Chapter 221 - Guardian Angel

"It's worse than I thought..."

Arnold mumbled as Tiamut sent Dread flying over him, thankfully Dread's exceptional defence saved him from getting destroyed. But things were not looking good for the humans. 

'We can't even get close to it, those fcking eyes are always staring at us! Ranged attacks don't even work so that's whole different sh*t show... Even with the support, the healers are giving us, we haven't made much progress... What do I do?'

Right then, Asterios and Johnny simultaneously charged at the giant dragon. Asterios had the hammer over his shoulder, ready to yeet Tiamut out of the planet. The outcome, however, was the polar opposite. Asterios soon joined Dread in his flying expedition to defeat. 

"That sucker is still playing with us?" Kolt yelled in frustration.

Even he knew, had Tiamut wished for it, she could annihilate everyone and everything in front. Yet, she was playing with them. Slowly pushing them in a downward spiral to despair. They had been fighting this monstrosity for a while now. And all of the S rankers together couldn't even put a scratch Tiamut's thick skin. The even worse thing was, a few of them had already given up all hopes for defeating the monster. It was too much for them! 

Arnold felt disgusted. These warriors were supposed to be the best of the best, and yet they were willing to give up so easily? Hell, even the D ranked soldiers at the Alpha base were braver than these chickens.

But now the only ones fighting Tiamut were him, his summons, Johnny and kolt. The mages were doing what they could but they couldn't do much with their ranged attacks other than providing buffs to the main attack force

Even Duke couldn't use his strongest transformation, as the troll was known to be sharpshooters which again meant, 'no ranged attacks please'. Talos wasn't having a great day either, despite transforming into Demon Orc, a cosmic creature itself, he couldn't do much. As the spikes on his back were pretty much useless against the one he was facing at the moment.

It was the same for the rest of them. Rush in, get kicked, go flying. 

Even though Asterios went flying away, Johnny somehow managed to dodge the attack. Then he did something unexpected. He grabbed a sword. It was the sword of one of the S rankers who now refused to fight and had thrown the sword away.

With a massive effort, Johnny swung the sword at Tiamut's claw. Despite his tiredness, the battle-honed skills didn't lack a bit. The sword met its target. Thick black blood droplets came oozing out of the scratch. The sword, originally, wouldn't even have managed to put a dent on Tiamut's thick skin. But since Arnold had enhanced all of their weapons along with his summons, it at least managed to get past the skin and made a cut. 

However, no measly sword could take her down. Johnny was now her new target. The dragon used her massive foot to kick Johnny hard on the jaw, knocking him down. 

"How dare you!" Tiamut roared in rage, "I will doom your soul to eternal hell!"

Johnny slowly tried to get up. But by the time he managed to get into a kneeling position, Tiamut was about to crush him like an ant. 

"NO!" Arnold and Kolt yelled at the same time, rushing to the brawler's aid. But they were too far away... 

'I won't make it in time!' Arnold thought and activated his [Rapid Dash] ability. Still, it wasn't enough. Tiamut's claw came crashing down on Johnny... An instant kill. 

"NOOOO!!!" 

Arnold was ready to make sacrifices to slay Tiamut. But this wasn't how he imagined it would end for Johnny. Johnny who always had his back no matter what idiotic decisions he made. Johnny, who welcomed him into the family and made his life go from hell to heaven in one night. And he? He couldn't even protect the one 'brother' he admired more than anyone in the family. That brother was no more... 

While he was still processing the loss of a brother. A notification popped up on his interface. 

___

Your summon, Cerberus, has been destroyed. 

Time for the resurrection: 1 hour. 

___

"Wha-"

"The heck are you jackas*es moping for?" Johnny's voice echoed in their ears, "Rather than crying yourself, try to make that ugly basta*d cry!"

"How did you..."

Now it made sense to Arnold. Cerberus was the fastest among them, thus he took it upon himself to save Johnny. That too, right before Tiamut slammed her foot on him. 

"Your dog pushed me out at the last second and saved my a*s. That's how. Now, let's focus on the dog killer, shall we?"

Johnny was right. Their job wasn't done yet. But Cerberus' sacrifice made Arnold rethink his strategy. Clearly, just enhancing the summons and weapons weren't enough to stop Tiamut's charge. He needed to do something more. Something that not only boosts the strength of him, his summons and allies but also shields him from Tiamut's ruthless attacks. And he knew exactly what that thing was. 

"Alice! Is the mana boost cool down over yet?" Arnold turned backwards where the healers and mages were clumped together, breathlessly reciting assorted spells. 

"Yup! I can use it now!" She replied. 

"Alright! Do it now then. I have a plan."

___

Your summon is using, [Mana Regen] lvl 6 on you. Mana regeneration rate has increased by 50%

Your summon is using, [Mana Increase] lvl 6 on you. Maximum mana temporarily increased by 20% (for the next 10 minutes) 

Current mana: 16990/22920

___

"It's more than enough to summon it." Arnold mumbled, "Come forth... Guardian Angel!"

A rainbow beam and growth of nature shot around Arnold, marking the coming of an angel. Within the blink of an eye, a mighty being with eyes of light stood over him. Engulfing him from all sides. Then it looked at Arnold. It's golden eyes fixated on him through its helm. For some reason, Arnold felt incredibly happy. As if he had achieved something no could... Like he had found the fountain of youth... 

Two massive, feathered wings made the angel look far more imposing. Its elongated body glided with determination. It's white and gold armour made it look like the supreme being. The angel carried a single two-handed sword, a gentle, humming sound can be heard from it. Arnold looked toward the angel a final time. The next moment it kneeled before him for a moment. 

"Your command, my liege?"

***

Author's note: if you are having trouble imagining what the angel looks like, then think of Sasuke's Susanoo. Lol.