Chapter 161: The Guardian’s Trial.

『"Riddle me this."』

The branches stretched so far beyond the trunk that they resembled an empty city suspended among the clouds.

They passed through the clouds, supporting countless blossoms whose petals drifted lazily through the air like pink snow.

Leaves larger than small buildings rustled softly overhead, casting gentle shadows across the smooth bark beneath their feet.

As for the peaches, they were everywhere.

Some hung low enough to touch. Others rested higher among the branches, each glowing with warm golden light beneath its skin.

Sophia let out a quiet laugh before clapping once. "Okay." She shook her hands. "Let’s take as much as we can carry."

Ethan on the other hand remained alert. His eyes never left the Orchard around them. "It doesn’t feel right."

She looked back at him. "What doesn’t?"

"The peaches."

She frowned. "What about them?"

"They’re unguarded."

Sophia looked around. There were no creatures, divine guardians, or traps. Whatever had caused the rumbling that shook the Orchard and scattered the birds—it wasn’t here.

"...Maybe whatever that was here sensed the godly aura coming off of us and bailed?" Sophia proposed, but Ethan didn’t answer. His instincts refused to settle.

Sophia sighed dramatically. "You know what your problem is?" He glanced at her. "You expect every important mission to end with somebody trying to kill us."

"...Hasn’t that been our experience so far?" Ethan said.

She opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped. "...Fair." A grin spread across her face. "But maybe today is different."

She walked toward the nearest peach. Its surface shimmered beautifully, almost inviting her closer.

"Hmmm..." Ethan let out a low sound of disapproval, which she ignored.

"It’s literally right there." She reached up to grab one.

"That’s exactly why I don’t trust it."

"Relax." Her fingers brushed the fruit and nothing happened. Then she smiled victoriously. "See?"

Suddenly, the clouds parted as a pillar of golden light crashed from the heavens, directly on top of them.

BOOOOOOOM!!

The branches, and the entire tree, shook from the impact as Ethan’s shield barely caught the blast in time.

Dust swallowed everything as the wind screamed. Sophia instinctively shielded her face with an arm. "Okay..." she squinted. "...Maybe you were right."

The dust slowly settled, revealing something that stood before them.

It was enormous.

Its body possessed the muscular frame of a lion that looked like it was carved from polished ivory, with massive wings folded neatly against its sides.

Its tail swayed lazily behind it. And its face... Its face was unmistakably human. It had golden eyes that regarded them without hostility or kindness. Only judgment.

A deep voice echoed across the Orchard as its wings unfolded. "I speak in pieces, yet the whole will save you."

It took one slow step forward. "Answer wrongly, and you perish. Fail to answer in time..." Golden energy gathered inside its mouth. "...you perish."

The beam blasted out and Ethan slammed both hands forward.

The shield shifted instantly, tilting just enough for the blast to glance across its surface instead of striking head-on.

The redirected beam carved through several gigantic branches behind them before disappearing into the clouds.

Sophia didn’t wait either. Golden light flashed around her hands.

The enormous flowers surrounding the Sphinx suddenly bent inward as their stems twisted together into gigantic vines that wrapped around its legs.

The Sphinx looked down. "...Predictable." It flexed, and the vines snapped apart like thread.

"So much for that," Sophia muttered.

The creature looked directly at them. Then it spoke.

"What..." It lunged. "...is born..."

Ethan intercepted the charge with a towering wall of blue energy, and the impact shattered it instantly.

"...from silence..."

Sophia grabbed Ethan by the arm. "Come on!"

Both of them dove aside as one enormous claw tore through the place they’d been standing.

"...yet dies..."

The Sphinx swept one wing, and thousands of golden feathers, each edged like a blade, detached at once.

"Ethan?!" Sophia yelled.

"I see them."

A dome appeared around them, and loud metallic clangs rang across the branch from each impact.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Each feather struck with enough force to crack his construct.

"...when spoken?" the Sphinx concluded, and silence followed as it stopped attacking.

Sophia blinked. "...That’s the riddle?"

"No." Ethan slowly stood, his eyes remaining fixed on it. "Part of it."

The Sphinx’s expression didn’t change. "Correct," it said, then attacked again.

It charged, barreling toward them like a speeding tank. "...is born..."

Ethan and Sophia immediately broke, splitting up. He diverged to the left and she moved to the right, toward the edge of the branch.

The Sphinx hesitated only for a split second, then chose to chase after Sophia.

She jumped away from the tree itself, into the open air and it lunged at her. "...from silence..."

Sophia channeled her energy, creating a foothold beneath her feet. Then her body glowed as she kicked off it and launched herself into the air.

This led to the Sphinx crashing through empty space instead.

"Ha!" Sophia smiled.

However, the smile lasted less than a second. The creature simply spread its wings and rocketed into the clouds.

"...Right. That’s what the wings are for." Sophia slapped her forehead. "No doi."

Golden light gathered again as another beam fired.

Ethan crossed both arms, and this time he didn’t just block it.

The blast was sucked into the barrier. Then the barrier’s color shifted from blue to chromatic, before unleashing a much more powerful counter back at the Sphinx as a rainbow-like beam.

The explosion swallowed the Guardian.

Sophia didn’t waste the opening. She thrust both hands forward, and the gigantic branch beneath the Sphinx suddenly erupted upward.

Wood twisted as roots burst through the bark, and massive wooden pillars wrapped around the guardian from every direction.

"Stay." She clenched both fists, tightening the prison.

The smoke cleared.

The Sphinx hadn’t moved. It simply stood there. "...Persistent."

It flexed one shoulder, and the entire construct exploded apart.

Sophia stared in disbelief. "...Seriously?"

The Guardian looked at them again and continued.

"...yet dies..."

It attacked.

"...when spoken?"

Sophia ducked beneath one claw and glanced sideways. "...Born from silence?"

Ethan deflected another blast, his expression thoughtful.

She threw another telekinetic punch that pushed it back. "What dies when spoken?"

The Sphinx struck again. Its voice never changed.

"What..."

The battle continued.

"...is born..."

Another attack.

"...from silence..."

Another.

"...yet dies..."

Another.

"...when spoken?"

Ethan’s breathing grew heavier, then he stopped moving. "A secret."

Sophia wiped sweat from her forehead. "Huh?"

The Sphinx spread its wings once more as golden light gathered around every feather. A faint golden symbol lit up across one of its wings.

Then it smiled. "The next question."

Sophia’s stomach dropped. "...You have got to be kidding me."