CHAPTER 56: EX 56. THE GUARDIAN

The three of them stood at the edge of the yawning hatch—Leon holding Elizabeth gently in his arms, and Adrian standing beside him, both staring down into the pitch-black entrance like it was the mouth of the void itself.

There was no light, no sound—just silence and a steep descent into darkness.

Leon raised an eyebrow and glanced at Adrian.

"After you," he said, his tone casual, though his eyes stayed sharp.

Adrian looked at the entrance, then at Elizabeth in Leon’s arms—her pale face, her blood-matted hair—before turning back toward the abyss. He exhaled slowly and muttered under his breath,

"Right... no pressure."

Then, without another word, he jumped in.

The soft thud of his landing came a few seconds later, followed by his voice echoing faintly upward:

"You can come in."

Leon stepped forward, holding Elizabeth securely against his chest as he hopped into the entrance. The rush of air swept past them as they dropped, the dim shaft flashing past in blurs of steel and dust. But Leon landed effortlessly beside Adrian, dropping to a low crouch as his knees absorbed the full impact—Elizabeth untouched by the force.

He rose with ease.

Adrian, already holding a glowing emergency orb from his inventory, smirked slightly.

"Nice landing."

"I know," Leon said with a grin, before glancing down the steel hallway ahead. "So... where’s this Guardian Override?"

Adrian turned and gestured forward.

"It should be at the end of this hall. But..."

He paused.

Leon noticed and raised an eyebrow. "But what?"

Adrian didn’t answer with words immediately. He simply turned the light to the side—illuminating the wall.

And there it was.

A massive claw mark, gouged deep into the alloyed steel. It spanned almost the full height of the tunnel wall, long and jagged, like something with monstrous talons had raked through it.

"Seems we’re not the only ones down here," Adrian said grimly.

Leon stared at the mark for a moment... then smirked.

"Tch. Probably just a demonic beast that got in somehow. Should be easy to handle."

Adrian looked at him like he’d just said the worst possible thing.

"Don’t jinx it."

Leon just chuckled, his confidence unshaken.

"Come on, don’t worry. I’m feeling really lucky today."

He gave Elizabeth a glance. She had fallen asleep during their dash here, her pale form rising and falling with each strained, shallow breath.

Then he looked ahead with steel in his gaze.

"Let’s get this teleporter running."

Adrian nodded, and without another word, began walking down the hall.

Leon followed behind, each step echoing off the walls, deeper into the hidden chamber... and whatever waited in its shadows.

***"

Leon and Adrian continued down the dimly lit hall, the silence broken only by the sound of their boots crunching against the dusty floor. With each step, the walls became more marred—deep claw marks etched violently across the steel and stone, growing fresher and more frequent the farther they went.

Leon shifted Elizabeth gently in his arms, her breathing still shallow, but steady. Adrian marched ahead, his sword drawn and ready. His shield had been shattered by James’s earlier spell, but the gleam in his eyes showed he wasn’t planning to fall back. Full Counter could still be used, even without his usual defense.

The corridor seemed to stretch on endlessly, far longer than either of them had expected. The tension in the air was growing thicker, like the calm before a storm.

Then, without warning, a low, rumbling growl echoed through the hall—deep and unnatural, vibrating through the walls and into their bones.

A thunderous crash followed as a massive demonic beast dropped from above, its weight shaking the floor.

It was a monstrous hound with three grotesque heads, each snarling and drooling black ichor. Its red eyes burned with fury, and its obsidian-black fur shimmered like oiled steel. Spikes jutted from its spine, and jagged fangs gnashed as the creature growled, its claws carving fresh gouges into the ground beneath it.

Leon and Adrian instinctively stepped back as they muttered in unison, "Cerberus."

Leon’s brows furrowed. "What’s an A-rank beast doing down here?"

Adrian glanced at him, deadpan. "I told you you’d jinx it."

The beast’s middle head reared back before releasing a blood-curdling roar that shook the corridor, its eyes glowing even brighter as it locked onto the intruders standing before it.

****

The monstrous Cerberus that now stood before them had not always been so terrifying.

Just a few hours ago, it had been an ordinary C-rank dog-type demonic beast, assigned by the selection observers to patrol and protect the vicinity of the Guardian Override.

Its presence alone was meant to be enough to deter weaker beasts from getting too close to the chamber’s core systems.

But fate had other plans.

Unbeknownst to those who had designed the selection field, this particular beast carried a rare, recessive mutation—a mutant bloodline fragment buried deep in its genetics, dormant and inert... until now.

When the true demon above had burnt its blood, unleashing a wave of ancient, corrupted energy, all the demonic beasts across the selection zone had gone into hiding. The pressure from a pure demon’s aura was suffocating for them, a command carved into their very origin—obedience, submission, fear.

But not for this one.

For this beast, the demonic flare didn’t suppress—it liberated.

The resonance between its latent mutation and the blood-burning aura triggered an uncontrollable reaction. As fury now became its breath and hatred, its purpose.

And now, that beast—the A-rank Cerberus—stood before Leon and Adrian, its triple heads snarling in unison, the air around it pulsing with aggression.

Leon’s eyes narrowed as he took a step back.

"...Shit."

****

Leon stood frozen, clutching Elizabeth gently in his arms as her breathing remained shallow and uneven. Her pale form looked like it could fade away at any moment. But right now, his gaze was fixed ahead.

The hulking form of the Cerberus towered before them, steam rising from its triple jaws as drool sizzled against the stone floor. Each of its three heads shifted in eerie synchronization, red eyes locked onto Leon like predators watching a cornered prey.

Adrian glanced sideways at Leon. "Now what?"

Leon didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his eyes narrowed, scanning the beast with calculating focus. Then, with a breath, he turned and stepped beside Adrian.

"Hold her," he said firmly.

Adrian blinked. "What?"

"I’ll handle this."

Adrian instinctively took Elizabeth from him, stunned at how carefully Leon passed her over—despite the threat before them. "Are you sure?" he asked, his voice low with disbelief.

Leon gave a wry, humorless grin. "Nope."

Then, before Adrian could respond again, Leon dashed forward.

The Cerberus roared, reacting instantly to the approaching threat. But Leon was already ahead of it.

In one fluid motion, he summoned his sword from his inventory. His cold, focused gaze never left the beast. As he neared, he suddenly kicked off to the side, as the beast massive paw struck were he once stood.

The Cerberus snapped its heads toward him, growling as its eyes tried to track his rapid, ricocheting form across the hall walls. Leon’s feet finally landed briefly on the ceiling—legs crouched—before he launched himself straight down like a missile, spinning midair to add force and momentum.

But the beast was fast—far faster than it had any right to be.

Just as Leon closed in on the middle head, a massive paw swept through the air like a battering ram.

BOOM!

...

Mass release if we get 100 golden tickets or 300 power stones before Saturday