Chapter 276: Portal Guardian
Chapter 276: Portal Guardian
“Wait a minute. All of you can see or sense them?” said Axel.
Hearing Axel’s question, Angus and the others look at him confusedly.
“Yeah sure, Is there anything wrong with it?” said Angus.
“Is there anything wrong with it?!! Oii… Didn’t all of you tell me ordinary people couldn’t see you much less sense you?” said Axel towards the nearby elemental spirits.
“Hmm.. Normally that’s the case. But, it seems your friend is different. They are not your usual ordinary people.” said the bright light beside Axel.
“Yeah.. Yeah.. That’s true. Especially that black-haired guy.” said the other elemental spirit.
Hearing this, ‘*Sigh* I thought I could brag to them about my new power and the elemental spirit.’ thought Axel.
“Wait, do you mean Angus? What’s wrong with him?” asked Axel to the elemental spirit.
“I am not sure. But, he seems to be able to hear and see us. You should not carelessly talk with us in front of him.” replied the elemental spirit.
“Ehh…” said Axel.
Normally, when Axel is talking to the elemental spirit. He seems to be whispering in some kind of unknown language. No other people other than him could understand their conversation.
“Angus, did you hear what I said when I conversed with the spirit?” asked Axel.
“Ohh… You mean your gibberish just now. Of course, I hear it. What’s wrong with that?” said Angus nonchalantly.
“Ehhh.. What gibberish? I didn’t hear Axel saying anything?” said Mia.
“Me too.” replied the others.
“Normally, other people can’t hear us. But, your black-haired friend over there is special. If we didn’t find you first. We might have thought of him as another chosen one to contract with us.” said the elemental spirit.
“For now, he could only hear us. But, if he is given time, he may learn our language. So, you should be careful in front of him.” added another elemental spirit.
“Errr… Okay.” said Axel.
Then, everyone starts to catch up with the others. Hearing Axel’s story, Ian immediately laments his fate. After getting separated from each other, Axel enters the spirit world and stays there until he can master a little bit of elemental spirit power.
If it is not because the portal exit could close and cut his way back towards Firuman, he may want to stay in the spirit world longer.
Compared to others, Axel could be the luckiest one since he didn’t encounter many dangers. Moreover, with the help of his map, he could easily avoid any dangerous area and high-grade monster territory.
He also has the elemental spirits to help him venture along the way to the portal exit. Elemental spirit is like the force of nature, and some of it is quite strong.
However, Axel currently could only contract with the weaker one. Although it is weaker, it could kill any high-grade beasts or monsters easily.
After catching up for a while, Angus and everyone get called by Jade to discuss their next move. Most of the remaining Sur Villagers survive after their separation from Jade.
All of this is because of the Alkin. The metallic vehicle is quite durable to withstand the monster attack.
Though they meet a few strong beasts and monsters on the way, they still could escape successfully. Now, they need to create a plan to avoid the portal guardian. During the last two months, Jade has not only been waiting silently.
He is also doing some investigation about the guardian from far away. According to his investigation, he finds that the guardian is a sort of unknown monster.
Although Jade didn’t fight the monster by himself, he witnessed a few people trying to enter the exit portal only to get killed by the monster. The monster is actually the sun on the horizon that stays on the top of the exit portal.
It could release a firestorm and shoot a hot energy beam towards any living being that is approaching it. Jade suspects that this is not the monster’s true form as the portal guardian is never as simple as this.
According to Jade’s experience, the last time he met the portal guardian, he was a monster overlord that commanded countless monsters. So, seeing that only one living being is guarding the portal, Jade thought the monster must be powerful.
After some lengthy discussion, they divide into two groups. One is the non-battle group. The other is the battle group. The non-battle group is made of those with low-grade level combatants, women, children and the elderly.
They will ride the Alkin and drive towards the exit portal while the battle group distracts the monster. This battle group is the most important part of the plan and has a high chance of dying.
Jade is not forcing anyone to join the battle group. However, most of the high-grade combatants and the elders immediately volunteer themself to become the battle group. They are ready to die to ensure the future generation.
Hearing this, “Uncle, let me…” said Angus.
Jade immediately cut off, “No, My dear nephew. I know that you are strong and want to help others. But, if something happens to you, I will never be able to face my brother and Leon.
“All of you are the precious future pillar for the Heart Kingdom. So, this time, please leave this matter to the adult.” said Jade.
Seeing Jade’s resolution, “Haa.. Fine, but if things go wrong, promise me to run towards the Exit immediately.” said Angus.
“Yeah.” replied Jade shortly.
After that, they end the meeting and decide to attack the guardian three months from now. It is also around one month before the portal exit closes.
During all this time, Angus, Vigo, Gilford, and the other crafters work hard to make weapons and armor and Alkin’s modification. Jade also begins to investigate the monster guardian more actively.
However, the closer he is to the guardian, the more his danger sense tingles. He feels like if he takes one more step forward, he could get killed by the monster’s guardian.
‘Just what is this creature? How come I never met it during my stay in this dimension?’ thought Jade while looking at the small ball of fire on the top of the bluish portal.
During this time, a group of people starts to approach the guardian and the portal. All of them seem to wear a fire-resistant enhanced item. Sensing an intruder, the monster guardian releases a hot firestorm towards the surrounding area. *BOOMM*
The group of people managed to withstand the Firestorm with their fire-resistant gear. Feeling that it is safe, they keep moving forwards while the Firestorm is becoming more intense.
Slowly and steady, the group managed to get closer to the portal despite the horrible firestorm. The sun also occasionally shot a beam of hot miasma at them. But, the group is already prepared and scattered around while keeping approaching the portal exit.
Seeing this, ‘Is it this easy? No, it will start to reveal its form.’ thought Jade while observing the battle in the far distance.
As Jade expected, the sun suddenly fell on the ground and released one big shockwave towards the surrounding. *BLAM* Then, everyone heard a thunderous roar. *ROOOARR*
A giant scaled monster in dark color with three tails appeared on the spot. Looking at the monster form, “No way!! T-That’s.. a dragon.” exclaimed the nearby group that also investigated the monster guardian.
Seeing that it is a dragon, the group near the portal immediately tries to retreat. However, they are too late. The dragon releases a massive amount of energy towards its surroundings and destroys anything it touches.
“Not good!!” said Jade as he immediately got away from his location.
The move is so devastating and enormous that Jade needs to retreat to avoid getting hit by it. Some low-grade people nearby also couldn’t escape fast enough and immediately got destroyed by the attack.
After a while, the attack subsided. Looking there is no one approaching him again, the monster dragon turns back into the ball of fire, and the surrounding becomes calm again.
Seeing such a devastating attack, ‘Can we truly hold that kind of monster?’ thought Jade while having a cold sweat.
“No, we must succeed. I will deliver them back even if it costs all my life.” said Jade resolutely before heading back towards the camp.
At the same time, the surrounding group also begins to question themself that if they could pass the exit that the dragon guards. A few days have passed since the revelation of the portal guardian.
During these past days, many groups of people decided to abandon their thought to move towards Firuman. All of this is because of the emergence of a dragon as the portal guardian. Dragon is a mythical being that is called the strongest living being in this world.
Some of the ancient dragons in the past could even fight on par with the true god. Moreover, from the one attack it showed, the dragon should be categorized as the strong one. Currently, Jade and everyone is thinking about how to deal with the dragon.
In the middle of their discussion, they get a letter.