Chapter 247: A mighty punch

Following the sound back to its source, Roas gasped in a mixture of horror and fright. Even though he was a brave and proud member of his tribe, not to mention a deeply devoted servant of his new, young master, but seeing that one of the stone guardians, the dreaded, demonic gargoyles began to stir, and awaken from its eternal slumber, was something he couldn't just simply watch with a stoic outlook on his face.

"[Orc] Y-young master! Look!" He pointed up to the lightly shaking, stirring stone figurine perched above them towards the right. A black, ominous aura surrounded the grey, stone gargoyle. "...I-I think it's coming alive!"

"[Orc] Interesting... " Aiden muttered, as he focused on the statue as it slowly started to awaken. Contrary to just a few minutes ago when these figures were clearly just lifeless carvings made out of some type of stone-like material, there was a massive change inside of it. 

A few moments ago, when the first sounds could be heard, a small, tiny seedling made out of the same type of dark energy that barred their attempt to step inside the massive structure seemingly appeared out of nowhere inside it, serving as its core. Moments later, this tiny seedling of energy sprouted several veins that rapidly traversed the entire insides of the figurine, reaching from its furthest toes to the top of its head, all the way to its sharp, deadly horns. 

Another short moment later, massive amounts of dark energy began to ooze out from the tiny seedling, traversing through the newly sprouted veins, creating a circulatory system. The energy kept flowing through the body using the newly made paths and slowly, but surely it began to 'pump' a sort of life into the lifeless body. 

Although in this sense, life wasn't an accurate word, as by the sense of definition the stone gargoyle was never a living being, it's merely being animated by the use of some sort of dark ritual. 

"[Orc] M-master! Y-you have to get inside! These beings are incredibly powerful; their only purpose is to kill and destroy! Please, just escape inside, I will do my best to hold them up whilst the master is searching for his friend!" Turning towards his young master, Roas grabbed Aiden's shoulders and shook him. His words carried an obvious fear, he obviously feared these elite guardians created by the demonic overlords. 

However, there was something else in his voice. That fear wasn't projected towards his own life, no, he did not care if he would die, as long as he could serve his purpose and protect his young master, that gave him his hope back. Just like before with the warding on the door, as long as he could be useful, he wouldn't mind sacrificing his own existence. He would do so, gladly.

Seeing his servant being so determined to save him, Aiden couldn't help but smile at the broad, robust orc.

Grabbing his hands, he gently removed them from his shoulders, and looked Roas in the eye with his gentle, friendly smile on his face. 

Shaking his head, he calmly responded.

"[Orc] No, Roas, I will not run away. I will never escape, I will never leave you alone. I promised that I will be there for you, that I will help you when you will need it. I don't want a simple puppet, I want a faithful servant. No, I want a friend." 

Shifting his attention towards the now shaking, and vibrating, ominously glowing stone figure, he continued. As he spoke, his eyes began to glow in a golden hue, marking his activation of his [Draconic Heritage]. His features slowly began to change, his arms that sported this dark green, almost brownish color began to equip a golden gradient, turning brighter as it reached his hands, that now sported fingers ending in thick, dark claws. The barely visible slight bumps in his back sprung tall similarly golden scaled wings, and from the lower reaches of his back, a long, golden-scaled tail sprung out, plopping down on the ground. 

His draconic aura also unfolded, descending around them, engulfing a large portion of the forefront of the building as his own territory.

His voice several octaves lower, it carried a mighty, majestic power, thundering around them boisterously with each spoken word.

"[Orc] I will show these pathetic rats, hiding in the shadows, who they are actually messing with. How dare they send such petty measly little toys against us!"

Meanwhile, the energy traversing through the gargoyle, reached its peak, making the previously impossible feat possible, forcing it to slowly stand up from its eternal crouching posture, and turn towards Aiden who now was in his almost complete, Dragonoid form, and the still stumped Roas. The sockets that would serve as its eyes suddenly lit up with a dark rose-tinted hue. 

Although it was a lifeless statue that was only being animated through the use of magic, as it 'looked' at them, Roas couldn't help but shake once more and take a step back due to his instinctual fright. Through the years the horrendous myths and stories about these brutal, merciless killing machines were deeply implanted in them, creating an instinctual, deeply etched fear towards them.

"[Orc] Just stand back and let your master do his job for once. I will show you just how pathetic these big lumps of stones are!" Aiden smirked as he boldly matched the stone figure's demonic gaze.

Taking a couple of wide steps forward Aiden stepped out from under the door and out to the clear open, inviting the magical, animated stone guardian. 

Following the Dragonoid with its lifeless, glowing eyes, the stone figure slowly turned its head, keeping his attention on the obviously much larger threat than the orcish worm shivering in the corner. 

As Aiden took its spot on the clearing, the gargoyle, bent its knees slightly, only to sprung himself away from its perch where it rested previously, and landed just a few steps away from the young man with a loud thud, kicking off a massive cloud of dust in the process. 

As it slowly straightened his back, it towered over Aiden's already generous, but still, relatively normal height with its massive 3.5 meters (AN: Roughly 11.5 Feet). 

The stone guardian looked at its much smaller, leaner opponent in silence, not moving the slightest. Tense silence ensued around the two, and while it only lasted for a couple of seconds, to Roas, who was looking from further away, from the safety of the massive building, it felt like hours.

Despite feeling the incredible presence and mighty pressure surrounding his master when he completely activated his strange, mystical powers, he still couldn't help but worry. Through all the tales he was told through the years of servitude towards the whispers of the dark lords, he never once been told about anyone being able to stand up against these mighty creations and survive to tell about it.

It was only the calm before the storm as people would usually say. Suddenly, the seemingly slow-moving stone demon figure sprung into action, launching itself towards its opponent. His arms and long, stone claws raised in the air, he swung down with them, ready to rip the draconic boy into several tiny pieces with one swing.

Roas could only barely follow the movement, the abrupt change of pace as the gargoyle charged at his young master. He couldn't help but worry, desperately hoping that Aiden would be able to do something to block the swift and deadly attack somehow. Although he couldn't help but be scared as he looked at the demonic stone statue, he still wanted to be at least somewhat useful, and not be a burden to his master in times of crisis like this… but, he couldn't think of any way to assist, other than praying for his master's safety.

Seeing how his master remained unmoving even as the deadly, stone claws swung down almost reaching him, Roas wanted to cry out, and warn him to jump away at the very least, minimize the damage resulting from such a fatal-looking blow.

However, before he could do so, just at the moment when the gargoyle's claws could get in contact with his skin, Aiden's figure suddenly vanished, only to reappear just above the stone figure's head. His hands clasped together he swung down, giving a massive loud, blustering blow on the enemy's head.

The blow was brutal, and it launched the figure down on the ground, sending out a massive ring of bluster all around the area, waking and alerting several sleeping orcs in the distance along with a massive cloud of dust. 

Despite being not too far away, Roas couldn't see a thing. The last scene he could see, was the moment the fearsome stone figure crashed into the ground, engulfing both itself and his master in a mushroom cloud of dust…

Seconds continued to pass in a strange, and eerie ringing sound as the aftermath of the singular blow. Due to the massive amount that was launched into the air, the dust was dissipating way too slowly for him to be able to see anything…

However, as the battlefield continued to slowly settle, a familiar winged, but lean-looking silhouette could be seen standing in the midst of it all...