Beast Evolution Forge

Chapter 102 Guardians 9

Vell stepped away from the crater, a cold smirk playing across his face as the guardian struggled to stand. "Pathetic. You were actually proud of bullying someone weaker than you?" His voice dripped with contempt. "How embarrassing."

"Shut up!" The guardian unleashed a barrage of molten rocks. Vell didn't even bother dodging - he just stood there as his barrier disintegrated the attacks before they could touch him.

"Should i humiliate him without killing him?" He asked aloud, deliberately letting the guardian hear. "I want him to live with this shame."

The guardian roared, his pride wounded. He slammed both fists into the ground, sending a massive shockwave of pure destructive force toward Vell. The attack split the earth, toppling trees like dominoes.

He yawned and materialized a cheap wooden sword from his codex. "You know what's truly sad?" He casually swatted the shockwave aside with the practice weapon. "I'm not even using my real swords on you. what does that say about you?"

"YOU-" The guardian flickered forward, throwing a punch that could shatter houses. Vell caught it with two fingers.

"Boring." He flicked the guardian's fist aside and created a simple handgun. "Here, let me show you something interesting." He fired what looked like a child's water pistol. The tiny stream of mana pierced straight through the guardian's shoulder, making him howl in pain.

"See that?" He dissolved the gun, his eyes cold with amusement. "I could have aimed for your head. But watching you flail around is far more entertaining."

The guardian backed away, real fear creeping into his eyes as he realized just how outmatched he was. He gathered all his remaining power into one desperate attack, his body glowing like a small sun.

"DIE, YOU ARROGANT-"

He appeared behind him mid-sentence, already sheathing a blade the guardian hadn't even seen him draw. "You know what the difference is between my arrogance and yours?" He glanced back at the frozen guardian. "I can back mine up."

The guardian collapsed, his attack fizzling out as consciousness left him. Multiple precise cuts appeared across his body - none fatal, but each one perfectly placed to cause maximum pain while minimizing damage.

"Boring," he muttered, kicking the unconscious guardian aside as he walked toward Jolly. "You actually had trouble with this weakling?"

"hehe, I am sorry," she smiled weakly from her spot against the tree.

"Well, its fine, you just got your mana back so its normal. Let me deal with him real quick and then we can leave."

He turned back toward the fallen guardian, a blade of pure corrupted mana materializing in his hand. "This was disappointing-"

The air suddenly grew heavy, making even he pause. Two massive figures descended from above, their combined pressure causing the trees to bend away from them. The leader, a towering entity wrapped in chains of pure light, touched down first. Behind him, a guardian covered in dark mana folded his wings of energy.

"My, my..." The leader's voice resonated with ancient power. "Handling Pyrox like he was nothing. I haven't seen that in centuries."

[Warning: Multiple High-Level Threats Detected]

[Leader - Level: ??? Unable to Calculate]

"Finally," the leader's chains clinked as he stepped forward, "someone worth my time." The very ground crystallized beneath his feet, pure mana so dense it took physical form. "Though I must say, attacking my subordinate like that... quite rude."

Vell's codex flared to life, multiple weapons forming around him. "If he was too weak to handle a simple beating, that's hardly my fault."

The order guardian snarled but the leader raised a hand, stopping him. "Peace, Storms. Our guest clearly doesn't understand the hierarchy here." His chains began to unravel, each link burning with power that made Vell's danger sense scream. "Shall we educate him?"

His casual arrogance hardened into something more serious as he called forth his true blade - a sword that pulsed with layers of complex mana patterns. "This might actually be fun."

"Oh?" The leader's mask cracked into a terrible smile. "Fun? Child... you have no idea what's coming."

Behind them, Jolly struggled to stay conscious as the sheer pressure of their power made breathing difficult. This wasn't going to be a one-sided beat down anymore. This was about to become a real fight.

[Master, seems a fun toy has arrived.]

'Yeah, My skin is tingling, I might be addicted to fighting, you know.'

The leader raised his hand, and the world itself seemed to bend. The chains floating around him hummed with ancient power, each link containing enough energy to level towns.

"You mentioned something about backing up arrogance? Show me."

Vell's grin turned feral as he materialized two more swords, letting them orbit around him. "With pleasure." He launched forward, his blade meeting one of the leader's chains with a sound that could be heard for miles.

The dark guardian, Storms, moved to interfere but the leader stopped him again. "No. Watch closely - this is what happens when someone actually challenges us."

[Master, his power output is increasing exponentially]

'I noticed,' he thought, his arms trembling as he blocked another chain. Each impact felt like fighting a meteor. 'This is... exactly what I wanted!'

He leaped back, his codex spreading patterns across his skin as he created a massive cannon. The weapon charged with both types of mana, the barrel glowing with devastating power. "Let's see you handle this!"

The leader didn't move as the blast approached. One chain lazily swept forward, splitting the beam like it was nothing more than a stream of water. "Disappointing. I thought you were different."

Before Vell could react, another chain whipped around his ankle and slammed him through several trees. He caught himself mid-air, blood trickling from his mouth, but his grin only widened.

His eyes gleamed with a manic light as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "Different? Oh, I am." The weapons orbiting him dissolved as his codex pulsed with new intensity. "I just wanted to see what you could do first."

[Master, releasing first limiter]

'Not yet. Let's play a bit more.'

"You're holding back," the leader observed, his chains rippling with barely contained power. "How... interesting." The ground beneath him began to crystallize further, spreading in a pattern of fractals.

Vell materialized a simple staff, twirling it casually. "Pot, meet kettle. Those chains of yours are still sleeping, aren't they?"

The leader's mask cracked into another terrible smile. "Observant. Most don't notice that." One of the chains unwound completely, blazing with light that made the air itself waver. "Shall we stop pretending then?"

"After you," he mock-bowed, his staff transforming into something more complex - a weapon that seemed to drink in the light around it.

The leader moved. One moment he was standing still, the next his chain had wrapped around Vell's weapon. But instead of shattering it as expected, the weapon began absorbing the chain's energy.

"Oh?" The leader's voice held genuine surprise. "Now that's new."

Vell's smile turned predatory. "You're not the only one with tricks." He spun, using the absorbed energy to create a shockwave that actually pushed the leader back several feet.

"Storms," the leader called, not taking his eyes off Vell. "Take the girl and leave. This area won't survive what comes next."

The dark guardian hesitated only a moment before moving toward Jolly. Vell's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"She stays."

"That wasn't a request," the leader replied, his remaining chains beginning to unravel. "Unless you think you can fight both of us at once?"

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Vell's laugh echoed across the battlefield. "Both? Please." His codex flared again, and this time the power that emerged made even Storms pause. "I could handle ten of him without breaking a sweat. You're the only one worth my time."

The leader tilted his head, studying Vell with new interest. "Prove it."

"Gladly." Vell vanished, reappearing behind Storms with such speed that the guardian barely had time to raise his defenses. One casual backhand sent him crashing through multiple trees before he could even register the hit.

"Satisfied?" He asked, already turning his attention back to the leader.

"Immensely." All pretense of casualness vanished from the leader's voice. "Now then, shall we begin for real?"

The air itself began to crack as both warriors finally prepared to show their true strength.