"What is that Adakrys man trying to do?"
Seeing Garde standing before the gates of the ancient civilization's city, if the Khagan had eyebrows, they would surely have furrowed by now.
In his view, Garde showing up here must have been at the behest of his mentor, Kal'tsit. That made Garde's next move something worth pondering.
Firstly, it could be ruled out that the man was trying to charge the city single-handedly. Even if Garde was as headstrong as the other Adakrys people from the rainforest the Khagan had encountered, such a foolish move would never have been approved by Kal'tsit.
Secondly, surrender was off the table. The ancient civilization Garde served and the current Terra civilization were irreconcilably opposed. Knowing Kal'tsit as he did, surrender was an absolute impossibility.
Lastly, it wasn't likely to be a duel before battle. While such things existed in novels and historical anecdotes (which Kal'tsit had occasionally mentioned in her lectures), it was nearly unheard of in reality—and ultimately pointless.
What Garde was about to do would provide all the justification needed.
"All outer capacitor railguns: aim and lock on target," the Khagan said flatly. If he were still alive in the traditional sense, he might have found Garde's actions interesting. However, in his current state, he was little more than a shadow of life, no different from being dead.
When faced with a threatening individual, eliminate them.
When there's time, capture and transform them.
Against Kal'tsit, his mentor, the Khagan wouldn't make the slightest mistake.
Surrounding the entire ancient civilization's refuge, the walls spanned several kilometers. Railguns, charged and ready, turned toward Garde's direction and began to fire.
From Garde's appearance to the railgun firing, it seemed like an eternity, but in truth, only a few seconds had passed.
The moment the Khagan gave the mental command, the railguns sprang into action.
Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amidst the heavy rain and the oppressive storm clouds that loomed over the newly built city, the railgun's flashes lit up the high walls.
The roar of what sounded like a dozen dragons echoed simultaneously as the lightning-like beams streaked through the stormy skies.
"Gaaaaaaaa——!!!"
The blinding light illuminated the city walls. The crocodile man, Garde, took a deep breath and began moving toward the walls. At first, he walked. Then, he jogged. Finally, he broke into a full sprint, like a humanoid battering ram.
His body swelled from two meters to four, his cold, calculating eyes unyielding in the face of the railgun attacks.
He neither dodged nor deflected the beams, enduring the barrage of lightning head-on.
Boom——!!!
The thunderous roar echoed in front of the city gates, lightning forming a blue-white film over Garde's body. His eyes gleamed with a hint of bloodlust.
"Not enough!"
Suppressing the pain surging across his skin, Garde opened his massive jaws and roared.
"Not enough! Not enough! Not enough! NOT ENOUGH!"
Boom!
The several-meter-thick alloy gates were formidable, and even Garde wasn't reckless enough to try ramming through them.
Cloaked in lightning, Garde charged forward like a soaring thunder dragon. Using his weapon as a makeshift ladder, he vaulted over the city's towering walls, dozens of meters high.
Bang!
Landing atop the walls amid the crackling blue-white beams, Garde easily destroyed a railgun firing at him.
With a menacing grin, he sneered:
"Heh."
Black smoke began to waft from Garde's body.
As he landed, the countless disaster beasts swarming beneath the city walls all instinctively lifted their heads in unison.
Thousands, maybe tens of thousands?
Garde didn't know the exact number, but he was certain of one thing: the Lizardman who followed him wouldn't be able to withstand even a fraction of the incoming assault.
The disparity in both sheer numbers and individual strength was insurmountable. Even the weakest of these disaster beasts could rival, if not surpass, an adult lizardman. Most of these beasts had cybernetic modifications grafted onto their bodies and had been trained to work in coordinated formations.
So it fell to him to carve a path forward.
Garde hadn't forgotten why he had come to this land.
Was it to help Rhine Labs acquire medicine to cure Oripathy?
Was it to aid Kal'tsit in defeating the resurgent ancient civilization?
No. It was neither.
He had come to find a challenge, to hone himself, to grow stronger.
And now, who was his opponent?
There was no turning back!
Garde's massive form, like a meteor crashing down from the heavens, slammed into the swarm of disaster beasts beneath the city walls.
His arrival drew a chorus of menacing growls from the beasts. They didn't immediately attack, instead waiting for orders.
Until a voice echoed in their minds:
"Tear him apart!"
The disaster beasts surged forward, engulfing Garde like a tidal wave.
From afar, the heavy rain obscured the view. The operators from Babel could only see flashes of lightning intermittently illuminating the city walls.
"Doctor Kal'tsit, what exactly is Garde's ace in the hole? This is too reckless," someone muttered.
Everyone was awaiting Kal'tsit's command. Garde might be leading the charge, but the one issuing orders was Kal'tsit.
From the beginning, Garde had handed command over to her.
"In the battle to come, I'll be with you. I'll stand in front of you, but I may not be able to protect you. You must protect yourselves."
Garde's words still echoed in her mind. For once, the perpetually composed look in Kal'tsit's eyes wavered slightly.
She had always known. Yes, how could she not know? The medicine she had taken from Terra's heartlands four years ago was proof enough.
The resurgent ancient civilization was undoubtedly a massive threat. But solutions could always be found; the existence of the Lizardman army itself was a safeguard.
Their very purpose was to counter the resurgence of the ancient civilization spiraling out of control.
And Kal'tsit had brought Surtr into the fold for another reason: to face yet another looming threat.
Surtr had failed. Kal'tsit didn't know whether the slumbering Feranmut in Surtr's sword had managed to wound the being, but at the very least, it had delayed it, keeping it confined to its own territory for now.
If this were a typical scenario, Kal'tsit would have taken the Khagan's approach: sealing off the transport routes surrounding the city and waiting for the Lizardman army to gather.
But what if that gravekeeper—a Feranmut—descended upon them?
"Leave it to me!"
That had been Garde's answer.
Kal'tsit had no idea what trump card Garde might have, what gave him the confidence to stand against a Feranmut. This was no mere material entity ignorant of battle but an apex predator, a true terror of the land.
Before coming here, Kal'tsit had even considered traveling to Yan to seek help from the elder exorcist master there—or obtaining fragments of multiple Feranmut avatars to bolster their forces.
But Yan would never permit such actions, and there simply wasn't enough time to make it feasible.
All she could do was place her hopes in Garde—hope that he truly had the strength to wound the Feranmut or at least escape its grasp.
When had she started pinning her hopes on others?
Kal'tsit gazed into the distance. From her vantage point, she couldn't see what was happening within the city walls.
Suddenly, the sky tore open, revealing a blinding light.
Thick clouds were split apart by something immense, and the rain grew heavier—so heavy that an ordinary person like Kal'tsit could barely remain standing without Mon3tr's assistance.
Boom!
The lightning in the sky, more vivid than any artificial railgun blast, crisscrossed the heavens. How could human-made beams compare to the might of true thunder?
A terrifying, monstrous figure tore through the thick clouds, descending upon the city below.
Everyone saw it—a dragon. A black dragon.
Its wingspan stretched nearly a hundred meters, its massive form blotting out the sky.
The Lizardman were so overwhelmed with fear that many nearly collapsed.
An ancient, primal pressure radiated from the dragon's very presence, paralyzing them in awe and terror. Even the strongest of flying dragons seemed like mere insects before this Feranmut.
Ordinary Lizardman were hopelessly outmatched. Just the dragon's presence had already crushed their resolve to fight.
"We're doomed! We can't win!"
Among the crowd, Surtr tightened her grip on her greatsword. The consciousness within her blade roared in anger and defiance. But in the end, it fell silent.
The Feranmut's gaze seemed to pierce through space itself. Yet it only cast a fleeting glance at the sword's soul, as if deeming it beneath notice.
The dragon then lowered its gaze to Garde, buried within the swarm of disaster beasts.
"Adakrys warrior, you dare to appear before me again!"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Garde looked up at the monstrous creature in the sky, a savage grin spreading across his face.
"Whatever doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!"
"Aletog," he growled.
"This time, I'll drain you dry!"
<+>
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