Chapter 73: Pissed Of Guardian
"You two did well."
Countless bodies littered the mountaintop, scattered and severed like sothing had torn through them without stopping to check if they were still moving. And at the far edge of the mountain, lying lifeless, was his mother. Well, grandmother.
Ari leaped off the armored knight’s shoulder and landed on his, curling up against his neck like she’d been waiting all night to get back to her favorite spot. "Good job, girl," he muttered tiredly, his eyes half open.
Beside his grandmother, lying in a cradle, two children. Their cries echoed through the night, small and raw and alive.
But sothing else caught his attention.
He moved forward to where the mountain’s edge ended, and what he saw beyond it was nothing. Just an empty, never-ending void that made purgatory look like a vacation.
His hand reached for the mist beyond the edge. Instantly, it twisted—bent in a way he never thought an arm could bend. Bones rearranging themselves into a shape that would’ve made a pretzel jealous.
He pulled his hand back and stared at it.
And giggled.
’Oh, look at that. This would have hurt like hell if I hadn’t already had a fist torn through my stomach tonight.’
He whipped his arm out and snapped it back into place. Then, because he was apparently incapable of learning from his own mistakes, he tried with the other hand.
Expecting different results.
Which was idiotic.
The result was the sa.
’This is so weird. Wonder what would happen if I just went through.’
As he was about to test his stupid theory out, the kids started to cry louder, so he turned his attention back to them. Their tiny faces scrunched up, mouths wide open, screaming into the night like they had personal grievances with the entire universe. And he couldn’t really bla them. Even Shiro had so good quality beef with the universe.
He glanced at the knight. Enkidu stood there, looking hesitant—which was a first. The massive armored figure that had torn through armies without flinching was now staring at two babies like they were made of glass and he was made of everything that breaks glass.
’Fair enough.’
Shiro knelt down and gently scooped them up. One in each arm.
And the mont he did, the mist thickened. The air dropped several degrees. The clouds darkened overhead like soone had flipped a switch. The wind picked up, howling across the mountaintop with the kind of fury that said sothing was coming and it wasn’t happy about visitors.
Their cries got worse. Louder. More desperate.
And the weight shifted. Instead of him standing on the mountain, it felt like the mountain was standing on him. Pressing down. Crushing. The air itself growing heavier with every passing second.
He handed them to the ebony knight, gently placing them in its arms. Enkidu held them carefully, awkwardly.
The knight moved. Fast. Disappearing into the shadow with two screaming bundles cradled against its chest.
And Shiro stayed.
Because whatever was coming needed soone to keep it busy. Just for a bit.
The entire mountaintop began to swirl. Wind coiling around itself, tighter and tighter, until a tornado ford around the mountain, pulling at everything that wasn’t nailed down and a few things that were.
His knee buckled, dropping him to one, as the silhouette grew bigger and the weight on his body doubled. Then tripled. Then kept going like gravity had discovered overti pay.
The ground beneath him shifted. Stone crawled up his legs, locking around his ankles like shackles forged from the mountain itself. He tried to control the soil underneath him, tried to push back, but his earth attribute artifact ranked too low. Like bringing a butter knife to a sword fight and expecting the sword to be impressed.
He waited for the beast to show itself. And the suspense was genuinely killing him—and he didn’t need to wait long, because it introduced itself with a low, ancient voice.
A voice he hadn’t heard in ages.
"You sll wonderful." The words slithered through the mist like they had teeth. "That body is carrying such dense mana. Rich. Heavy." A pause. Almost savoring. "Like wine left to age in a cellar for centuries. I could taste you from the depths of this mountain."
Shiro’s skin crawled. Every hair on his body stood at attention.
"Oh, look," he said, forcing his voice to stay casual despite the fact that his legs were literally cented to a mountain. "You regrew your head. Nice. Very impressive. Good for you."
He glanced down at his feet. Still stuck.
"Alright then, how about this—let’s just forget the past. You got your head back. Looking great, by the way. And the gods already punished
plenty." He tried a smile. "So we’re even. Right? Water under the bridge? Head under the bridge? Whatever works for you."
Silence.
The kind of silence that said no.
The ground beneath him shifted again—but not to chain him this ti. It lifted. The stone rose upward, carrying him with it, suspending him high above the mountaintop until he was eye level with the thing hiding in the mist.
The mist parted.
And there it was. In all its horrifying glory. Scaled body, dark and reptilian, coiled in blue-green armor. Two massive horns curving out wide. Black jagged wings crackling with energy. Two serpentine tails, each ending in a snake head that looked like it had been holding a grudge since the dawn of civilization. And worst of all, its face—rows of unblinking eyes running down the center of its skull. Beneath its jaw hung a second face, smaller, almost human, that extended outward as it scanned Shiro head to toe.
"Even?" The word ca out like a purr wrapped in gravel. "You cut off my head, little king. You and your pet. You walked into my forest. Killed my trees. Stood over my body and celebrated like children who had slain a dog." The grin widened. Rows of flat, ancient teeth catching the moonlight. "Do you have any idea what I endured because of you?"
"I have waited lifetis for this, Gilgash. Lifetis." Its voice dropped. "After you left
there. Lifeless. Headless. Rotting in my own forest like garbage." A short pause. "I had to beg the gods for help. Beg. . The guardian of the Cedar Forest. And they treated
like I was worthless. Like I was an inconvenience they couldn’t be bothered to crush properly."
Its grin stretched wider. Hungrier.
"And the people on this island? They were stupid enough to feed
their godly children. Generation after generation. Offering after offering. Like tossing lambs into a wolf’s den and expecting the wolf to be grateful." A low, rumbling chuckle that shook the ground beneath Shiro’s knees. "I wasn’t grateful. I was growing."
A growl built in its chest. Low. Tectonic.
"I am sothing greater than a god now. I cannot die." Its countless eyes burned brighter, each one a small sun of ancient fury. "And that precious little prophecy the foolish goddess whispered into the old fool’s ears? That was . Even before that dumb goddess knew of your existence, I knew. That’s why I didn’t devour you when you were little."
The grin widened.
"I gave the old man nightmares. Visions of you growing into a threat. Whispered fear into his sleep until he believed it was his own instinct telling him to throw you away." A chuckle. Deep. Ancient. The laugh of sothing that had been playing chess while everyone else thought they were playing checkers. "And I watched. As he tossed you into that pit. As you suffered. As you clawed your way through your miserable little life on your hands and knees."
Its eyes swept over him.
"And now look at you."
Shiro stared at it.
’So my entire tragic backstory is because of an overgrown lizard with a grudge. Cool. Love that origin story. Really inspiring stuff.’
"Dude." His voice ca out flat. "You watched
grow up from inside a mountain. Like so creepy, thousand-eyed stalker with nothing better to do. You ruined my entire childhood. Turned my grandfather into a paranoid lunatic. Got
thrown into a snake pit. And you’re sitting there telling
we’re not even?"
He shook his head.
"You are one crazy, unhinged, deeply disturbing thing. You know that, right? Like, has anyone ever told you that?"
"Crazy?" It tilted its massive head, those countless eyes blinking in a slow cascade. "I sat in the dark for centuries, eating children, growing stronger, and waiting for the one soul I wanted most to walk right into my mountain." A chuckle. "That’s not crazy, little king. That’s patient."
Its voice shifted. Harder. Hungrier.
"And that patience created you. The one al I have been waiting for." It roared, the sound splitting the air like a crack in the sky. "After I drain you dry, I will have my revenge on every last one of those who shunned ."????????????????????????????????
"Ahhhh—can you skip to the part where you try to eat ?" He faked a yawn. "This entire villain monologue is putting
to sleep, and I’ve already had a long night."????????????????????????????????
Its countless eyes swept the mountaintop. "Where are the two children the old fool promised ?"
"Oh, about that." Shiro scratched the back of his head. "They said they’re too young to be eaten by a creepy monster, so they left."
’Co on, Enkidu. Hurry up.’
It sighed—or whatever giant ancient beasts do when mildly inconvenienced.
"It doesn’t matter." Its grin widened. Patient. Unhurried. "They are marked. I can find them later. When they’re nice and ripe."
Shiro’s face twisted with disgust. "Eww. Don’t say it like that. It sounds weird and even more creepy."
"I an, look at you." The beast leaned closer, its countless eyes roaming over him. "Because I didn’t devour you back then, your body is now filled with mana so dense I’m drooling."
Those words sent a creepy shiver down his spine.
"As you know, your goddess Ishtar desires ," Shiro said, struggling against the stone holding his feet, "and you know if sothing were to happen to , she would be really upset." He paused, still pulling. "Also, you’re not my type. But hey, we can be friends."
The beast laughed. "That weakened goddess has no power over . She is a useless goddess who got herself sealed. Pathetic."
"Ooooo, you called her an idiot, useless, and a dumb goddess." His eyes widened with mock excitent. "If you let
go, I’ll keep my mouth shut."
"This version of you talks a lot," the beast said.
"You think so? I think I got that from my dad."
"Oh, I rember that one." Its voice shifted. Softer. Almost fond. "He tasted great."
His expression darkened. "Huh. You want to repeat that?"
"I said he was good. His mana tasted amazing."
Shiro broke free and lunged, only to be caught by its tail. The snake-like appendage wrapped around his body, coiling tight, hissing. And he understood every word.
"How the mighty king has fallen," said the one on the right.
’Great. Even the tails have opinions.’
The beast’s head expanded toward him and it let out a guttural scream that tore through his ears and exploded inside his skull. His eyes widened as sothing warm poured out of both sides of his head. Everything went quiet. The kind of quiet where the world keeps moving but the sound gets ripped out of it, and all that’s left is a high-pitched buzzing in the ears.
’I don’t like this.’
His vision blurred. He watched, helpless, as the second face beneath the beast’s jaw began to move.
The skin around its neck started to split open to reveal rows of more jagged teeth.
’Oh, co on. It never did that last ti.’
The jaw widened. Stretched. Opened like a flower made of nightmares, closing in around him.
Ari appeared out of nowhere, tiny body coiled tight, and let out a hiss so fierce it didn’t match anything her size should have been capable of producing.
The serpent on the left—the one that had been holding Shiro—looked at Ari.
And flinched.
In one sudden, violent motion, it unwrapped itself from Shiro and struck the beast instead. Then the other one followed, releasing him completely, both serpentine tails turning on their own master. They coiled around the beast’s body, biting, tearing, ripping one of its many eyes clean out of its socket.
The beast roared in rage.
Before Shiro’s body could hit the ground, Ari cast her red shield—catching him mid-fall, suspending him in the air.
But he couldn’t move. His body had officially clocked out. His ears were still ringing, his vision was swimming, and every limb felt like it belonged to soone else.
The two serpent tails wrapped tighter around the beast’s body, thrashing, biting, ripping. The beast swung its massive reptilian arm in fury—and shattered Ari’s shield like glass.
Shiro went flying.
His body crashed down the mountainside like a teor that had given up on life, bouncing off rock and dirt and things he didn’t want to think about, until gravity finally got bored and let him stop.
As his vision slowly crawled back, blurry and dark around the edges, the first thing he saw was a figure standing above him.
His grandfather.
’Ahh, shit. Damn you universe.’????????????????????????????????
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