Chapter 110: Do Not Attack
The two lights remained suspended in the darkness.
David didn’t blink.
He had expected them to disappear, the way the shape had before. Instead, they stayed exactly where they were, faint and distant, watching from somewhere beyond the Gate. He couldn’t make out a face or even a body, but the longer he stared, the more certain he became that those weren’t reflections or some strange effect caused by the energy.
They were eyes.
His fingers tightened slightly around April’s arm.
’How big are you?’
The thought came before he could stop it.
There was no way to judge the distance inside the Gate. The darkness swallowed everything beyond a certain point, making the two lights seem detached from any physical scale. They could belong to something standing ten meters away.
Or something standing a hundred.
David didn’t like either possibility.
The Guardian suddenly shifted.
Its claws dug into the concrete with a slow scrape. Its shoulders lowered, and its injured body compressed toward the ground.
David’s attention snapped toward it.
The creature wasn’t looking at the Association anymore.
It wasn’t even looking at the Gate.
It was looking at the exact spot where those two lights had appeared.
Its breathing changed.
Shorter.
Heavier.
David’s eyes narrowed.
’It’s expecting something.’
Another pulse traveled through the Gate.
The Guardian’s muscles tightened.
April noticed it too.
"Why is it doing that?"
David didn’t answer immediately. He watched the creature’s stance instead. Its wounds were still bleeding. One leg trembled every few seconds, and yet it had forced itself into a position that looked less like an attack and more like preparation.
Whatever was coming, the Guardian already knew it.
And judging by the way it was bracing itself, it wasn’t confident it could stop it.
A shout suddenly came from the stabilizer team.
"Stabilization is accelerating!"
The commander turned sharply.
"Percentage?"
"87%!"
His expression changed.
"That fast?"
"We’ve gone from eighty-three to eighty-seven in seconds!"
Another technician looked down at his monitor.
"Sir."
"What?"
The technician hesitated.
"Something’s wrong."
The commander stepped toward him.
"Explain."
"The Gate is stabilizing without the stabilizers doing it."
Silence.
David heard that clearly.
He looked toward the Gate again.
The energy surrounding it had changed. The pulses were becoming more regular now, almost rhythmic. The barrier wasn’t struggling to hold the Gate together anymore.
It was becoming stronger.
Faster.
More complete.
The commander frowned.
"Isn’t that what we want?"
"No."
The technician swallowed.
"It’s stabilizing because the dungeon formation is accelerating."
David’s expression hardened.
The technician looked back at his screen.
"Something inside is forcing the process."
David’s gaze returned to the Guardian.
The creature hadn’t moved.
But now he understood why.
’It’s not waiting for the Gate to open.’
His eyes shifted toward the darkness.
’It’s waiting for whatever is coming through.’
The Guardian suddenly took one step forward.
Its claws scraped across the pavement.
Then another.
David watched as it moved directly toward the containment barrier.
It stopped only a few meters away.
Then, slowly, it turned.
Its back faced the Association.
Its body faced the Gate.
David’s eyes narrowed.
The Guardian had positioned itself between the Gate and the evacuation route.
Between whatever was inside...
And everyone behind it.
A senior officer noticed at almost the same time.
"Commander."
"I see it."
The man stared at the creature.
"It could run."
The commander didn’t answer.
"It could attack us."
Still nothing.
"But it’s staying there."
David watched the Guardian lower its body again.
Its injured leg shook beneath it.
Blood continued dripping from its side.
Yet it didn’t retreat.
It was choosing this position.
David’s expression remained calm.
’That thing is willing to die here.’
The realization wasn’t comforting.
It only made the question worse.
’For what?’
The Gate pulsed.
The pressure increased.
Several Association workers stumbled backward.
April’s grip tightened around David’s arm.
He steadied her without looking away.
"You okay?"
"I’m fine."
David glanced at her.
"You sure?"
April nodded, though her eyes remained fixed on the Gate.
"I think so."
David looked back toward the Guardian.
Then toward the darkness.
He didn’t know what had brought the creature here.
He didn’t know why it had attacked them.
But he was beginning to understand one thing.
The Guardian wasn’t protecting the Gate.
It was protecting everything outside it.
Not because it cared about them.
Because something on the other side was worse.
The Gate pulsed again.
This time, the darkness itself seemed to bend.
The Guardian immediately lowered its head.
Its claws dug deeper into the concrete.
David’s eyes narrowed.
The creature wasn’t attacking.
It was bracing itself.
Then something pressed against the other side of the Gate.
The barrier bulged.
Just slightly.
The Guardian’s entire body went rigid.
A low growl rolled from its throat.
April froze beside David.
"What was that?"
David didn’t answer.
The bulge disappeared.
For one second, nothing happened.
Then it came again.
Harder.
The containment barrier warped inward.
A deep crack of energy traveled across its surface.
Association workers shouted.
"Barrier pressure rising!"
"Stabilizers!"
"Maximum output!"
The Guardian suddenly charged.
"Wait!"
BOOM!
It slammed into the barrier.
The entire street shook.
David’s clothes snapped against his body from the force of the impact.
The Guardian didn’t stop.
Its claws scraped against the pavement as it pushed forward, muscles straining beneath its damaged hide.
The barrier bent inward beneath its weight.
David stared.
’It’s not trying to break through.’
His eyes shifted toward the darkness.
’It’s trying to reach whatever is behind it.’
The pressure came again.
The barrier bowed.
The Guardian roared.
And somewhere beyond the Gate, something answered.
Not with a roar.
Not with a sound.
Just another slow movement in the darkness.
David’s eyes narrowed.
The Guardian suddenly stopped pushing.
Its head lifted.
Its body trembled.
For the first time since David had seen the creature, it looked completely powerless.
Then the two faint lights appeared again.
Closer this time.
David stopped breathing.
They hadn’t moved.
The darkness around them had.
Something enormous was slowly approaching the barrier.
And the Guardian was waiting for it.
The thing behind the Gate didn’t come any closer.
It stopped.
For a few seconds, the entire street held its breath with it. The Guardian remained pressed against the pavement, its claws buried in the concrete, while the Association workers stood frozen around the stabilizers. Even the commander seemed unsure whether giving an order would make things better or worse.
Then the darkness shifted again.
Not forward.
Sideways.
The two lights moved with it.
David’s eyes followed them.
’It’s looking around.’
That realization bothered him more than the sight itself.
It wasn’t blindly forcing its way through the Gate. It was taking its time, examining the barrier, the street, the people standing outside it.
Almost like it was learning what was waiting for it.
The Guardian growled.
The sound was quieter this time.
Almost a warning.
David glanced at the creature.
Its eyes never left the darkness.
’It knows.’
Another pulse passed through the Gate.
The pressure suddenly dropped.
The Guardian’s muscles loosened for half a second.
Then the pressure returned twice as strong.
The barrier groaned.
"What’s happening?" the commander demanded.
A technician stared at his monitor.
"Stabilization just jumped."
"How much?"
"91%."
The commander looked toward the Gate.
"That’s good."
"No, sir."
The technician’s voice shook.
"It’s happening too fast."
Before the commander could respond, a thin line appeared across the darkness.
David’s expression changed.
It wasn’t light.
It was an opening.
A narrow vertical gap slowly formed in the blackness, barely wide enough to see through.
Something pressed against the other side.
The Guardian immediately slammed its claws into the pavement.
The barrier shook.
April’s fingers tightened around David’s arm.
"David..."
"I see it."
The gap widened another inch.
A deep pressure rolled through the street.
Then something enormous touched the other side.
David couldn’t make out what it was.
Only the shape.
Long.
Curved.
And far too large to belong to anything that should have been standing that close to the Gate.
The Guardian roared.
It charged again.
BOOM!
The impact shook the entire street.
Blue energy erupted across the barrier.
The Guardian didn’t retreat.
It pushed harder.
Its wounds reopened under the strain, blood running down its side as it fought against whatever was pressing from the other side.
"Barrier integrity dropping!"the man shouted at the top of his voice.
"Increase output!"
"We’re already at maximum!" Another soldier responded.
"Then reroute everything!"
The commander looked toward the Guardian.
For a moment, his expression hardened.
Then he lowered his weapon.
"Nobody attacks it."
Several fighters looked at him.
"Sir?" A hint of disbelief in their voices as they stared
"You heard me."
He stared at the creature struggling against the barrier.
"Whatever it’s fighting..."
His eyes moved toward the darkness.
"...we’re not stopping it."
David said nothing.
Because he had reached the same conclusion.
The Guardian wasn’t their enemy anymore.
It was the only thing standing between them and whatever was trying to come through.