Forgotten guardian

Hounds, skeletons, and undead zombies, all those were the things we encountered as we passed through the long corridor behind the doors of the grand hall. The large windows on both sides of the corridor grant a peek into a large lake outside, filled with floating corpses within its transparent red liquid.

As Gabby carries Aika, the three of us fend off every enemy approaching us until we reach the dead end.

"Another gate… You guys rest here for now. We might need it later." I claimed, shooting arrows from the incoming numbers of enemies.

** You've slain a living thing **

** Receiving 0.2 Abyssal Points **

"Man, how can you still shoot without even breaking a sweat? Are you even human?" Edison complained.

"You're somewhat right" Gabby giggled.

"Same goes for you. You've been carrying her nonstop while evading the pouncing hounds and swinging swords of the skeletons." Edison added.

"What are you implying? Huh?" Gabby glared.

But it was true. Our strength compared to a normal athlete was different, and we were growing too fast from an average citizen. And this is probably because of the system.

"Stop arguing and focus on resting!" I scolded as I released another arrow. Thanks to the torches and eerie red light coming from outside, the enemies became visible within my bow's reach.

"In… side…"

"I know, but for now, rest!"

"Who are you talking to, Cipher?" Gabby questioned while the rest just blankly stared at me.

"Didn't you say-" again, the words of a groaning person spoke once more. It didn't come from any one of us but from inside. And from the little crack of the gate, something peeks before vanishing.

"He-he, are we going to fight a large ghost or something?" Edison awkwardly laughed but Gabby wasn't amazed by it.

Her legs started shaking and her eyes widened in fear, she could barely hold Aika properly.

"Whoa there!" Edison caught Aika before she fell from Gabby's grasp. "What are you doing? It's just a ghost."

"N-no… It's not… It's too frightening…" she claimed as the aura in her body was acting strangely.

"Gabby! Your aura! Turn it off!" I shouted then her face straightened as her aura dispersed. Still, her legs were trembling from the experience.

"in… side…." it spoke once again.

The monsters stopped their pursuit and returned to where they'd come from, while the creature inside kept spouting the words "inside" repeatedly. And it didn't show signs of stopping even after minutes of resting.

"Darn it, it's getting more and more annoying than terrifying. Can we just enter already and get this over with?" Edison claimed.

"If it turns out to be another wraith, we won't be able to win either, even if we enter," Lawrence replied.

"I-I'll do it… I'll help…" Aika groans as she tries to stand on her feet.

"No, you can't yet."

"I said I'll help! Everyone is doing this for something, and I can't just stand here if I'm the only one who could help us get out of here…" she shouted, pushing herself to enter the gates. "I can still feel it. I can still fight…"

"No, it's too risky!" Gabby said.

"I don't want to be the reason why everyone doesn't get in!" She pushed Gabby away, running for the doors with all of her strength and it was too late. She was dragged into the darkness before I could catch up.

We soon followed but the door forcibly shut, locking us inside. It was only darkness we could see until Aika's magic was used once more. A single dim orb formed, lighting the whole chamber where the ghost was peeking from.

****** Creature information *******

Fallen Angel Lailah

Level 50

HP: 50000/50000 MP: 8000/8000

*******************************

"H-hey… isn't this a bit too much…" Of all the things we've fought in this timeline, this was by far the most powerful one. Too powerful, it can't even be compared to the one we previously fought.

But it was restrained in the middle of this large chamber with translucent chains, and its figure is of a woman. Tall as the ceiling with her skin as dark as the night sky, while on her feet, Aika lies unmoving.

"Aika!" Gabby called, running towards her.

"Gabby, don't!" Before she could even reach her, a fork plunged in front of her from the sky and stopped her movements. And above us, red creatures floating in mid-air growl.

*** Creature information ***

Red Imp

Level 10

HP: 700/700 MP: 100/100

***********************

"You gotta be kidding me…" I could spot not just one, but more than twenty of them floating around the chained angel as if it was guarding it. "Urgh! Never mind, focus on eradicating the little ones first!"

"Roger that," Edison claimed, opening his backpack and revealing a heavy barrel gun. "Eat this, little devils!"

Glowing bullets started firing from it, eradicating most of the floating monsters but the number was only increasing as the solid windows of the chamber opened, letting in many imps inside.

The arrows I prepared had thinned into a dozen, and Lawrence's blade no longer stretched from mana exhaustion.

"This is bad. I'm running out of bullets." Edison claimed, and then he accidentally hit one of the chains. "S-sorry…"

"Be careful next time!" I scolded but the imps were rather in a panic instead of grinning. "Ed! hit it again! Fire on the chain!"

"W-what!?" he questioned. "If we die here, that's on you."

He aimed at the chain he hit once again but this time, the imps gathered to protect it. Glowing bullets were fired while the imps caught it, but to their demise, the chain still broke and their death became absolute.

Yet it only angers the other floating creatures, and forks soon start raining.

"Oh, crap."

"Not on my watch!" Edison shouted, pressing a button on his wrist then all the forks gathered in a single place, on Edison's backpack lying near the shut gate. It clumped together, attracted on a single point like a ball of large needles. But it also took my bow and Lawrence's sword. "S-sorry!"

"It's fine. You saved us somehow." Lawrence replied as he got the blade back.

The creatures hissed and spread their claw, attempting to dive but Edison once again started firing his big gun, annihilating half of them.

"Everyone, focus on cutting the chains!" It was a risky idea, but it was the only thing I could think of. Something about it frightens the imps and if my guess is right, we still have a chance of making it out of this place alive.

Ed started bombarding the chains, snapping them in half with his bullets until he stopped on the last one. "I-I'm out!"

"Don't worry, I'll handle this one." I grasped for my silver blade from the storage, dashing near the angel and then jumping as forcefully as I could.

** Active skill activated **

Leap

Jump forward at a short distance in an instant. Increase damage by 20% upon leap. Increase fatigue by 20%.

Skill cooldown: 20 seconds

**********************

The last chain split in half, terrifying the imps floating around then the angel started to move. Light began to swallow the whole chamber, blinding all of us within mere seconds but as the light diminished, the whole place changed.

All imps had turned into stones, breaking apart as they fell to the ground. The eerie red light became calming blue while the floating corpses in the lake were cleaned, replacing the dead with a number of floating white wisps dancing on the surface of the water.

But the appearance of the angel stayed the same. Dark as the night.

"Children of the abyss…" the angel spoke, making us wary of what was about to happen. But instead, it grinned with its lips and looked at us with its white glowing eyes. "Do not fret, I am a friend of the dragon who took you as disciples…"

The others stared blankly, not knowing what the angel was talking about. Then Ed and Lawrence looked at us.

"What is she talking about? Dragon? Disciples?" Lawrence asked.

"A long story…" I sighed. "But truth be told, I know little of this dragon. Maybe you could answer my queries?"

The angel shook her head and then responded "I too know little of his actions and motives, but as a creature of the night, we share similarities. We are both fond of the darkness of the night…"

"Not the answer I was looking for… Why did he do that to me? Why is this happening? And what is this system?"

"I do not know what you are implying but I could sense two things. He is gone… and a part of him lies within you…" the angel replied.

"Great, more riddles…"

"But what are you doing here? Why are you chained?" Gabby asked.

"Because of my foolish insight. Something unexpected caught me off guard and led me into my captivity for so many years, it was beginning to corrupt me… until I saw the bleakest yet purest light in the evil darkness of this place…" the angel replied.

"And to answer your question, young man. I may not be able to help in your quest of seeking the truth you are yearning but I could help someone in here." her gaze turned to Aika, and white light started brimming from her until Aika could finally stand on her own. "Aika Tailor, you are now my disciple, bearer of my system, and the lamp in the darkest night."

"Huh? What happened?" Aika asked in confusion upon gaining consciousness.

"And for the rest of you, I thank you for freeing me from the shackles that chained me. For that, I'll help you get out of this place along with a gift." the angel spoke before transcending into the ceiling and disappearing.

All of our wounds had been healed in an instant and a circular pedestal appeared at the center of the chamber.

"That's it! The ticket outta here!" Ed cheered, climbing on the pedestal.

Lawrence was still glaring but soon dismissed the matter "I don't know what she was talking about but let's hurry. We still have an exam to finish."

"Wait, what's going on? What happened?" Aika asked before joining the others on the floating platform.

***

"Now for the last team to arrive, who will it be? Will it be group 13, the team of musclemen? Or group 19, who rides a large tiger? Let's not count out group 30, soaring with their advanced air propellers!" the emcee spoke, thrilled with the suspense of whom the last group would arrive as everyone watched the teams racing in the barren lands via televisions and floating cameras.

The speed of the remaining three teams who survived the harsh barren wasteland was almost the same. But the group of the flying team was still in the lead until their gadgets had failed them, and they fell into the water who were surrounding the stadium.

Group 19 had to stop as their ride didn't like the water and had to swim by themselves, making the situation an opportunity for group 13 who excel in all types of physical activities.

"L-looks like we will be having a winner in 10… 9… 8-" the emcee stopped counting as a sudden explosion of dirt occurred at the center of the open-roof stadium in the vast wasteland and as the dust cleared, team seven was lying flat on the ground. "W-we have an unexpected winner!!!"

The whole stadium cheered at the unexpected turn of events, but Cipher and the others were still too sick to stand from the shortcut they took.

"I-I think I'm gonna puke…" Lawrence claimed.

"Let's agree not to take shortcuts again, shall we?" Cipher asked.

"Agreed…" the other four replied in unison as they vomited all together.