air grew heavier the deeper Kieran walked into the forgotten city.
Dust swirled like mist. His steps echoed unnaturally, as though time itself had been waiting for someone to break the silence. Ancient murals lined the cracked stone walls—depictions of figures wielding light, darkness, and in the center of it all… a blade, fractured.
The second fragment was here. But so was its protector.
He knew it before it moved.
A tremor. Then stillness. Then the pressure.
It didn't growl. It didn't roar.
It simply existed—a presence so vast and still that it erased all sound around it.
The Appearance of the Second Guardian
From the ruined temple ahead, something emerged—tall, regal, divine.
The figure stood nearly twenty-five meters, its trident scraping gently against the temple stones as it walked. It bore the form of a sea god—Poseidon himself—with sharp features carved from shadow, but with no face. Its muscles rippled like waves beneath black skin that absorbed light rather than reflected it.
But unlike the first guardian, there were no glowing veins. It did not throb with life.
It moved like an ancient concept—forgotten, but never undone.
Its eyes were hollow, yet fixed on Kieran.
Not with malice.
With judgment.
The Eye Versus the Ocean
Kieran didn't flinch. His Eye activated on instinct—red with its black outline, illuminating the guardian's essence.
"Shadow's Murderer Intent."
The wave of suppressive force expanded from him—but the guardian did not stagger. Its stats dipped—but not enough.
He rushed in with Silence Slash, moving faster than shadows could track. He aimed for the knees, the core, the wrist that held the trident.
And every time, the trident met him—as though the guardian moved before Kieran did.
"It's reading the future..." Kieran thought. "No—it's responding to my will before I act."
He skidded back, panting.
"It doesn't kill. It protects. That's what Grandpa(Sylas) created it for."
The Test, Not the Fight
Then the guardian spoke—not with words, but through his Eye.
"The will to awaken is not enough. You must be more than a bearer. You must be a force that refuses to be erased."
A wave of waterless pressure surged from the trident, sending Kieran crashing into a pillar of broken stone. Blood trickled from his lip, but his hands still gripped the hilt.
"Then I'll carve my name into fate."
His aura burst—a fusion of Voidborne calm and awakened Eye. A red-black cyclone surrounded him, burning through the dust.
He would not beat it today. But he would endure it.
Because that was the real test.
And as he stood tall once more, a sliver of light broke through the ceiling—landing on the pedestal behind the guardian.
The second fragment had begun to glow.
End of Chapter
The path to power does not require dominance… only defiance.
And Kieran, though battered, had not stepped back.
The second guardian paused. For the first time, it lowered its weapon—not in surrender, but in recognition.