The enormous stone creature towered above them, its body formed from countless pieces of stone that had fused together. Several glowing hearts could be seen beneath the cracks across its chest, each one pulsing with blue spiritual energy.
Gohim stared upward.
"So all those monsters became one?"
Kael tightened his grip on his sword.
"It appears so."
The creature raised one enormous arm.
The air around it suddenly became heavy.
Gohim felt his feet sink slightly into the ground.
"What is happening?"
"Don't move!" Kael shouted.
The creature brought its arm down.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground exploded beneath them.
Gohim was thrown backward and rolled several times before catching himself against a rock. Kael managed to block the impact with his sword, but the force still pushed him several meters across the cave.
Gohim quickly stood.
"Captain!"
"I'm fine."
Kael looked at the enormous creature.
"But we have a problem."
The creature's body began changing.
Several of its arms separated from its main body and transformed into enormous stone blades.
Gohim's expression became serious.
"It can change its body too?"
Kael nodded.
"It's made from the same creatures we just fought. Every one of them could adapt individually. Now they've combined those abilities."
The creature swung one of its stone blades.
Kael ducked.
The blade struck the cave wall and sent fragments flying.
Gohim rushed forward.
He remembered the wolf's training.
Speed.
Agility.
Reflexes.
Most importantly—
Think before moving.
He watched the creature's shoulders.
The instant it shifted its weight, Gohim moved.
He dashed underneath the creature's arm and climbed onto a broken stone platform.
He jumped from it and landed on the creature's shoulder.
"Gohim!"
Gohim drove his sword into the rocky surface.
CRACK!
The blade barely penetrated.
The creature roared and violently shook its body.
Gohim lost his balance.
Before he could fall, a stone hand swept toward him.
He jumped.
The hand passed beneath him.
Gohim landed on the ground and rolled away.
"That armor is too thick!"
Kael watched carefully.
"We cannot waste our energy attacking its outer body."
Gohim looked at the creature's chest.
Its hearts were still glowing blue.
"Then we need to expose them again."
Kael nodded.
"But this one has several hearts."
"And they are buried much deeper."
The creature charged.
Kael raised his sword.
"Move!"
They separated in opposite directions.
The creature slammed both fists into the ground.
The shockwave traveled through the cave floor.
Gohim jumped over it.
Kael used the momentum to leap onto a nearby rock.
He released a Crescent Spirit Blast.
The crescent of spiritual energy struck the creature's chest.
For a moment, its body cracked.
Then the energy disappeared.
The hearts inside it glowed brighter blue.
The creature became even more powerful.
Kael landed beside Gohim.
"That confirms it."
Gohim looked at him.
"Every long-range attack makes it stronger."
"And attacking the outer body isn't enough."
Kael nodded.
"We have to reach the hearts directly."
Gohim looked around the cave.
There had to be another way.
The creature was too large.
Its attacks covered too much space.
They couldn't simply rush toward its chest.
Then Gohim remembered the smaller stone monsters.
Their hearts became red whenever they were damaged directly.
The same principle had to apply here.
But how could they reach them?
Gohim looked at Kael.
"Captain."
"What?"
"Do you still have the second pill?"
Kael touched the pouch at his waist.
"Yes."
"Keep it."
Kael looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because we might need it later."
Kael nodded.
"Good thinking."
The creature suddenly roared.
The sound shook the entire cave.
Then several smaller stone creatures began crawling out from its body.
Gohim's eyes widened.
"It can create more?"
Kael's expression hardened.
"No. They're separating from it."
The smaller creatures rushed toward them.
Gohim raised his sword.
"Then let's keep moving."
The battle resumed.
Gohim fought the smaller monsters while Kael focused on the giant creature.
Every strike Gohim made was deliberate.
He didn't waste energy.
He didn't chase enemies unnecessarily.
He waited for openings.
One stone creature swung at him.
Gohim ducked.
Another attacked from behind.
He heard the movement and jumped aside.
His sword pierced the creature's exposed chest.
The heart turned red.
The monster collapsed.
Gohim immediately moved again.
His improvement was small, but it was enough to keep him alive.
From a distance, Kael noticed.
"He's adapting."
Gohim wasn't stronger by a massive amount.
He wasn't faster than every enemy.
But he was thinking faster.
The wolf's training was beginning to show.
Suddenly, Kael was struck.
A stone blade slammed into his side.
He flew into the wall.
Gohim's eyes widened.
"Captain!"
Kael dropped to one knee.
The wound wasn't fatal, but the impact had drained him.
He breathed heavily.
The Guardian Revival Pill had restored his energy earlier, but it hadn't made him invincible.
The creature approached.
Kael looked at the distance between himself and the monster.
Then at Gohim.
"Gohim!"
Gohim rushed toward him.
"Are you hurt badly?"
"No."
Kael stood slowly.
"But we're running out of options."
Gohim looked around.
The monsters were closing in.
Their hearts were glowing blue.
Every long-range attack strengthened them.
Their armor was too thick to break easily.
And the giant creature had multiple hearts.
Gohim closed his eyes.
Think.
He remembered the wolf's words.
A warrior who only reacts will eventually lose.
He opened his eyes.
Then he saw it.
The way the smaller monsters were moving.
The way the larger creature shifted its weight.
The way its hearts pulsed.
An idea formed.
Gohim suddenly became still.
Kael noticed.
"What are you thinking?"
Gohim didn't answer immediately.
His mind raced.
If they couldn't attack the hearts directly...
They needed to create an opening.
But how?
Then he remembered the spiritual energy they had been using.
Kael's blasts pushed things away—but the monsters absorbed the energy.
What if they didn't attack the monsters at all?
What if they placed the energy beneath them?
The thought became clearer.
A concentrated force.
A sudden gravitational push.
Not a slash.
Not a projectile.
A bomb of compressed spiritual energy.
Gohim suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.
"Captain!"
Kael looked at him.
"What?"
Gohim rushed toward him.
"You have to trust me."
Kael studied his face.
"I do."
Gohim reached into the pouch and pulled out the Guardian Manual.
He quickly opened it.
Kael looked confused.
"What are you doing?"
"I need the part about spiritual compression."
Kael immediately understood.
He took the book and flipped through the pages.
"There."
Gohim pointed toward the diagram.
"It says spiritual energy can be compressed into a single point before being released."
Kael nodded.
"Yes."
"But this technique is normally used to increase the power of a strike."
Gohim shook his head.
"We'll use it differently."
Kael stared at him.
Gohim pointed toward the ground beneath the giant creature.
"We combine a small amount of our energy."
"Compress it."
"Then place it beneath them."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"A gravitational push."
"Exactly."
"It won't be aimed directly at their hearts, so they won't be able to absorb it like a normal slash."
Kael thought about it.
Then he smiled.
"That might actually work."
Gohim looked toward the surrounding monsters.
"But we need enough space."
Kael understood immediately.
"I'll create it."
He stepped forward.
"Stay behind me."
Kael raised his sword.
The giant creature roared and charged.
Kael waited.
He didn't release a blast.
Instead, he moved directly toward it.
Gohim watched in surprise.
Kael dodged one stone blade.
Then another.
He was buying time.
The creature continued attacking.
Kael moved between its strikes with extraordinary precision.
He wasn't trying to defeat it.
He was distracting it.
"Gohim!"
"I'm ready!"
"Then prepare your energy!"
Gohim closed his eyes.
He remembered his father's book.
He remembered Kael's teachings.
He remembered the wolf's False Mirage and Illusion.
He remembered every time he had fallen during training.
His breathing became steady.
Spiritual energy began gathering around his hands.
Kael continued dodging.
The giant creature swung again.
Kael jumped over the attack.
He landed beneath its chest.
"Now!"
Gohim rushed forward.
He reached Kael.
Their spiritual energy began merging.
Blue energy from Gohim.
Silver energy from Kael.
The energies collided.
The ground beneath them cracked.
Gohim gritted his teeth.
"It's resisting!"
"Don't force it!"
Kael kept his sword pressed against the ground.
"Guide it!"
Gohim remembered the wolf's training.
Don't fight your own energy.
Control it.
His breathing slowed.
The two energies began rotating together.
The sphere became smaller.
Then smaller.
Until it was no larger than his fist.
Yet its pressure was enormous.
The giant creature suddenly noticed them.
It roared.
"It's coming!"
Kael looked at Gohim.
"Can you hold it?"
"For a few more seconds!"
The creature charged.
Stone monsters surrounded them.
There was nowhere to run.
Kael looked at Gohim.
"Release!"
Together, they slammed the compressed sphere into the ground.
"GRAVITY PUSH BOMB!"
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A tremendous force erupted beneath them.
The cave shook violently.
Stone fragments flew through the air.
The monsters were lifted from the ground.
The giant creature was thrown backward.
Its enormous body crashed against the cave wall.
CRAAAAASH!
The impact shattered the rocky armor covering its chest.
For the first time, all of its hearts were visible.
They glowed blue.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Now!"
Gohim charged.
Kael moved beside him.
The giant creature attempted to recover.
Gohim jumped onto its arm.
He ran along it.
The creature swung wildly.
Gohim leaped.
He reached the chest.
One heart.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
He couldn't reach all of them.
Kael landed beside him.
"Take the left side!"
Gohim nodded.
Kael took the right.
They attacked simultaneously.
Their swords pierced the exposed hearts.
The blue glow immediately changed.
Red.
The creature screamed.
Its entire body shook.
Gohim pushed his sword deeper.
"Fall!"
Kael did the same.
The hearts cracked.
One after another.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
The giant creature's body began collapsing.
The stone fused together started separating.
The enormous figure fell apart into hundreds of pieces.
Gohim jumped away just before the creature collapsed completely.
Silence.
For several seconds, neither warrior moved.
Then Gohim dropped to one knee.
He was exhausted.
Kael was breathing heavily as well.
Gohim looked at the scattered stones.
"We did it."
Kael nodded.
"We survived."
But then—
A deep sound echoed from somewhere deeper in the cave.
Not a roar.
Not an attack.
A laugh.
A slow, ancient laugh.
Gohim looked up.
Kael immediately raised his sword.
The remaining stone fragments began trembling.
Then a voice echoed through the darkness.
"You have destroyed my guardian."
The voice was calm.
Almost amused.
"You have crossed every trial I placed before you."
Gohim's heart began pounding.
Kael's expression became serious.
"Watcher."
The voice answered.
"Yes."
A powerful spiritual pressure suddenly flooded the cave.
Gohim's knees almost gave way.
Kael remained standing, but his expression had changed.
This pressure was different.
It wasn't wild.
It wasn't uncontrolled.
It was perfectly contained.
That made it even more terrifying.
Two enormous blue eyes appeared in the darkness ahead.
The Watcher had finally revealed himself.
"You came for the humans I captured."
Gohim raised his sword.
"We did."
The Watcher remained silent for a moment.
Then he spoke.
"You have one hour."
Gohim froze.
"One hour?"
"Reach me before the final bell."
"What happens then?" Kael asked.
The Watcher's eyes narrowed.
"The humans die."
Gohim tightened his grip around his sword.
"Then we'll reach you."
The Watcher laughed again.
"Try."
The blue eyes disappeared.
The cave became silent.
Kael looked at Gohim.
"We have no time to waste."
Gohim nodded.
Together, they began moving deeper into the darkness.
Neither of them knew what waited ahead.
But one thing was certain.
The stone monsters had only been the beginning.
And somewhere beyond the darkness...
The Watcher was waiting.