novel-bin Chapter 120: Hesitated
Chapter 120: Hesitated
Chapter 120: HesitatedThey weren’t fourth‑rank creatures, not yet at least. They were third‑rank, more or less self‑aware. Beefed up by the moon, but above all by an animal intelligence born of excessive absorption of essence corrupted by negative energy. They moved as though they understood what danger was, what the Guardian was.
And for the first time, they hesitated.
They lingered just outside the circle. Their heads tilted slightly, as if sizing up the space,
Even the mist itself seemed to thicken around the circle, as if trying to hold at bay what even the Guardian could no longer contain indefinitely.
But something was approaching.
Something older, heavier, more... awakened.
And it wasn’t the Demon, not yet.
——
The crack of bones as the monster slammed into the invisible air‑wall echoed like a sinister warning. Yet the smell of dark blood and the sudden death of one of their own did not break the resolve of those still standing.
On the contrary. The wounded creature’s guttural snarl seemed to act as a signal. A flicker of primitive understanding, terrifyingly effective, passed through their bloodshot eyes.
They all stepped back in perfect unison, beyond the immediate reach of the Guardian’s slow but fatal blade. But this wasn’t a retreat—it was recalibration. Their heads turned, no longer just toward the Guardian but toward Maggie, seated in the center, ravenously absorbing the gems’ essence. The flickering glow of the anima gem in her hand seemed to draw them in, an obsession stronger than the fear of death.
"They’re shifting targets," Elisa murmured, her dagger sliding silently from its sheath. Her eyes tracked the monsters’ feline movements.
"Too smart to just rush him," Dylan agreed, knuckles whitening on his weapon’s haft. "They’re probing for a weakness. Maggie..."
As if on cue, the three remaining creatures—the wounded one hobbling but determined, and two others with grotesquely long claws—spread out. They no longer just circled the Guardian; they lurked around the entire perimeter, testing the invisible boundary the thickening mist seemed to reinforce but also, perhaps, testing the Guardian’s limits. Their shadows, warped and menacing, cut across the moonlit haze.
One of them, the smallest but uncannily fluid in movement, crept dangerously close to the circle’s edge on the side opposite the Guardian. It sniffed the air, its black tongue flicking over its fangs. The Guardian merely turned his head but kept his stance. The threat was electric, suspended in the viscous air.
Then the wounded beast seized its chance. Exploiting the Guardian’s diverted attention, it lunged diagonally, not at the Guardian but toward the space between him and Elisa, aiming squarely for Maggie. A low, triumphant growl, equal parts pain and defiance, tore from its throat.
The Guardian reacted with terrifying precision. His right arm, holding the sword, barely flickered. But his left arm, which had once stilled the air, rose again, palm open toward the assailant. The air before it darkened, ready to solidify.
But the third creature, lurking near Dylan, pounced. Not at the Guardian, not at Maggie but at Dylan. In one blazing, calculated strike, it aimed to distract, to create chaos.
"DYLAN!" Elisa screamed, rushing forward, dagger flashing for an interception.
For the first time the Guardian hesitated for the blink of an eye. Should he contain the strike toward Maggie or shield Dylan from the ambush? In that infinitesimal moment the wounded beast, with a triumphant bellow, crossed the line the Guardian’s left arm couldn’t seal in time. It dove, hobbling but swift, straight for Maggie, claws outstretched for a lethal blow, black drool dripping from its jaws.
Elisa’s blood ran cold. Dylan, engaged in parrying the third creature’s claws with a metallic clang, was helpless to intervene. The wounded beast’s triumphant snarl turned into a bestial grin as it closed in on the unsuspecting woman lost in her absorption.
And at that precise moment, when those claws were just a meter from Maggie’s skull, the ground trembled.