Chapter 519: Real Guardian
The cracks expanded like veins bursting under the weight of a demonic heart.
Two colossi had fallen, but the arena did not crumble. On the contrary—the feeling of suffocation intensified, and the surrounding forest itself bowed, as if bending its twisted branches in reverence to what was emerging.
From the magma and shadow, bones, embers, and smoke coalesced, twisting into a living mass. A colossal carcass rose, formed from the ashes of the guardians. Horns larger than towers protruded, wings made of bone and flames tore through the air, and teeth like swords erupted from a flaming maw.
It was as if the arena itself had spat out its true form: the High Guardian, formed from the fusion of the two defeated entities.
Titania fell to her knees under the impact of the presence. Her hands covered her ears, tears streaming in fear.
“Great… they decided to swallow each other and become one… what a shame.”
Zuri pressed her body against hers, protecting her, but her golden eyes burned. “Let’s get away, leave this to Vergil.”
Vergil raised the katana and ran his thumb along the edge, oblivious to the heat that seared everyone’s skin. His eyes glowed an icy blue, and his smile was almost childish. “Ahhh… so they’re finally done playing.”
The beast raised its titanic arm, and with a single gesture, released a river of lava and shadows simultaneously. The attack wasn’t just heat or darkness—it was an impossible fusion that seemed to dissolve reality as it touched the air.
Vergil charged forward.
His body became a blue blur. The katana sliced the colossal attack in half, splitting the river into two torrents that cascaded down the sides of the clearing. Immense explosions engulfed the edges, further cracking the bones of the arena.
Katharina leaped beside him, her feet leaving trails of fire that evaporated the ground. Her hair was a cascade of magma.
“If it’s made of flame, I will destroy it.”
She conjured a flaming spear that multiplied dozens of times in the air.
“Let’s play, little lava worm.”
The spears descended like a storm, piercing the colossus’s chest. Each impact erupted like a miniature volcano.
But the creature only roared, opening its burning chest to vomit a sea of fire upon her.
“KATHA!” Roxanne screamed, and spread her arms. Cutting winds rose like walls, dividing the fire into smaller flames. The clash of heat and air created a fiery hurricane that spiraled skyward, tearing apart demonic clouds.
In the void, Vanny advanced.
Her fists coated in purple demonic energy, she punched the titan’s leg, each blow echoing like thunder. Flaming bones cracked.
“FALL, YOU TRASH!” she roared, unloading punches like machine guns.
The monster staggered. But it raised its massive tail, made of burning bones, and slammed it down.
It was Rize who intervened.
Her demonic webs shot out like arrows, attaching themselves to the tail and pulling it down. More threads wrapped around the creature’s legs, and others attached themselves to the arena’s bone columns.
Rize dug her heels into the ground, her veins glowing with black energy.
“I LOCK YOU HERE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
The Guardian roared, pulling, and the webs stretched until they nearly burst. Rize screamed in pain, blood pouring from her mouth and eyes.
“Hold on tight, girl.” Vergil appeared beside her, slashing at the tail that was trying to break free. “If he doesn’t move, I can play.”
He vanished.
An instant later, blue slashes appeared across his colossal body: on his chest, his arms, his neck. Each blow erupted in lava and smoke. Vergil moved so fast he seemed to be everywhere at once, his katana singing a melody of destruction.
“You’re big. You’re ugly,” he muttered between slashes. “But you’re nothing more than meat to be sliced.”
The titan screamed, and its jaws opened in four, revealing a vortex of flames and shadows. It sucked in the air around it, creating a whirlwind that dragged everything in.
Roxanne was pulled in, her daggers whirling in the contrary winds.
“NO!” she screamed, trying to resist.
But Zuri finally moved, becoming gigantic.
The colossal serpent wrapped its coils around Roxanne and dug its fangs into the ground, resisting the suction. Its golden eyes burned with rage.
“Hold on. I won’t let him do anything to you.”
Katharina, on the other hand, let out a mad laugh.
She spread her arms and let the vortex pull her in.
“THIS IS WHAT I WANTED!” she screamed, and before being swallowed, she conjured a spear the size of a tower. Her entire body turned to flame, fusing with the weapon.
“I WILL KILL YOU!”
She pierced the Guardian’s throat, entering with the weapon. A colossal explosion shook the arena.
Vergil appeared close behind, his katana piercing the colossus’s spine.
“Die, damn it,” he whispered, and delivered a final slash that spread like a blue wave across the creature’s entire body.
Silence.
The Guardian froze, flaming blue cracks erupting across its body. Then it collapsed, exploding in a storm of lava, smoke, and broken bones.
The impact threw everyone back.
The clearing shook, cracking even further, as if hell itself had split.
When the smoke cleared, Vergil stood in the center, his katana sheathed, his body covered in blood and embers.
Katharina reappeared a few feet away, her body still burning with flames, but grinning like a madwoman.
Vanny spat blood and laughed.
Roxanne wiped her forehead, her red eyes still glowing with adrenaline.
Rize fell to her knees, her webs dissipating, but with a victorious smile.
Titania wept silently, hugging Zuri, who was still watching the destroyed field with watchful eyes.
Vergil lifted his face, took a deep breath of the suffocating air, and smiled. “That… was fun.”
Titania, still hugging Zuri—who was slowly shrinking to her size—widened her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes watery, her expression like that of an abandoned puppy.
“H-fun?!!!” Her voice came out in a tearful cry. “I-it wasn’t fun at all!! I almost died!!”
She stamped her feet, her golden aura trembling with rage and relief at the same time.
“You have to stop finding everything dangerous fun!” she continued, pointing at him with a trembling finger. “It’s always blood, explosions, death… and you’re smiling like a madman!”
Vergil stared at her for a second. His cold eyes contrasted with the fairy’s crying. Then he snorted and crossed his arms.
“Hmph. Shut up, aquarium diver. Be quiet.”
Titania froze.
“D-diver… of what?!”
Zuri, beside her, bit her lip, trying to contain her laughter, but failed. A low sound escaped, soon turning into a deep, breathless laugh.
Rize nearly fell to the floor laughing so hard.
Katharina just gave a wicked smile.
Roxanne sighed, massaging her forehead, as if she was used to it.
Titania, her wings trembling, blushed even deeper.
“I-I’m not an aquarium diver!” she yelled, hiding her face in her hands.
Vergil just smiled, satisfied with the chaos he had just created.