Chapter 1901 - 1900 - Guardian

Haro had not gained much when he was transformed. If other versions of him had been taken into the Fiend, he had refined them entirely. He was uncertain if spirits from artifacts were of any use to Fiends but only Divine Fiends ripped them away from their enemy's items.

Haro had been fortunate compared to his siblings. They had returned to storage if their True Lord or Divine Lord ascended beyond the world. He remembered it faintly and knew once he returned, he would be made to wait while his ring was reset for the next user.

His memories would still be there but he as a person would be gone. It is only when they died that the rings were kept. Death was failure and failures had to redeem themselves.

He had lost 3 masters but he did not consider himself a failure. He was blessed. All the dragons he had served had died saving their clans or the race as a whole. Lind, however, had been the strangest of them all.

He was a dragonsoul, acknowledged by a selfless act to save a Divine Ryuu and because he died exposing a vile evil of the world. Despite such a stalwart start, he was not draconic in many ways.

After all the adventures and discoveries, Haro felt he had been blessed at the end. While all his masters had respected him for his origin, Lind was the only one to actually respect him.

Haro felt pride as he stood before the most hated enemy of all existence and he felt no fear of what was to come. He had no Arts, no skills, nor any way to really harm a Fiend. All he had was the spear made for him by Lind.

It would hurt the Bastard but it could not kill him. Damage was far from enough to kill a Fiend and the original Fiend was more of a monster than any of those beneath him.

"So, a little spirit thinks it can fight me? This should be amusing." The Bastard had healed completely and he moved into a blur. Haro did not even bother trying to find him. He pressed a symbol on the staff of his spear.

The metal flared to life as emerald Qi shot out in 5 circles. The instant they floated around him a scream was heard. The Bastard appeared grasping one of his eyes and was burning on a few more places on his body.

The spear vanished as Haro moved. The whistle was clear as the sharp blade sliced the air and nearly cleaved the Fiend in 2! Yet, while it hurt the Bastard, it did not kill him. The severe wounds vanished so fast that someone might think they never existed at all.

"Pesky ant! You dare harm your superior?!" Haro sneered at his words as his feet moved quickly to keep up the pressure.

The array from the Fiend had no effect on him at all! He had tested it while Lind had kept the Bastard caught in the Soul Trap. No one dared say anything in case it was simply a dormant function but the Bastard did not do anything but fight.

The clash was mostly a stalemate as the harmonic Qi kept the Fiend at bay or occupied healing while Haro could not truly do more than annoy him.

"ENOUGH!" Vile Qi leapt out of his body and slammed into the emerald rings. They flared briefly before cracking and dispersing into dust. They consumed most of the energy so Haro barely felt a thing.

Still, it signaled the end of the easy part. He noticed Lind had not yet recovered. Soul Traps were like any Soulmancer power. They drained vitality harshly so recovering took time the right way.

"Your little toys are broken. What will you–?" Haro cut him off as he pushed another symbol. The shaft lit up that time and several tendrils the lengths of whips appeared on the blade and the counter weight.

He twirled the spear more like a staff and the vicious whips cracked as they shot towards his foe. While it seemed impressive, it was not anywhere as efficient as the rings. He was able to inflict a lot more damage in a short time, yet the spear was fading fast.

"Your toys are running down. You tool spirits are so full of yourselves. You are just pieces of intent given form. There is nothing useful in you aside from raw energy. True Spirits are far more interesting to me." The Bastard was now calm and seemed to be amused. Haro found it disturbing.

He was giving Lind more time to recover, so why was the Bastard so calm all of a sudden?

"You really think I am so simple? You believed I would allow a measly tool to get in my way?" Haro frowned but only glanced to confirm Lind was still recovering. It was only at that moment he noticed.

Lind's hand was holding a jade vial part way up his torso yet it had not moved since the battle was partway done! Time manipulation?!

"HA HA HA! So simple minded! I need to attack, true but did you think I would allow my enemies to recover? That gnat did catch me off guard with his Soulmancer skills but his other tactics are very well known to me!" The Bastard suddenly summoned a massive dark broadsword.

The blade seemed to suck in light and life all at once. It sliced through the now weakened whips as if they were so much string!

Haro dropped his spear as it fell apart from the Fiend Qi flowing into it. He rolled away and the sparks lit up the room to reveal the walls were inscribed as well! They had been totally dark before but Haro now saw they were glowing faintly!

He could not feel Time aura but all that meant was that it was focused on the group, not Haro at all. He wanted to damage them and maybe break his Master free yet the Bastard was on him without mercy.

"Did you feel proud? Did you feel like you were finally useful to your owner? All you tool spirits just live to make your owner happy! It is just stroking the ego of your creator for you to exist at all!" Haro knew other spirits might be shocked by those words but he only sneered at the Fiend.

Lind Frey had one rule he lived by. It was the one thing that if crossed, he would happily raze anything to the ground that got in his way.

"People are not things." The words whispered from his lips but the Bastard openly cackled at him.

"People?! You are a program with delusions of grandeur! You were made to serve! You are not a person and you never will–!" Haro summoned a pure emerald dagger that he suddenly stabbed into the floor.

The Bastard reacted instantly as he had to stop to freeze the encroaching emerald Qi flooding the array. Haro did not stop as more daggers, throwing knives, or anything Lind had ever made was stabbed into the array.

"STOP DOING THAT!" The Fiend was now panicking as he was being forced to fight back against the flowing harmonic Qi more than attacking. It gave Haro some breathing room.

He was about to try attacking the wall inscriptions when black tendrils shot out of the walls and tried to slice him into pieces!

A trapped array?! The complex lines needed to layer that with a time manipulation array were insane! He had never heard of anyone able to pull that off!

The Bastard was actively sweating but his laugh returned.

"You have no chance of winning. Once I exhaust your little toys, you will be ripped apart!" Haro did not feel fear but he did feel frustration.

Lind never told him what it was like to face Fiends head on. It was clear Lind had made it look easy when he was actually barely surviving. He had watched so many victories, no matter how tragic, and Lind never gave up.

Haro was not a warrior. He was not a cultivator. He was a Guardian and right now he had to use that to his advantage.

His body began to glow with power as he looked over at Lind frozen in place with all the rest. He had been welcomed as an uncle to that family and treated well. He had many happy memories and did not regret any of it.

"I know you are fighting it Master, do not worry. I am here." The Bastard suddenly became afraid as the power coming off of Haro far exceeded what should have been possible.

"Eternal Spirit?" It was like he could not accept anything else but Haro just looked at him.

"I am Haro, the Guardian of Lind Frey. You should have just accepted the end because now, you have no chance to be reborn." His words seemed to strike a nerve but Haro's hands were like the sun as they slammed into the wall.

Black tendrils were slicing up his very existence but it did not stop what he was doing. The burning sensation spread from his core outward as pieces of himself were cut away at the same time.

He smiled wider as cracks formed and the impotent scream of the Bastard was heard.

Just as it was about to break, a black blade pierced the center of his back and exploded out of his chest. It was smoking but it was still effective.

Haro did not even look down as he was unraveling as he kept infusing energy into the wall.

"You–are–just–a–?!" The Bastard was clearly hurt but his words cut off as an emerald scaled hand appeared and tossed him away. Haro felt familiar arms gently pull him back.

"Why?" The broken voice made Haro look up and he could barely see Lind crying holding his collapsing body. Haro smiled with what was left of his face.

"You are my family. You of all people should know, I will protect the family with all I have." Lind nodded slowly above him as the ring cracked. The storage space was essentially empty as Haro had used some spare bracelets and a necklace to make sure Lind had what he needed if he was destroyed.

"Thank you for the journey, Master." Lind wept as Haro felt it all fall away. Darkness closed in but he did not regret it at all.