Chapter 93: Guardian

Aster stood motionless in front of the inscription. His gaze remained fixed on the figure of the dragon carved into the wall, while Noir waited patiently for an answer.

There was something strange about his silence; after all, Aster always had a story, a tidbit of information, or an ambiguous answer for almost any question.

"Well? I asked you what dragons have to do with them."

Aster finally looked away from the inscription and let out a sigh. "I don’t know."

Noir blinked, surprised by the answer.

"You don’t know?"

"No. I’ve seen depictions of dragons in ancient ruins before. Some are even older than this place, but I’ve never found a clear explanation of what connection they had to the gods."

Aster paused briefly before continuing.

"Dragons appear in so many ancient stories. In some, they were guardians; in others, creatures that served the gods. Some cultures even considered them gods in their own right. But I never found an answer I could consider true."

Noir looked at him suspiciously. "Not even after living for so long?"

Aster let out a little laugh. "Especially after living for so long. Because the longer you live, the more things you discover you don’t know."

Noir frowned. That response was more frustrating than he had expected. He had thought that, after everything Aster had told him about the dragons’ past, he would finally get an answer, but it seemed that mystery would have to wait.

"So you don’t know anything about them either."

"Not anything I can state as a fact."

Aster slowly ran his fingers over the dragon figurine. "I only have fragments—stories, depictions, and accounts that contradict one another. I wouldn’t be able to tell you which one is true."

Noir looked at the inscription again. The carved dragon had its wings spread, and its head turned toward the four statues. It didn’t seem random, but there wasn’t enough information to understand what it meant.

"Great. For a moment there, I thought we’d finally find an answer."

"Maybe we will," Aster replied with a slight smile.

"I hope so."

Just then, the golden sphere floated slowly over to Noir.

The young dragon glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and frowned. The sphere kept spinning, but its movements were different from usual.

"Again? Do you know what’s going on, too?"

The sphere didn’t answer. It simply kept spinning while the four statues stood motionless in front of it.

Noir was about to look away when one of the golden particles broke away from the sphere and floated slowly toward the statue of Varkhan. The tiny light touched the god’s stone chest, but nothing happened. Another particle did the same to Morzak, and then a third reached Avaros.

Nothing.

Finally, one last particle headed toward Melyra.

As soon as it touched his, the ground began to shake.

Noir’s eyes widened. His Draconic Sense kicked into full gear as a deep vibration rippled through the chamber. The four statues began to shake, and small fragments of stone fell to the floor.

"What’s going on?"

A deep sound echoed through the mausoleum. It didn’t come from the walls or the ceiling. It came from beneath them.

GRRRRRRRR...!

Uki immediately began to growl, baring his teeth, while the little squirrel stood up and stopped wagging its enormous blue tail. Arlene stepped back and held the little demon princess, who hid behind her.

Noir didn’t answer. He had sensed something.

Mana.

An absurd amount of mana.

The energy he had sensed beneath the Silent Stones hadn’t simply remained there. Now it was concentrated in a single point, and the more he felt it, the clearer it became that this wasn’t just a source of energy.

It was a presence.

Something alive.

Something that had just awakened.

The four statues began to glow all at once. A wave of energy swept through the chamber, and Noir dug his claws into the floor to keep from being thrown backward.

Aster looked up.

"That shouldn’t be happening."

Noir glanced at him quickly. "Weren’t you the one who said following the squirrel was a good idea?"

Aster didn’t have time to answer.

BOOOOOOM!

The floor exploded.

A massive column of stone surged up from the depths of the mausoleum as a powerful wave of energy swept through the chamber. The statues shook violently, and pieces of the ceiling began to fall.

"Everyone, fall back!"

Noir’s voice barely cut through the roar. Arlene scooped up the demon princess and began to retreat, while Uki stayed close behind them.

Then it appeared.

First, two enormous claws emerged from the gaping hole in the ground. Next came four legs covered in dark plates, and finally, a gigantic head that looked as if it had been carved from stone. A monstrous body slowly rose from the depths until it filled most of the chamber.

It was a four-legged creature covered in natural black stone armor. Several bluish lines ran along its body as if they were veins filled with mana. Two enormous horns curving backward protruded from its head, and six glowing eyes slowly opened before fixing on the intruders.

The air grew heavy.

Noir felt his legs begin to tremble. It wasn’t fear. His body was reacting to the creature’s presence.

It was too powerful. Far more powerful than any monster he had faced up to that point.

The creature took a step.

BOOM!

A crack appeared under one of its legs.

Noir swallowed hard.

"Okay... this definitely wasn’t part of my plan."

Aster watched the creature with a serious expression.

"It’s a guardian."

Noir turned his head toward him. "How do you know?"

Aster pointed at the four statues.

"It wasn’t asleep."

Noir frowned.

"What?"

"It was waiting."

Before Noir could ask anything else, the creature raised its head and let out a roar that shook the entire mausoleum.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOAR!

Blue flames began to gather around its mouth.

Noir opened his eyes.

"Everyone, fall back!"

The creature fired.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A burst of energy swept through the chamber. Noir leaped to the side, and the attack struck a wall, shattering a huge section of stone and sending fragments flying in all directions.

He fell to the ground and rolled several meters before regaining his balance. The creature turned back toward them.

Then Noir looked at it more closely. It wasn’t attacking out of hunger, nor did it seem interested in chasing them... It was simply reacting to them, as if its sole purpose were to prevent anyone from going any further.

Noir looked toward the entrance. Then he looked at Arlene, the little princess, and Uki. Finally, he turned his gaze back to Aster.

The monster roared again and advanced toward them. The young dragon took a few steps back as he assessed the situation.

He had faced enormous creatures before, but this was different. His entire body was screaming at him not to try to fight that thing. Even his Draconic Senses were having trouble gauging the amount of mana it contained.

Noir looked toward the entrance.

Then he looked at Arlene, who was keeping the demon princess close to her, and at Uki, who couldn’t take his eyes off the guardian.

They needed to get out.

The problem was that the creature was blocking their path.

Noir looked back at Aster. The immortal was covered in dust and looked quite annoyed. Then an idea popped into his head. It wasn’t a good plan. In fact, it was probably a terrible plan, but it was the only one he had.

"Aster."

"What?"

"Can you survive if that thing attacks you?"

Aster raised an eyebrow.

"You’ve already seen what I’m capable of withstanding."

"Then yes."

"Noir, why do I feel like I shouldn’t have answered that?"

The young dragon smiled slightly.

"Because you probably shouldn’t have."

Aster opened his eyes.

"No."

"No what?"

"Whatever you’re thinking, no."

The guardian roared again.

ROOOOOOOAR!

A powerful shockwave rippled through the chamber.

Noir didn’t take his eyes off Aster.

"You said yourself that you’re immortal."

"That doesn’t mean I like being killed."

"But you can come back."

"Yes."

"We can’t."

Aster remained silent.

Noir discreetly pointed toward the entrance.

"If we keep him busy for a few seconds, Arlene and the others can get out."

Aster understood immediately.

"You want to use me as a distraction."

"Exactly."

"No."

"Come on."

"Noir."

"You just have to survive."

Aster stared at him for a few seconds and finally sighed.

"I can’t believe I’m going to go along with this."

Noir smiled.

"I knew I could count on you."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

The guardian raised one of its enormous paws.

Noir waited.

The creature turned its six eyes toward Aster.

And then it attacked.

Aster darted to the side to dodge the claw, but Noir took advantage of the movement to lunge at him and shove him straight into the center of the chamber.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Distract him!"

"You could have warned me!"

"I’m warning you now."

The guardian roared and fixed his gaze on Aster.

Noir didn’t waste a second.

"Now!"

Arlene began running toward the entrance with the demon princess in her arms. Uki followed him immediately, while the little squirrel hopped along behind them.

Aster barely had time to raise his mana-covered hand before the guardian lunged at him again.

BOOOOOOM!

The explosion shook the entire chamber.

Noir ran after the others.

For a moment, he looked back.

Aster had vanished beneath a cloud of dust and rocks.

Noir grimaced.

"I hope he really is immortal."

And he kept running.

Arlene crossed the threshold first. Noir followed her, alongside Uki and the demon princess, while the golden sphere floated swiftly beside them.

They had barely managed to get a few meters away when an even louder crash shook the mausoleum.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion erupted from the entrance, and a powerful shock wave swept across the clearing.

Noir barely had time to take cover before he, Arlene, and the others were thrown backward.

The golden sphere spun violently through the air as the Silent Stones trembled around it.

Noir fell to the ground and slowly raised his head. He looked toward the mausoleum. He couldn’t see Aster; he brushed the dust off his scales and said nonchalantly:

"...Well. That went better than expected."