impression, but its eyes, rolling around in a stone-still face, made it utterly bizarre.

I gauged the length of the greatsword the guardian had planted in the ground.

The area within the sword’s reach from where it stood was the guardian’s territory.

The moment we entered that territory, the guardian would attack us.

Even without my explanation, Bea naturally sensed the guardian’s duty.

“It seems it will attack if we go inside.”

“It seems so.”

Everchen nodded in agreement, but asked with a puzzled look,

“But doesn't that statue look like it’s protecting something?”

“It does look that way.”

Everchen nodded in agreement.

“What is it protecting?

I don’t see anything behind the statue.”

As Everchen said, there was only an empty cave behind the statue.

However, since the statue was in a posture of protecting something with its sword, it was a question worth asking.

‘Everchen is right. What is it protecting? I know how to defeat the guardian, but I’ve never thought about the identity of what it’s protecting.’

In the game, there was no need to think about it.

After defeating the guardian, I was busy just taking the insignia and leaving.

“I don’t know about that. Let’s first discuss how to deal with the statue if it attacks us.”

For now, I steered the conversation to the most important thing, the method of defeating the guardian.

I remembered the method precisely.

The guardian would immediately start attacking if someone entered its radius.

However, the guardian’s level changed according to the number of people who entered the radius.

So, myself, Bea and Everchen.

Three people was the optimal number for the attack.

From four people onwards, the difficulty increased exponentially.

‘Unless an exceptionally strong person like Itilus helps, there’s no need for more people.’

This was the reason why I had politely refused the several other Paladins who offered to help us after I had decided to go with Everchen.

The help of a moderately skilled Paladin would only be a hindrance.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a question. Lord Everchen, what rank are you?”

“I am Sixth-Rank.”

It was as I had expected.

I had crossed swords with Everchen before, but we hadn't poured everything into it at that time.

Of course, emotions were high, but we fought strictly without using Aura or divine power.

Nevertheless, I could get a glimpse of Everchen’s level.

His sword was direct and upright.

Everchen’s usual aura was also similar to this.

He had already risen to the Sixth-Rank a long time ago and was living according to his nature.

On the other hand, I had only just reached the Sixth-Rank after gaining enlightenment in a duel with Raldetun.

My Mana had changed to match my nature, but my body and all my energy had not yet completely transformed.

Everchen remained silent without asking my rank in return.

But I also revealed my rank.

“I am also Sixth-Rank.”

“I see.”

Even when I told him, he just nodded without any particular reaction.

That calmness was much more trustworthy.

Just then, Bea suddenly asked,

“By human rank standards, what rank would I be considered?”

“Hmm… Lady Bea, who can shoot Light Arrows, could be said to be at the level of the Seventh-Rank.”

“Oh, am I the best?”

Bea put on a smug expression.

Two at the Sixth-Rank and one at the beginning of the Seventh-Rank.

With these three, we could surely destroy the guardian.

“First, how about we gather all our strength from the beginning and pour out our attacks when we fight the statue?”

“Since we have no information, that seems best.”

Bea immediately agreed with me.

Although I had no way to explain it, I knew the guardian's attack pattern well.

Its pattern itself was simple.

Rather than having outstanding attack power, its defensive ability was exceptional.

We just needed to crush the guardian, who fought while blocking firmly with its shield, in one go.

The problem was time.

The guardian, who had been on a defensive-only stance, would shoot a laser from its eyes after the 7-minute time limit.

It was a blow equivalent to an instant kill.

If hit, it would be impossible to block with ordinary defense.

So, I had to pour out all my attacks before the 7 minutes were up, so I guided the strategy towards a quick victory.

Everchen, who had heard our plan, said with a determined voice,

“I am more specialized in defense than attack. While I block the attacks coming at you with my shield, you can pour out your attacks with minimal interference.”

Everchen seemed to be a tank-and-dealer type of Paladin.

We reviewed the plan and nodded.

Then we took a step forward.

The statue’s eyeballs rolled to follow our movements.

“I will enter first.”

Everchen raised his shield and entered the area in one go.

Soon, the guardian also began to move with a creak.

Stone debris trickled from its joints.

But its movements were agile.

The huge guardian swung its greatsword, which was as large as its body.

Kwang!

Everchen firmly blocked the guardian’s attack with his shield.

I used [Rush] to charge at the guardian in an instant.

At the same time, Termination unfolded.

And my sword plunged into the opening of the guardian who had made a large move.

‘…What is this?’

Something strange happened.

It was as if the Branch of the World Tree, instead of piercing the guardian’s neck, had slipped.

I had definitely gripped the hilt tightly and thrust the sword, but the attack did not hit.

It wasn't that the guardian had deflected my sword.

I hadn't given it an opening to do so.

Soon after, Bea shot a Light Arrow.

But Bea’s Light Arrow also scattered as soon as it reached the guardian.

“Get out of the way!”

Everchen also sensed the anomaly.

After only two attacks, Everchen discovered that our attacks were not working on the guardian and changed his position.

Deciding to attack rather than defend, he threw his shield at the guardian with all his might.

Kwak!

Fortunately, Everchen’s shield did not slip.

Although the guardian blocked it with its own shield, the attack had clearly landed, unlike ours.

As if to prove this, stone powder fell off.

In the meantime, Bea shot another Light Arrow.

But nothing changed.

The arrow, which was flying fast enough to pierce through space, scattered as soon as it reached the guardian instead of sticking.

‘Maron, it’s Maron’s influence.’

My sword was the Branch of the World Tree.

The Light Arrow Bea used was an arrow assisted by the World Tree’s Spirit.

After making a quick judgment, I shouted to Bea, “Lady Bea! Don’t imbue it with your energy, just shoot the arrow!”

Bea immediately took an arrow from the quiver on her back and knocked it.

And she released the tightly drawn string.

Shwoong—!

With a whoosh, the arrow embedded itself in the guardian’s shoulder.

It wasn't as powerful as the Light Arrow, but it was a sufficiently powerful arrow.

I immediately threw away the Branch of the World Tree.

And I rushed at the guardian with my bare hands.

Since my judgment was quick, there was still time.

Bare-handed combat was not my specialty, but I had to do it nonetheless.

Fortunately, the Adjak family had put their children through various kinds of training from a young age.

Besides, I had seen how Keldric used his fists quite a lot.

I wouldn't be able to imitate Keldric’s fists in an instant.

Keldric’s fists were not so shallow as to be imitated in a moment.

But I had Tunes.

I wrapped my hands in [Black Flame].

And I added [Gravity Manipulation].

Weight was added to the black flames.

Kwang!

The guardian hurriedly raised its shield, but the fist, filled with gravity, struck its shield.

The black flames surged and swallowed the guardian.

Even though it was a stone statue that shouldn't have caught fire, [Black Flame] did its job.

The guardian’s sturdy shield, engulfed in the black and hot flames, began to melt.

Kwak! Whack! Kwang!

I threw a series of punches.

Overlapping two Tunes was no big deal now.

The guardian’s greatsword, which tried to counterattack me, was kicked away by Everchen.

I focused only on attacking, busy breaking and burning the guardian.

And Everchen was also fighting more aggressively than he had initially promised.

Everchen’s sword, filled with divine power, slashed at the guardian’s arms and legs.

Bea’s arrows also rained down at the right moments.

The arrows, which pierced and dug into the stone, created openings for me and Everchen to move freely.

However, the guardian was not to be trifled with.

Its shield was already broken and parts of its body were shattered, but the statue’s spirit remained firm.

It stood with its feet planted firmly on the ground, taking the attacks that rained down on it and swinging its greatsword.

After that, there was no conversation.

Only the sound of attacks pouring down on the guardian echoed.

And so, time continued to flow.

A red light began to glow in the guardian’s eye sockets.

A sign that it was about to shoot a laser.

It looked as if the stone was bleeding, which was creepy.

But if I couldn’t stop it now, it wouldn't just be creepy.

Just in case, I had prepared the Intangible Armor.

I hoped I wouldn't have to use it.

Everchen and Bea also noticed the anomaly.

The attacks they poured out became fiercer.

Even without knowing the circumstances, they must have had a bad feeling that something bad was about to happen.

But this wouldn’t be enough.

I shouted at Everchen.

“Lord Everchen! The sword!”

Everchen threw his sword to me, then quickly rolled on the ground and picked up his fallen shield.

Then he climbed onto the guardian’s back and began to strike it with the sharp edge of his shield.

Everchen’s sword was completely different from mine.

The thickness of the hilt, the length of the blade, nothing was familiar.

But it seemed I had to hold a sword.

I infused Mana into Everchen’s sword.

My Mana soon turned into Aura.

I added [Black Flame] on top of the Aura and added weight to the tip of the sword with [Gravity Manipulation].

And I approached the almost-destroyed guardian.

Since Everchen and Bea were pouring out attacks, the guardian couldn’t pay attention to me standing in front of it.

In that state, I thrust the sword towards the guardian’s neck.

Krrrrk—

The tip of the sword pierced the guardian’s neck.

The red-hot glow in its eyes lost its light.

Soon, the guardian collapsed with a rumble.

The living stone knight was now completely disintegrated.

Everchen, Bea and I panted for breath.

We had poured out all the strength we had, doing our best in a situation where we couldn't use our main abilities.

“…Where is the insignia in this place?”

But Everchen had not forgotten the purpose of coming here for a single moment.

“There it is.”

I pointed to the center of the broken guardian’s body.

There, a single, brilliantly shining leaf could be seen.

An immense amount of divine power was emanating from that leaf.

The divine power emanating from the Aquiris Temple had seemed immense, but the divine power flowing from the leaf was incomparably stronger.

The leaf held by the guardian was the insignia of the God of Peace.

I pulled out the insignia embedded in the statue.

And then, a very strong divine power flowed from the insignia.

…Huh?

Soon, I felt the world around me changing.

‘Where am I.’

In front of me, a man in white clothes was kneeling.

But for some reason, I could recognize the man’s identity.

“Could it be… the God of Peace?”

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