CH 175

The Guardians were indeed strong, but the feeling of actually fighting them did not make it feel as threatening as a human double Highlander. As Rafishal said, they are only artificial.

In the end, the white guardian that Rafishal had mentioned never appeared, and we returned to the ride carrier after destroying all of the hundred or so guardians that had attacked us.

“Good work. Rest up while you can, because more might come.”

When I returned, Jean immediately gave me a word of encouragement. It’s a good thing that Jean is so considerate, isn’t it?

“The Guardians weren’t much of a double Highlander, was it?”

Alana, also a double Highlander, gives her honest opinion.

“Well, it felt like a Highlander……at best, and a half-radar at worst.”

Emina agreed. They all seemed to feel the same way.

“No, I thought so because the Iron Knights are becoming more and more effective in combat. What’s more, it might be because the Guardians didn’t have a leader machine to command them.”

“Does having a leader change things that much?”

“It’ll be different, organized Guardians are terrifying.”

Rafishal said soothingly. If that was the case, it was probably lucky that the leader machine was not present.

Then, with Rafishal’s guidance, we arrived at the ruins where one of the seals was located. When he saw the ruins, Rafishal’s expression became tense.

“Looks like we’re a little late.”

“What, the seal’s been broken?”

“Probably……I’ll just go check the inside.”

Rafishal said lightly, but Jean thought about it for a moment and said,

“Okay……but it’s not safe for you to go alone, so let’s get some people to go with you.”

Rafishal went with me and Alana to check out what was going on inside, as well as Darm and Balm, apprentice mechanics that used to specialize in hand-to-hand combat, as guards.

“I heard that the twins were famous fighters.”

“Yes, we were called the Red Demon and Blue Demon of the Kingdom of Lubel.”

Balm replied to Alana’s question.

“What? You’re kidding me, you’re the two demons of Lubel?”

“Hehehe, I’m ashamed to admit it.”

“What, Alana, do you know them?”

“The twin demons of the Kingdom of Lubel, the strongest monsters on the continent in hand-to-hand combat. In a major battle against the Valkyria Empire a few years ago, it is said that they killed 10,000 enemy soldiers in a battle inside a cave that the magicrafts could not enter. And I heard a rumor that you defeated a magicraft using their bodies, is that true?”

“That was a complete hoax. In fact, I just used a rope to jump into the cockpit of the magicraft, used a tool to pry open the hatch, and cut the rider inside.”

No, I think it’s still great enough…….

“Well, it looks like we have the perfect opponent to show off our prowess.”

From the middle of the road, the pathway became too narrow for the magicraft to pass through so Alana and I were both walking through the ruins. Slowly approaching from the end of the passageway was a monster made of stone statues with the head of an ox and the body of a strong man, carrying a large axe.

“It’s a small Guardian, much stronger than a flesh and blood human, so you’d better be careful.”

“Leave it to me, Grand Master. I’ll pay you back here for all the trouble I’ve caused you as a mechanic.”

With that, the two of them slowly approached the monster. They were not intimidated at all by the monster, which was even bigger than them.

The first to move was the small Guardian. It swung its large axe lightly and attacked Darm and Balm.

I was expecting him to avoid the powerful axe attack, but to my surprise, he caught the attack with one hand. Then, with a whoosh, he slammed the monster against the wall with the axe he had stopped.

It seems that the strongest on the continent is not a fluke. It was here that the two of them really started to show their strength. The monster that was slammed against the wall tried to stand up – but with a quick movement, Darm approached the monster, grabbed the cow’s head with one hand and lifted it lightly. He then threw it towards Balm as if he were throwing garbage. The thrown monster used the recoil from being thrown and went straight into a full swing to receive a powerful lariat to the neck.

The monster was slammed into the wall again, cracked from the neck where he was hit by the lariat, and just crumbled to pieces.