Chapter 221: Guardian Unchained

Chapter 221: Guardian Unchained

Whatever the snakes poison was, it had an effect on metal as well. There was no hissing sound as the poison dug into the armadil shield, but for Dallion, it was as if he could hear the guardian screaming in agony. His music skills told him exactly how much pain the shield was in, and his forging skills let him see the invisible cracks seep in, spreading like deadly roots. In over a minute, they would eat their way through the entire form of the gear and then the guardian would die.

Lux, can you heal him and keep me in the air?

The firebird spread its flame to cover the shield as well as Dallion. Its curing flames, however, had no effect on the poison.

No! Dallion shouted.Fôllôw new stories at novelhall.com

There had to be a way. If Dallion had been the one targeted, there was an even chance that he would be mostly fine in the real world. When it came to gears, though. Destroying one utterly here could well destroy it out there as well. At first there would be no changethe item would remain as it was; it could even have the same qualities as it always did, but that would be false. Without its guardian the item was nothing but a hollow shell. Then, one day, without warning, it would crumble to pieces, never to be restored again.

Hang in there! I can fix this! Dallion would enter the realm as many times as it took to defeat the poison, whatever its form was. He would

The harpsisword vibrated in its sheath, its strength increasing until Dallion couldnt ignore it any longer.

What, Harp? he summoned the weapon in his hand.

Let him go. The strings played on their own, forming words. Drop him down.

No! Dallion replied. He had no intention of abandoning the dryad. He had no intention of abandoning anyone.

He wants you to let him go, the melody said. Right now. Straight down.

A cocktail of emotions raged through Dallion, but looking at the harpsisword, he could see only onetruthfulness. It was strong and pure, filling the form of the weapon from tip to hilt. It was very likely that was what the shield wanted, but even so, Dallion didnt have the strength to do it.

Ill find a way, he said under his breath.

No sooner had he finished than Nox emerged in the air. With a precise action, he swiped at the straps that held the shield on Dallions arm. There was a slight sensation of pain. Three slight marks appeared on Dallions hand. The experience was so shocking that Dallion froze for a few seconds, watching the shield start its fall down towards the island snake below.

Nox? he asked, but the crackling had entered back into its realm.

Nox, what did you do?

As it fell, the armadil shield extended, turning into a sphere. In the past it had done so multiple times, protecting Dallion from all and any external threats. This time, though, the shield continued extending, creating a second layer over itself.

The island snake recoiled.

Lux, up! Dallion shouted.

Just as he suspected, another poison attack followed, although this time the target didnt seem to be Dallion, but the shield itself. Brownish poison coated an entire side of the ball, corrupting the material as it did. In less than a second, it spread to the entire surface. It was like watching an object decay sped up a hundred times. But things didnt end there. When the last spot of the shields surface became rusty brown, the sphere burst into rust. Both layers were scattered in the air, revealing a dryad.

At this point, there was one single alternative: to buff the dryad. Strength didnt seem to be an issue, and neither was speed. If anything, it was the snake that was lacking in this aspect. Confidence didnt seem a problem either. Still, there was one thing that the dryad lackedmobility, or more specifically, flight.

Can I grant flight with music? Dallion wondered. That sounded more in the realm of magic. Making the dryad lighter could achieve that possibly, but there was a much better solution, one that Dallion had observed for thousands of hours back on Earth.

Playing a chord, he focused on the trees the shield constantly summoned. Seeing that their frequency was the same regardless of how many there were, Dallion synched up, then did the exact thing that Nil had shown him during the very first music lesson: if you sync with something forcefully and force it to freeze, it remains static for a second. Such an approach wouldnt work on powerful creatures or strong opponents, but it would work on pieces of wood

Shield! Dallion shouted, while still playing. Run on the branches!

That was the worst possible hint one could giveit conveyed no useful information and became more confusing the more someone thought about it. Thankfully, the dryad had spent enough time with Dallion to get accustomed to his logic.

A new forest emerged from the water, flying towards the snake. As before, the realm guardian covered it with poison, then tore out the trees with one swing of its massive tail. Unlike all the previous times, though, the dryad was counting on that. Instead of summoning a new set of trees, he continued running forward. A few seconds later, the tree fragments in the air burst into hundreds of smaller pieces, no larger than the size of a persons foot. At precisely that moment, they all froze still in the air.

Dallion couldnt keep the smile off his face. The plan had worked.

Taking advantage, the dryad jumped in the air, pushing himself from one to the next. For that single second, each piece of wood had become a piece of immovable platform, allowing him to achieve an effect similar to flight. Watching him, Dallion could barely keep up. The shield guardians speed had increased ten times at least, making his movement similar to that of a firebird.

The snake had no idea what was going on. Its eyes moved wildly, trying to focus on its enemy, but the massive body took a while to follow. The dryads speed had gone beyond the snakes perception level, or Dallions for that matter, making the creature have to find only afterimages.

Incredible, Dallion thought.

This was like watching an anime, only it was the real thing. The dryads level had to be way out there. It was undoubtedly beyond twenty, likely beyond forty at least, or maybe even more.

Could I reach such a level? Dallion wondered.

Dal, the dryads voice reached him. Get ready. Im giving you this one.

Giving me what? Dallion asked on instinct.

The answer followed immediately. Pushing himself off a piece of wood, the dryad flew towards the snakes head. It was large as an island, with fangs the size of cliffs. The dryads weapon changed again, transforming into a spear. For a fraction of a second, a targeting marker appeared just beneath the monsters jaw.

BODY SEVERED

VERMILION will no longer be able to make use of his TAIL SECTIONS 1, 2,3,4, 5 and 6.

A giant red rectangle appeared as a massive tree shattered the connection between the head and the other islands that composed the snake. At this point, the guardian was virtually helpless. All it could do was shoot venom as before, but there was no chance for the creature to reattach its body. A new thicket of trees sprouted from the sea, keeping the island in the air, growing in such a fashion as to push the snakes upper jaw further up to the point it couldnt bite or use its poison effectively.

Now, Dallion thought.

Lux, get me there! Dallion shouted as he let go of the harpsisword. Given the size and the creature, it was going to take something different to cut through the brille attached to the eyes. Get ready, Nox!

This was going to be it.