Gate Guardian - Tale of the Blazing Heart

Phase 34: Ambush!

Phase 34: Ambush!

[Transfield]

[9:12 AM]

There's no shrine or house or anything. We are surrounded by sea of yellow grasses and pine trees. It looks like the shrine never existed in this place.

"RRrooooaaAAA"

Surprised, we looked back. A seven-meter wooden robot, having a house-like body and chainsaw hands appeared. It immediately raised its right chainsaw hand and smashed to my direction.

Erylle carried me and jumped away in the nick of time. She then sprinted away from the chainsaw giant, to the vast forest. She jumped from tree to tree like a ninja, until we stopped when we finally lose the giant.

"You have a strategy?" I asked.

"I'll have to find his weakness first, and I need your help with that. I'll lure him into this forest and I will make some ranged attacks. You go analyze everything."

I nodded, and she immediately jumped out.

<>

After five minutes, the chainsaw noise resumed and some of the trees several meters in front of me fall into the ground. Above it is the wooden barrelhead of the chainsaw giant.

"G-Gwah!" I screamed like a girl when Erylle appeared in front of me and grabbed my hand when she decided to flee from the giant.

"Forget it. You know our strategy in uncovering your lovely Asumi-stalker? That's what we'll do!"

I hugged her tight from the back again and she continued to jump in every direction of the forest to keep the chainsaw giant confused. I'm already used to these throbbing heart problems whenever she's close to me.

I used my <Timelock> ability and scanned for any dent in that wooden monster. I discovered that there is a crack on both the giant's wooden chainsaw arms. I pointed it out, and Erylle nodded.

She decided to keep another hundred meter distance, and charged some Light Energy. The giant walked into our direction slowly, but when he is eighty meter apart from us, Erylle began charging her next arrow shot with her white bow. The magical arrow looked red and glowing continuously.

"<Icarus Dive>!!!"

The blazing arrow flew in the thin air, and it grew wings that flapped graciously towards the chainsaw giant. It became bigger and bigger as it comes close to the target.

In surprise, the chainsaw giant tried to smash the blazing hawk with his chainsaw, but its arm burned in no time. He tried it again with his left chainsaw arms but a surging arrow struck the pressure point that made it's arms fall to the ground.

Erylle was charging another arrow on her bow and she released it immediately. This time, it's a green glowing arrow that became a huge tornado that drilled into the giant's house-like chest. It's the same spell she did when she first saved me, the <Aero Twirl>.

"GGrRraaaaAA..."

Bang! It fell down to the forest and its whole body became rotten wood that broke into tiny wood chunks.

"Hunting powerful Eidolons is much easier if you're around~" Erylle said, patting my head gently.

<>

We went back on the grass fields where we opened a Gate, but then someone is waiting for us in that place. A long haired man with black armor and a pair of red-and-blue eyes stood in the center of the grass fields.

"I never thought you're still alive." Benedict Hamerov smirked.

He's not alone. He's with the masked black swordsman and the child with black tentacles on his back. The worst case scenario; the Cursed Guardians.

"This is not good..."

"Well, you just ruined our plans in luring Void Wolf out. It's okay, a fish is a fish. We prefer a bigger fish than you two, but we will just waste our bait if we will just let you go."

Erylle immediately grabbed my hand and sprinted away, again, but the black haired freak appeared in front of Erylle where we're supposed to go. Hamerov immediately punched Erylle on her stomach that made her fell on her knees.

I was left rolling in the ground when I had my hands slipped from Erylle's grasps. The tentacle kid rushed into my direction with abominable speed and made a grin smile on me. His eyes are blazing red, telling me enough that this is my end.

"No!" Erylle cried as she grabbed her bow and swiped her fingers.

The masked swordsman drew one of his swords on his back and hacked the wind, facing Erylle.

Crack.

Her white bow became a thousand pieces just before she can fire any arrow. Erylle's emerald eyes widened in shock.

Suddenly, Benedict Hamerov's body became black ashes that danced in the wind. Then he appeared above my beaten-up body and grabbed my head, and raised me up in the air.

"It's a shame that we will have to use you as bait for Void Wolf, poor Romanov boy."

My eyes widened in shock. He knew me from the very start, is he?

Erylle's neck was already locked by the masked man's sword, and she was having her face wet with her own tears. She screamed something like "Let go of him!" and "Don't touch him!", but no one apprehended. She kept on struggling but the masked swordsman's grip is too tight for her.

Benedict slowly raised his left arms and punched my stomach.

"Argh!"

And then another.

"Gwah!"

And another.

"Gwahak!"

On his third punch, blood spurted out of my mouth. My wound in my stomach also opened, that made my blue shirt stained with my own blood. Then Benedict dropped me on the grass.

"Let's wait for Void Wolf to come while you lose your blood."

"Y-Yohan!"

Upon seeing me, Erylle cried louder. She held the sword that's sticking on her neck and tried to pull it away, making her hands bleed.

"D-Damn it! ...Erylle!" I started to crawl on the grass but then a black tentacle wrapped my left leg that rendered me still.

"I-I'll protect Y-Yohan...no matter what..." Erylle tried to gather all her courage but all she can do is to cry hopelessly in the arms of the black swordsman.

Our arms tried to reach each other, but there's nothing we can do but to endure the incoming doom that's bound to happen to us.