Chapter 497: Guardian at the Last Gate

The Last City gate rose beyond the cleared road, its white upper stones vanishing into clouds above the expedition.

Loccy guided the covered Guardian corpse toward the central threshold while patrol riders watched from both sides.

Refugees stayed behind the cart without crowding its wheels as Hajin approached with Juna, Eirwen, Rumi, plus Nari.

Ferra kept three external relay gauges inside her case, while no heart frequency remained sampled beneath Hajin’s tattoo.

[External Relay Signals: Three]

[Frequency Held by Hajin: None]

Loccy felt the frame pull toward the gate before saying, "The corpse gains weight whenever those riders look away."

Hajin studied the covered chest before answering, "Surviving hostile cores are gathering inside it for one final attempt at the gate."

Aria confirmed the corrupted body while preserving the earlier living custodian as a separate person at the platform shelter.

[Last City Gate Reached]

[Corrupted Guardian Corpse: Hostile Cores Consolidating]

[Living Platform Custodian: Separate, Stable]

The cart’s lower rail split as six black cores gathered beneath the dead Guardian’s ribs.

Loccy braced both hands against the rising corpse before saying, "It wants to stand with refugees behind my back."

Hajin opened one Ring while answering, "Keep its chest facing the gate, then let every core expose its chosen route."

The corpse lengthened beneath its covering while patrol riders raised weapons in one synchronized movement.

Nari opened a narrow civilian route around that line, preserving ordinary movement without transporting anyone against their choice.

Mera guided the first families through while Toven gathered children beside a stone marker carrying the gate symbol.

The corpse tore through its cloth, revealing fused armor around six black cores where a living heart should have been.

Loccy pushed its chest from the refugee route while the hostile weight dragged both boots across the stones.

Hajin opened a second Ring, slowing the body’s pressure until each core became visible through Divine Eye.

The corpse struck locked air as one upper core split into three fragments rushing toward the gate seam.

He retrieved the Legendary Chain into his left hand, then cast its loose links across those fragments.

The links caught all three pieces before they touched the refusal engine hidden behind the white wall.

Five remaining cores pulled the body forward, dragging Loccy another pace while her four Wings stayed planted.

She forced one knee down before saying, "The legs walk toward the gate without waiting for the chest."

Hajin opened a third Ring, then placed Phase Lock across the corpse’s lower half without touching the city.

The Guardian stopped at the threshold while all six core groups turned toward one another inside its ribs.

Ferra watched her external gauges before reporting, "They joined one command, but none of those signals entered Hajin’s body."

The joined order reached toward the gate, using dead armor as a physical bridge into the refusal engine.

Hajin kept the Chain in his left hand before retrieving the demonic Growth blade into his right.

[Legendary Chain: Left Hand]

[Demonic Growth Blade: Right Hand]

[Active Rings: Three]

Eirwen led families through Nari’s route while twelve silver Shards circled her forearms.

Green oath-light traveled from those Shards into safe stones, marking the path with silver-green points.

Juna remained beside the final cart with exactly four folded Wings while Vella treated her shoulder wound from the prior fight.

Rumi guarded the patrol line before saying, "Half of these riders follow the route, while the others wait for permission to move."

Nari closed each pursuit path behind the families, keeping every person’s chosen walking direction separate from hostile command.

The Guardian forced one arm through Phase Lock, opening cracks along Hajin’s tattoo circuit under the strain.

He raised a fourth Ring around the first three, bending air between the corpse plus the gate.

The six cores resisted as one order until his Chain pulled their first fragments away from the central seam.

Loccy shoved the body sideways before saying, "Its chest is clear, but I can hold this angle for one strike."

Hajin stepped into that space while answering, "Keep every limb away from the road, then I cut the command itself."

The demonic blade entered fused armor, exposing a dark lattice that joined all six hostile cores.

One dead arm swung toward the refugees, but Loccy caught its wrist against her left shoulder.

The impact opened one splint around her forearm, leaving the limb functional while bruising spread beneath it.

She gritted her teeth before saying, "The arm stays here, so finish the lattice before my grip fails."

Hajin drew his right-hand blade through one black junction while Chain tension held the core fragments apart.

Regeneration poured toward the cut, but the demonic edge consumed it before dead armor could rebuild.

The corpse’s empty helm turned toward Mera while another command tried assigning refugees as replacement defenders.

Didi froze that sentence from behind the last cart, preventing its royal grammar from entering any living route.

Hajin moved the blade deeper while each Ring held one layer of physical pressure rather than a heart frequency.

The first Ring stabilized the upper core route while the second fixed the lower body against the threshold.

His third Ring held the joined command seam, plus the fourth supported Chain tension around all six points.

No fifth or sixth Ring opened during the sequence, preserving enough circulation for the final cut.

Ferra watched the gate mechanism before warning, "The refusal engine is opening, so it may recognize these cores as city defenders."

Eirwen extended power from her twelve Shards along the safe stones, turning their silver-green oath into a visible civilian boundary.

Hajin turned the demonic blade within the lattice as every black core cracked through the same exposed command.

The corpse collapsed inward while fused armor fell around an empty mineral frame beneath Loccy’s hands.

Six cores became dull stones inside the Chain after their regeneration plus gate access had both failed.

Loccy released the dead body, then stepped backward while keeping its remains outside the refugee road.

Aria waited for every hostile signal to vanish before reconciling the single Guardian kill.

[Guardian Corruption Severed]

[Hostile Cores Isolated: Six]

[Refusal Engine Access Denied]

[EXP Gained: 30,000,000]

[Current EXP: 310,000,000 / 1,000,000,000]

Hajin closed four Rings, stored the demonic blade from his right hand, then returned the Chain from his left.

Ferra checked her three external gauges while confirming none had transferred into his nervous system during the fight.

[Active Rings: Zero]

[Frequency Held by Hajin: None]

[External Relay Signals: Three]

Vella moved from Juna to Loccy, repairing the opened splint without erasing the bruise beneath it.

Eirwen withdrew her power from the safe stones as the twelve Shards faded around her forearms.

The gate’s central seam opened from the road toward the clouded wall while warm light spread across the threshold.

That light avoided the ruined corpse as patrol riders lowered weapons in matching movements.

Mera stopped beside Hajin before saying, "People are watching beyond the wall, but nobody has stepped forward alone."

He kept both hands empty while replying, "They may be waiting for the city to choose their greeting."

Thousands of citizens appeared beyond the opening in curved streets leading toward one central square.

One voice rose from the crowd before saying, "Welcome to the Last City, guests of the Warden Council."

Every visible citizen repeated the exact sentence with the same pause, volume, plus unbroken tone.

Loccy looked past the gate before murmuring, "They welcomed us together, but I can’t hear one person inside it."

Hajin glanced toward Eirwen’s separate silver Shards, Juna’s four Wings, plus Ferra’s three external gauges.

Each power retained its owner while the city beyond them made thousands of mouths sound like one instrument.

He faced the opening before saying, "We enter with every distinction intact, then ask who chose those words."

The refugees crossed beneath the white wall in separate groups while Nari kept their chosen routes available.

Citizens made room without visible signals as Eirwen marked safe stones through green oath-light from her twelve Shards.

Hajin kept his Chain stored while the last cart crossed beside the ruined hostile Guardian.

The Last City gate closed behind them as one shared welcome continued through thousands of living voices.