Chapter 66: Gatekeeper

I slid forward through the low weeds, my small body completely invisible against the gravel. The three-foot body configuration allowed me to move without creating any displacements in the air pressure lines. Up on the stone ledge of the gate structure, the gargoyles remained rigid, their heads twitching occasionally as they scanned the pass for any sudden movements.

"System, maintain full tracking log parameters," I thought, keeping my focus locked on the navigation screen. "Map out the exact structural joints of the lead unit. I want to see where the core magic connects to the stone casing."

[System: Target matrix analyzed, Barry! The corrupted energy filters through the bronze rivets in the neck and shoulder joints. Warning: The units have just activated their high-frequency sonic wind grid! The air vibrations are shifting rapidly. Move carefully, host!]

Before I could reach the base of the wall, the lead gargoyle opened its jaws. It did not let out a loud shriek, but a sudden, violent wave of pressurized sonic wind shot out from its mouth, blasting straight down into the narrow pass. The invisible pressure wave tore through the high grass, vibrating the dirt track so violently that my snake scales felt like they were getting shaken apart from the inside out.

The sudden shift in the air flow completely short-circuited my invisible camouflage. My form materialized right in the center of the rocky track, fully visible to the entities above.

The moment my mass was exposed, all forty iron gargoyles turned their faceless heads toward my position. They dropped from the stone ledge all at once, their wings cutting through the air as they dove down like falling boulders, their stone claws extended to crush my frame.

’Form shift!’ I thought, triggering the internal link to my core instantly.

My small snake frame vanished, and my six-foot human frame appeared in the middle of the rocky track. I did not draw my new dark sword yet, remembering that the signature line technique would drain seventy percent of my current energy pool. I needed to keep that asset locked away as a final trump card.

Instead, I used my high mid-stage speed to slide inside the reach of the first falling construct. The gargoyle’s stone claws crashed straight into the gravel where my feet had just been standing a millisecond before, breaking the bricks apart and throwing a cloud of dust into my face.

I reached out both hands, my palms gripping the creature’s bronze neck rivets with absolute physical strength.

’Your Entry Permit Is Completely Invalid! ’ I roared, my active skill bursting out of my chest with absolute authority.

While the unit was locked for three seconds, I opened my human jaw slightly and activated my new reptile attribute through my physical touch, forcing a direct surge of my highly concentrated [Lethal Core Venom] straight into the broken bronze joints.

The dark toxic fluid hissed violently as it made contact with the magic lines inside the casing. The venom did not just dissolve the metal; it ate through the corrupted core energy channels completely, turning the internal machinery into a useless, melting sludge. The gargoyle’s red eye light blinked blankly, its stone body crumbling into a pile of grey sand that hit the ground with a quiet thud.

"Form the line!" Victor’s deep voice boomed from the rear track.

Seeing the remaining thirty-nine gargoyles crowding the pass, Victor did not hesitate. He launched himself forward on his mount, his short blade secure in his belt as he led a division of five hundred guards straight into the fray. The guards moved in a tight, defensive formation, leveling their long spears in a straight wall of steel to block the incoming constructs.

Suzy stepped up right next to my shoulder, she drew her silver rapier. Her eyes flared with a cold focus, her long dark hair moving in the wind as she parried a downward claw strike from a second gargoyle.

"They are trying to group up to launch a combined sonic blast, Barry!" Suzy called out, her voice clear and steady over the noise of grinding metal. "If they link their magic filters together, the wind pressure will crush the front rank guards instantly!"

"We need to cut off their distribution network, manager," I said, a normal human smile showing on my face as I stepped next to her. The close warmth of her skin hit my arm, making my heart thump in a quick, regular rhythm against my ribs, but my focus remained completely locked on the field target. "Let’s use our linked energy loop to disrupt their frequency."

"Let’s do it, partner," Suzy nodded, her face turning a tiny bit pink as she adjusted her footing, her hand catching the fabric of my black coat sleeve for a brief second to anchor her position.

We closed our eyes at the same time, triggering the internal mind link between our mid-stage Ascendant cores. I released a steady stream of my energy, while Suzy channeled her magic right into the same track. The two forces blended perfectly, creating a wide, glowing dome of pure Ascendant power that expanded outward from our bodies, filling the narrow mountain pass.

The moment our combined energy loop touched the incoming gargoyles, the high-frequency sonic wind grid could not handle the data load. The vibrations from our stable core output short-circuited their sensory network completely, causing the remaining thirty-eight constructs to freeze in total confusion, their blind heads turning erratically as they lost their tracking lines.

Victor didn’t waste a single second of their frozen state. He led the guard squad forward in a massive counter-charge, their long spears thrusting in perfect unison straight into the weakened bronze joints of the stone warriors.

’Clang! Clang! Clang!’

With their magic cores disrupted by our energy loop and their metal joints dissolved by my venom tracks, the gargoyles were completely dismantled. One by one, the stone constructs shattered into tiny grey shards that hit the ground with a quiet clinking sound, until the entire forty-man enemy division was completely wiped out from the pass.

The South Border Trade Outpost fell into a complete, peaceful silence. The massive stone gates were fully open now, the path to the neighboring territories completely cleared of the old dynasty’s corruption.

My breathing was heavy as I sheathed my sword, my muscles tingling slightly from the physical exertion, but my core balance remained perfectly steady since I had saved my main trump card technique for later.

Suzy walked up to the edge of the stone gateway, her hand resting firmly on her belt as she looked out at the vast, open plains of the neighboring provinces stretching out before us. A beautiful, radiant smile finally showed on her face as she turned back to look at me. "The third dead sector is officially ours, Barry. The trade gates are finally open."

"The infrastructure is fully locked down,," I smiled, as Victor organized the men to set up the new border guard post. "Let’s get the merchant network started."