Chapter 48: Guardian
When the Guardian noticed that I was looking at him, all three heads turned simultaneously in my direction, and those three pairs of eyes stared at me as if I were the most interesting thing in that place.
Laufus and I were at least three hundred meters away from the Guardian, but this distance was immediately reduced when the Guardian clapped his hands together as if to begin praying.
The giant shadow of this monster overlapped our shadows as it teleported in front of us.
"Oh, shit. I forgot you had an ability like that..." I thought aloud, instinctively taking a few steps back.
Without waiting for an order, Laufus raised his sword and placed himself between me and the Guardian.
"Laufus, dodge!" I shouted.
The knight lunged to the side at the exact moment two swords of light tore through the spot where he had been standing.
I also threw myself backward, feeling the power of that blow only from the displacement of air. It was both a magical and physical blow.
Suddenly, the Guardian’s central head changed expression. His mouth opened as if in surprise and released a torrent of flames.
I rolled backwards, narrowly escaping the brutal heat that charred the concrete where I had been standing.
Now the Guardian’s eyes, which had been golden, were red as fire. This was a monster with brutal strength and Fire and Light abilities, a being worthy of Rank-B.
It was ironic that I had to face a Rank-B monster on the same day that I had decided I would rather become a Rank-B than a word. It was as if this was my test.
Fortunately, I was no longer as weak and worn out as when I faced Blackpearl. For that reason, I smiled even though the shadow of that being was ten times larger than mine.
I raised both hands while Laufus distracted the Guardian, and three Ghost Wizards appeared. Fire magic was useless against the Guardian, but lightning had a chance of causing damage.
"Cast <Lightning Magic>."
At the tips of the three Ghost Wizards, magic circles appeared, and from them, blue lightning bolts drew an uncertain path toward the Guardian. The explosions of electricity struck the Guardian’s chest, scorching the gray rock they called skin. Although this didn’t cause much damage, it was enough to push the creature back a few inches.
One of the side heads turned toward the Ghost Wizards and changed to an angry expression.
"Spread out!" I ordered the Wizards as I ran toward the Guardian.
The Ghost Wizards split into three directions, thwarting any attempt to attack the four of us.
Even so, the left head opened its mouth and fired a fireball.
Morgath floated backward, narrowly escaping the fireball. In the process, the flames hit an abandoned building in the background, blowing the few remaining windows into thousands of smaller pieces.
Defeating a Rank-B creature with only this military power would not be enough.
I reached out to the side and exclaimed, "Obey my call, Laufus Second."
That was the advantage of not being a Necromancer in the literal sense of the word, but rather a Summoner.
The "Unique Summons" were named that way because they had different attributes from generic Summons, not because I could only summon one of each.
I didn’t use shadows or souls to reanimate the dead. My summons were made from the essence of a creature, so Laufus Second was not a cheap copy of the first. He was a complete manifestation, as real and powerful as the first.
Spark by spark, a knight identical to Laufus appeared at my side. The only difference between Laufus Second and Laufus First was the color of their capes, as the second had a long blue cape.
When the Guardian roared, the second Laufus wasted no time. He flexed his knees and shot upward like a bullet, already splitting his sword into two blades.
At that moment, for some reason, I had the impression that Laufus First was smiling under his helmet. After all, Laufus First immediately advanced from the other side when he saw his doppelganger.
The Guardian’s attention was divided between the two warriors.
"Laufus First, focus on the attacks from behind and prevent him from moving!"
Laufus First disappeared in a dark blur and, in the next instant, reappeared behind the Guardian. His blade came down in a precise blow against the back of one of the Guardian’s knees.
He would have done more, but suddenly a dozen stakes of light flew toward him.
It was then that I realized that all of the Guardian’s eyes had returned to their original golden color.
This made it extremely easy to guess the mechanics behind this monster.
’When his eyes turn red, he becomes capable of unleashing fire magic. But when they’re golden, the attack will be light magic.’
"Ghost Wizards, attack with lightning again!"
The three wizards cast more spells. The magic circles glowed and fired bolts of lightning that crossed the distance between them like lightning cutting through the sky during a storm.
However, unlike the first time, he wasn’t pushed back this time. So the lightning bolts only served to annoy him, and he became really angry.
Suddenly, the central head began to spin and change expression rapidly. Anger, happiness, sleepiness, boredom, fear, and many other expressions that I could barely distinguish. When it finally stopped spinning, that was when the Guardian pulled his two hands away and clapped them together again.
At that moment, his external appearance changed. The rocky gray of the skin of what should have been the King of Golems turned into a dark gray, almost black, and the eyes became heterochromatic — gold and red — in all three heads, which were now expressionless.
This was the form of the Guardian that I remembered perfectly, the second and most dangerous form of a Boss from the Tower of Giants.
*
You’ve probably noticed that the Chapters are shorter than usual, but I can explain! I’m combining several Chapters for a mass release, there will be at least twenty.
Until that mass release arrives, the Chapters will continue to average 1,200 words and will be posted every day, without fail.
The Chapters were around 1500 words, so in theory you won’t be missing much until the mass release.
Thank you for your understanding and enjoy reading!