Chapter 40 — The Guardian’s Oath

Thump.

The mountain shook.

Kael stood completely still.

The sound had not been loud.

It didn't need to be.

The heartbeat seemed to pass through the stone itself, through the ground beneath his feet, through the metal network buried below the mountain.

Even Nightfang had stopped growling.

For once, the beast looked uncertain.

Kael glanced at the three guardians.

The Verdant Mountain Wyrm stood closest to the mountain.

The Verdant Crystal Behemoth stood farther away, its crystalline armor glowing faintly.

And somewhere beyond the trees—

the Verdant Horned Basilisk had raised its head.

Three guardians.

One territory lord.

One ancient seal.

And something beneath the mountain that none of them wanted to awaken.

Kael slowly lowered his weapon.

"We need to close it."

The Mountain Wyrm looked at him.

"You cannot."

Kael frowned.

"I can at least help."

The Behemoth's emerald eyes shifted toward him.

"Help?"

Kael nodded.

"The System said the seal is at ninety-one percent."

He pointed toward the mountain.

"If it falls below eighty, something happens."

The Wyrm's expression hardened.

"Then you understand more than most who have stood here."

Kael looked between the three guardians.

"What happens at eighty?"

Silence.

The Wyrm finally answered.

"We don't know."

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"You don't know?"

The Behemoth spoke.

"We have never allowed it to reach eighty."

That answer was worse.

Kael looked at the mountain again.

Another crimson line appeared.

The seal percentage flickered.

[Seal Integrity: 91%]

Then—

90%.

Kael's expression changed.

"We're running out of time."

The Three Guardians

The Wyrm moved first.

Its enormous claws struck the ground.

BOOM!

The mountain responded.

Mana surged through the earth.

Kael activated Metal Sense.

His eyes widened.

The buried network had changed.

The Wyrm wasn't simply attacking the mountain.

It was redirecting mana.

The underground channels began glowing green.

Kael immediately understood.

"You maintain the foundation."

The Wyrm looked toward him.

"Yes."

Kael turned toward the Behemoth.

"And you suppress the excess mana."

The Behemoth remained silent for a moment.

Then it nodded.

"Correct."

Kael looked toward the forest.

"And the Ravager..."

He stopped.

The Verdant Fang Ravager was dead.

Its role had been hunting threats entering the territory.

But now Kael understood why the ancient system had required three guardians.

The Ravager had protected the outer layer.

The Wyrm protected the inner chamber.

The Behemoth stabilized the sealing network.

Three different duties.

Three different layers.

Kael clenched his fist.

"And now the outer guardian is gone."

The Wyrm's eyes narrowed.

"Yes."

Kael immediately understood the problem.

If something escaped—

there was no longer a specialized hunter guarding the outer territory.

The Basilisk could control the territory.

The Wyrm could defend the mountain.

The Behemoth could suppress the seal.

But neither was designed to hunt something that escaped into the forest.

Kael looked at the mountain.

"So I'm the fourth layer."

The Wyrm stared at him.

Kael continued.

"The thing that killed the first guardian isn't going to be replaced by another guardian."

He touched his weapons.

"I'll have to handle whatever gets past the others."

The Behemoth's crystalline armor brightened.

"You understand quickly."

Kael gave a small smile.

"I've had practice."

The Seal Network

Kael immediately moved.

He pulled several metal markers from his storage ring.

Then he scattered them across the ground surrounding the mountain.

One.

Two.

Five.

Ten.

Twenty.

The markers sank into the soil.

Metal Control spread through them.

Mastery Stage III.

Kael closed his eyes.

The mountain became visible inside his mind.

Not physically.

Through the metal.

The ancient network was enormous.

Thousands of metallic channels connected the mountain to the surrounding territory.

Some ran toward the Basilisk's territory.

Others disappeared deep underground.

And three major channels connected directly to the guardians.

One to the Wyrm.

One to the Behemoth.

And one—

was empty.

Kael's eyes opened.

"The third channel."

The Wyrm turned.

"What?"

"There should be another connection."

Kael pointed toward the eastern forest.

"The network has three major stabilization points."

The Behemoth looked toward the same direction.

"That channel belonged to the first guardian."

Kael's expression hardened.

"Then the seal has been operating with a missing component."

"Yes."

"For how long?"

The Wyrm didn't answer.

Kael understood.

"Since the Ravager died."

The mountain shook again.

Thump.

[Seal Integrity: 90% → 89%.]

Kael immediately moved toward the eastern channel.

The Wyrm spoke.

"Where are you going?"

"To restore the missing connection."

"You don't know what lies there."

"I don't need to."

Kael drew the Darven katana.

"I only need to know what the metal network is missing."

The Empty Guardian Node

Kael ran through the forest.

Nightfang followed.

Behind them, the mountain continued to tremble.

The deeper they went, the weaker the ordinary sounds of the forest became.

Eventually Kael reached a clearing.

Nothing was there.

No ancient structure.

No monster.

No guardian.

Only a circular depression in the ground.

Kael activated Metal Sense.

His expression changed.

"There."

Beneath the soil was an enormous metal structure.

It had once connected to the Verdant Fang Ravager.

But the connection had been severed.

Kael crouched.

The metal wasn't broken naturally.

It had been cut.

He examined the edges.

"This wasn't caused by the Ravager dying."

Nightfang growled.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Someone disconnected it."

A faint System window appeared.

[Ancient Territory Network detected.]

[Guardian Node: Severed.]

[Cause: Unknown.]

[Severance age: Ancient.]

Kael froze.

Ancient?

Then the Ravager's death hadn't created the missing connection.

It had merely exposed it.

Someone had already damaged the network long ago.

Kael placed his hand against the metal.

The black metal fragment inside his storage ring suddenly reacted.

VMMM.

Kael pulled it out.

The fragment floated above his palm.

Crimson lines spread across its surface.

The severed node responded.

Kael's eyes widened.

"You've got to be kidding me."

The fragment wasn't merely reacting to the Darven bloodline.

It was compatible with the ancient network.

Kael brought it closer.

The moment the fragment touched the severed connection—

CLICK.

The entire underground structure activated.

Green light raced through the ground.

The connection reformed.

Far away—

the mountain stopped shaking.

For several seconds, everything became silent.

Then the System appeared.

[Guardian Network Connection restored.]

[Territory Stability: Increased.]

[Seal Integrity Stabilization detected.]

[Current Seal Integrity: 89%.]

[Rate of degradation reduced.]

Kael exhaled.

"We bought time."

Nightfang looked toward the mountain.

Then growled.

Kael's smile disappeared.

"What?"

The ground beneath them moved.

Not from the mountain.

Something was approaching.

The Thing That Escaped

Trees began bending.

Branches snapped.

Kael immediately raised the PR-01.

Nightfang moved beside him.

A shadow passed between the trees.

Kael aimed.

Nothing.

Another movement.

Faster.

He fired.

BOOM!

The shot struck a tree.

Empty.

Kael immediately understood.

"Fast."

He switched weapons.

AR-03V.

He didn't fire blindly.

Instead, he spread several small metal fragments across the ground.

Metal Sense.

Wait.

There.

Something moved.

Kael fired.

The bullets struck the ground around a black blur.

It stopped.

For a fraction of a second—

Kael saw it.

A creature.

Humanoid.

Thin.

Covered in dark material.

Its eyes were crimson.

And on its chest—

was the same ancient symbol he had seen beneath the mountain.

Kael's blood ran cold.

The creature looked directly at him.

Then smiled.

Not like an animal.

Like a person.

The System activated.

[Unknown creature detected.]

[Level: 31]

[Grade: Commander]

[Potential: Unknown]

[Trait analysis incomplete.]

[Origin: Unknown.]

Kael immediately changed his stance.

Level 31.

That alone wasn't impossible.

But the creature had emerged from the direction of the mountain.

And the System had identified its origin as unknown.

The creature raised one hand.

The ground beneath Kael cracked.

Kael jumped sideways.

A dark spike erupted from the soil.

Nightfang lunged.

The creature vanished.

Kael immediately recalled his metal markers.

Magnetic Pull.

The fragments snapped toward him.

A metallic barrier formed.

CLANG!

Something struck it.

The creature appeared directly in front of him.

Kael barely blocked with his katana.

The impact sent him sliding backward.

His boots carved lines into the soil.

Kael stared.

"You're not a normal monster."

The creature tilted its head.

"Neither are you."

Kael's eyes widened.

It could speak.

The creature looked at the katana.

Then at the black metal fragment.

Then at Kael.

"Darven."

Kael's grip tightened.

"Who are you?"

The creature smiled.

"We were told not to kill you."

Kael's expression hardened.

"We?"

The creature stepped backward.

"We were told to see whether you could survive."

A dark mist surrounded its body.

Kael raised the PR-01.

"Who sent you?"

The creature's smile disappeared.

"You'll learn."

Then—

it vanished.

Kael immediately activated Metal Sense.

Nothing.

No trace.

No metal.

No mana.

It was simply gone.

Nightfang growled toward the mountain.

Kael slowly lowered the rifle.

"That wasn't the sealed entity."

The wolf looked at him.

Kael stared toward the mountain.

"No."

His expression became serious.

"Something came out of the seal."

The New Problem

Kael returned to the mountain.

The Wyrm immediately noticed him.

"What happened?"

"Something escaped."

The Wyrm's eyes sharpened.

"Describe it."

Kael did.

The guardian remained silent.

The Behemoth's crystals began glowing.

Finally, the Wyrm spoke.

"That creature should not have been able to leave."

Kael frowned.

"Then how did it?"

The Wyrm looked toward the sealed chamber.

"The seal didn't open."

Kael froze.

"What?"

"The door remained closed."

Kael looked toward the mountain.

The crimson lines were still visible.

The chamber was still sealed.

The System confirmed it.

[Ancient Sealed Entity: Contained.]

[Seal Integrity: 89%.]

[Containment Status: Stable.]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Then whatever I fought..."

The Behemoth finished the sentence.

"Was already outside."

Silence.

Kael slowly understood.

The sealed entity wasn't the only mystery.

Something had been living beyond the seal.

Something connected to it.

Something capable of moving through the ancient network.

And someone—

or something—

was already watching him.

The Wyrm looked toward Kael.

"You restored the missing guardian connection."

Kael nodded.

"For now."

The Wyrm lowered its head.

"You have done what the three guardians could not."

Kael looked at it.

"What?"

"You repaired the fourth path."

Kael's expression changed.

"The fourth path?"

The Wyrm looked toward the ancient mountain.

"The guardians were never meant to maintain the seal alone."

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Then who was the fourth?"

The Wyrm's answer was quiet.

"The Darven."

Kael stared at the mountain.

For the first time, the ancient network made sense.

The three guardians weren't the complete system.

They were only the living components.

The missing fourth component—

had always been the bloodline of the one who created the network.

And now—

that bloodline had returned.

The System appeared.

[Hidden Territory Function discovered.]

[Darven Fourth Path: Activated.]

[Bloodline Progress: 12% → 13%.]

[New Objective.]

[Restore the Ancient Guardian Network.]

[Progress: 1/4]

[Warning: Network restoration may attract hostile entities.]

Kael stared at the final line.

Then he smiled faintly.

"So that's the game."

Nightfang looked at him.

Kael turned toward the forest.

"If something is already hunting me..."

He loaded the PR-01.

"...then I'll make sure it regrets giving me time to prepare."

Far beneath the mountain—

something opened its eyes.

And somewhere in the darkness—

a voice whispered:

"He's repairing the network."

Another voice answered.

"Then the Darven has finally remembered what he is."

"Begin the hunt."