The Hidden Guardian

DemonBlood Dukedom was literally empty as both the armies of ogre and goblin left for elven dukedom previously. Flamence was now hovering over a run-down village of goblin as it was the location depicted inside Hallel's treasure map.

Nobody was riding Flamence since everyone was surrounding Hallel who holds the last missing puzzle gotten from the treasure map. With the last shard in her hand, she pulled out the other two pieces of the treasure she had collected before attempting to combine them.

"Should I do it right now?"

"Just go on. Nothing would go wrong with me here."

As if it have become a habit, Hallel asked for confirmation before she started. Mays nodded as he replied nonchalantly as usual.

"Yeah, yeah. Do it faster!"

The one overly excited over the treasure was unexpectedly Ria. She was urging Hallel to combine the shard faster while the spirits and the gold ranked bosses kept their silence as they watched.

When the last piece fits into the other two resulting with a perfect metallic cube, bright light shone endlessly from said cube as it enveloped everyone on the scene, blinding them all that very instant.

"Shiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnngggg!!"

A high pitch piercing sound echoed as the bright light dissipated soon after. As swift as thunder, both the bright light and piercing sound disappeared almost instantly. The dark night sky went back to normal leaving everyone present flabbergasted after what just happened.

"Master?"

"Master? Lady Ria? Lady Hallel?"

Not just the spirits, even the bosses were dumbfounded at the moment. The disappearance of those godkins were something they could not comprehend.

"Even Drasca disappeared. This is quite something."

Romeo maintained his calmness and logical reasoning as he observed his surroundings. The other gold ranked insane bosses were present at the site. Only Drasca alone disappeared together with the three godkins.

"Roaaaaaaarrrr!!"

"Rooooaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!!"

The chaotic atmosphere turned silent for a moment after everyone realized another weird thing. Flamence roared non-stop as it barged onto something invisible in the sky. Every time Flamence come into contact with the invisible barrier, a loud buzzing sound echoed and Flamence was knocked back a few meters from it.

"Above. Look at the sky. There is something above."

"An invisible barrier. Intriguing."

Some of the gold ranked insane bosses commented while watching the whole scene. It was obvious that they could not see anything in the sky except the fleeting clouds but they could sense something blocking their senses.

As the overlord of their own dukedom, every single one of them were not so clueless not to know that something really was up there in the sky.

"Let me give it a try."

Changing into his dragon form, Romeo instantly flew toward the invisible barrier before he used one of his strongest breath attack.

"Flame Burst!!"

The flame disintegrate the moment it touched the invisible barrier as if it was never there. Romeo flinched for a second before he continued his attack.

"What in the…"

This time, everyone present was shocked after witnessing that nothing happened to the barrier. In fact, Romeo's attack was absorbed easily as if it was a mere child's play. They all knew how strong Romeo's attack was. He might yet to use his full power but his previous attack was threatening enough for everyone present.

"Not even Romeo can do it. What do we do then?"

Waliwa skeptically asked. He knew that he couldn't do anything to the barrier for sure after witnessing what Romeo just did. In fact, he did not even have any means to touch that barrier. He was literally a master in melee battle without any long range attack at all.

"What else? Just wait until they come back."

"Yeah. Drasca is with them too. Nothing would happen for sure."

It was Cairan and Cairy who replied with the most logical answer. There was nothing else they could do for the time being. Rather than trying to do something which is practically impossible, it was easier to just sit back and wait.

"I'm taking charge with my master's absence. Let's set up camp here."

With a simple declaration from Syaitona, the spirits regained their usual calmness before they started organizing themselves.

"That's right. Let's wait for master here."

"Master would be back soon enough. We need to prepare some food in the meantime."

Both Silvia and Damia voiced their opinion as they agreed with Syaitona.

"Mira will gather firewood first. Aloha, come with me."

"Erm."

Mira on the other hand started doing her usual job as she dragged Aloha with her.

One after another, the spirits started moving out and efficiently did their own chore. Since they had camped out a lot, they did not argue over the task and did what they would always do. None of the insane bosses helped since they were not ordered or instructed to do anything.

It was good enough that they did not make things worse during the absence of Mays and the rest. Without the godkins above them, these spirits were like a fang-less beast, uncoordinated enough to threaten the insane bosses.

"These so called spirits were good soldier indeed. They have absolute faith in their master and they do will in keeping their wits."

"They ain't the soldiers of godkin for nothing."

Alain and Matilda commented as they watched the spirits in action. Even Comel could not helped but nodded in approval upon seeing them. She was with them the longest and she knew that they listen well to orders.

This was actually her first time seeing them doing things on their own without the godkins ordering them. She was impressed because these spirits were indeed disciplined and strict even during the absence of their masters.

-------------------------

The three godkins were now inside some ruins where they stood in front of something extremely familiar to them. The chamber they were inside was not large but it was not too small either.

"This thing again?"

"Well… What do you expect?"

"I'm too lazy to even comment on this."

In front of them were an identical status as the one they saw inside the Heavenly Wish Trial, the so called guardian statue. The only difference was that this statue had a cubic hole on its chest, making it looks incomplete. This statue even had the same face as the former guardian they met before.

"I should put this in his chest right?"

"Yeah, please do."

Even kids would know what to do when they saw the matching size of the cubic hole on the statue's chest together with the cubic shaped metal in Hallel's hand. After getting the confirmation from Mays, Hallel hastily put the cubic metal piece in her hand into the empty slot on the statue's chest.

Kreak.

Kreak. Kreeeaaaakk.

It didn't take long for the statue to start moving after that. As if a battery have been plugged into its socket, the statue returned to life soon after.

The statue who just revived did not waste any time before he started talking in a robotic tone. He was totally golem like, in both the way he talks and how his body part moved.

"Congratulation on completing the hidden piece."

The statue mechanically talked as he stepped forward. He then paused for a couple of seconds before he continued.

"I am Gamma, the hidden guardian."

Kreak. The silver statue continued as he moved forward one step at a time.

"You will now be given a chance to unlock your reward."

And again, he talked and walked in his mechanical pattern while he led Mays and the rest outside the chamber.

"Follow me."

Kreak. Kreak. Kreaak.

One step after another, Gamma walked over the hallway while leading Mays and the rest toward his pre-set destination. He did not say anything after he asked the group to follow him.

After walking for about ten minutes, he stopped in front of a rectangular table located inside a well decorated chamber. From the mural stretched all over the chamber, this rectangular table should be storing something important.

There were even several golden pillar erected along the wall within the chamber making the whole chamber looks majestic and sacred.

"Here we are."

"Only one person can undergo this trial."

The moment Gamma uttered that line, two pair of eyes fixed their gaze on one person. Even Drasca who was inside Mays's world of consciousness stared at Mays instantaneously. None of them could think of a better candidate to undergo the trial with Mays being present.

"You sure Hallel? You are the one who pieced the hidden puzzle after all."

"It's okay. I think you are the one with highest chance to clear whatever trial this statue have. I claimed fifty percent's of the rewards though."

"Haha, whatever."

Knowing that Hallel had given up the opportunity for him, Mays could not adamantly refuse the favor. He knew well how Hallel thinks. She would not budge after she already made up her mind. This characteristic of her was totally similar to Ria. Their stubbornness were on the same level indeed.

"Put your right palm on this orb."

The silver statue issued a simple order and Mays complied without saying anything. The white orb is located on top of the rectangular table, devoid of luster. With a lot of dust all over it, the orb was as unremarkable as any normal pebble on the road.

"Eh?"

The moment his palm touched the orb, he could literally feel his stamina and all other power inside his body being drained against his will. It took less than five seconds to make Mays fell unconscious without any shred of energy within him.

"MAYSSS!!"

"MMMMMAAAAYYYSSS!!"

Both Ria and Hallel jumped in fright when they saw Mays fell over after touching the orb. They tried to approach the location where Mays and the silver statue were at but they were blocked by some sort of barrier, an invisible barrier.

"Ugh, what is this?"

"Damn, this thing is hard!!"

They were obviously anxious to Mays current condition but the invisible barrier was quite sturdy. Ria who already unsheathed her blade strike the barrier several times but to no avail. She did not use any skills but her casual strike was without doubt on the high side among all godkins.

"There is no need to worry. He will be back soon."

The voice of the silver statue did not calmed the two down at all. In fact, it riled them even more as if the statue was mocking their inability to save their loved one.

"Just you wait silver piece of shit, I will cut you into a hundred pieces after I break this barrier."

Ria was the faster one when it comes to talking bad.

"Hundreds is too easy for me, I will cut you harder into at least a thousand pieces."

Not planning to lose to Ria, Hallel immediately come up with a retort.

"...…"

Not knowing how to explain the situation, the silver statue was at a loss of word before he decided to ignore these two people. He knew that the barrier was indestructible so he would not bother with those two muscle brain who refused to even listen.

A barrier made by the old god can only be broken by the maker himself or by the new god. Without either presents at the moment, the barrier was literally unbreakable.

Reverting his gaze back to the unconscious Mays, he prayed that this person who arrived was the one his creator was looking for. With how the time limit is approaching, he had limited choice on picking the best candidate for the god's inheritance.

"May the old god's blessing shine upon you."

-----------------

"Where is this?"

Mays blinked several time as he was unsure where he currently was at. The surrounding could not be any more familiar but he knew for sure that everything he saw was not real.

"This is not your room. This is without doubt an illusion."

Drasca's stern voice reminded Mays where he really was. There was no way for him to be teleported back to his room in Earth. He remembered that he just touched an ordinary looking orb inside a ruins and now he was trapped inside some sort of illusions.

"Yeah, this ain't real. But I can touch everything here though."

"It's a higher level illusion then, Reality Distortion."

As the name implies, Reality Distortion changed the illusion into reality by relying on high concentration of magic powers. This technique is so powerful that even Drasca herself could not differentiate this illusion from reality had she not known the fact beforehand.

"Be careful, master. You can be injured for real in here."

"Is it not the same as all other illusion technique we encountered so far? We die for real in all those if I'm not mistaken."

Since he already encountered illusion technique before, Mays voiced out his opinion but he was rebuked right away by Drasca.

"You are right, master. But… There are differences in between."

"Ordinary illusion technique can only affect one's mind. The only reason why people die is because they thought they died in the illusions where in actuality their body was perfectly fine. Reality Distortion on the other hand, is such a high level technique where a cut in this illusion means a cut to your real body outside."

"Another fact that you might want to know is that even someone like me who was famed to be the best at illusion technique could not use Reality Distortion. This meant that whoever made this was out of this world."

That long explanation from Drasca left Mays hanging for quite some time before he regained his usual composure. Mays was not afraid of this so called Reality Distortion technique nor was he afraid of being killed in this illusion.

The reason why he was deep in thought earlier was actually rather simple. He knew that he would be able to obtain more information regarding the old god after he solved this problem at hand.

The one who made this illusion was without doubt the old god or someone related to him. There would be no other logical explanation since even Drasca herself could not conjure this kind of illusion.

A pair of footstep inched near the room which Mays was in and he could clearly hear the incoming footsteps. For some reason, he felt some tingling sensation as the two people approached. The moment he saw their silhouette in front of the room's door, he was stunned for a few seconds.

"Mays, you have grown into a splendid young man."

One of them muttered gently with an amiable look on his face. This middle aged man have almost the same facial feature as Mays albeit different in some part.

"I miss you, son. How have you been?"

The other person was a middle aged woman. Mays stood at the same spot without moving as this middle aged woman hugged him tightly, extremely excited over the fact that they finally met.

Not even one minute later, Mays pushed away the middle aged woman who seemed to be his mother while he grabbed her shoulder gently. He then started speaking in his normal nonchalant tone as if everything which just happened never mattered.

"You're not real."

That simple line from Mays easily made the two middle aged couple disappeared without any trace. There were bitter smile on both their face as they faded away into nothingness.

If it was someone else, they might easily succumb to the illusions considering the fact that their loved one who already passed away for years suddenly appeared in front of them. Not Mays though.

His heart have been tempered hard enough to the point where he no longer cared about his dead parents. Even his compassion to the living were limited only to his close relative. Thanks to the difficult life he had lived, this illusion trial were practically useless to him. Even without the help of Drasca, Mays could easily pass this level of trial.

"Ugh, this is a foul. What is a contracted being doing here together with the trial taker?"

A loud sigh echoed all over and the scenery surrounding Mays turned blurry. It did not take long before Mays was left in a void space with nothing in sight. Darkness was the only thing present as far as the eyes could see.

"Now then, let's move on to the second part of this trial."

Nothing actually happened to Mays nor his surroundings this time.

"You even mastered the secret arte? What in the world!"

Once again, the trial giver exclaimed in shock. Never would he had thought that someone who mastered the secret arte would be taking his trial.

"Since the trial is ineffective on you, consider yourself lucky. You passed."

His steel heart might be strong enough to pass the trial without issue but the secret arte he mastered totally rendered the trial useless. The second part of the trial itself could not manifest because of his secret arte mastery.

"Are you the old god?"

Rather than being fazed by the abrupt end of his trial, Mays was composed enough to start asking question to the mysterious voice.

"Well, I am just a remnant will left behind by the old god. I do have the memories of the old god until the moment I was left here."

"Will you answer a question of mine?"

"What is it?"

Upon confirmation, Mays wasted no time as he asked one thing that intrigued him most all this time.

"Everything so far. Is it really necessary to do this the roundabout way?"

Others might not understood the question due to how vague it sounds but not the old god. Since the person who was asking was undergoing the whole thing he set up, there was no way he would misinterpret the question.

"Yes it is. In fact, even all of these aren't enough to prepare for what to come. I'm sorry but the world's fate is now in your hand."