Chapter 4571: Broken Tiles (Part 1)

Among all the silly, dreadful, and absurd things the Sekhmet watched unfold, she was horrified by how often her own life was cut short. Sometimes it happened because of her limited battle experience, but most of the time it was because of her lack of equipment.

Being the youngest Guardian ever also meant that, unlike her peers, she hadn’t lived long enough to accumulate the vast resources needed to Forgemaster a weapon and armor suitable for her enormous size.

Scarlett watched herself die at the hands of white cores with mage towers, powerful Eldritches, Guardians of distant lands, and the members of the Organization. Plenty of people on Mogar possessed a power comparable to hers and were much better equipped.

She saw herself die over and over again, sometimes for petty reasons, most often in the pursuit of a noble cause. Yet no matter the circumstances of her demise, the final result was always the same.

Scarlett the Sekhmet died leaving no heir, no trace of her existence, and dooming her Scorpicore descendants to a fate much worse than the Isharas’. The Guardian of Children disappeared without most of Mogar knowing she had ever existed and left behind no legacy but regret.

Scarlett fell on all fours on the floor, puking her guts out as the phantom pain of thousands of deadly wounds pierced through her body, mind, and soul.

A deep breath and force of will ended that too.

"Are you alright, Auntie?" Falco asked.

"No, but I will be." She smiled at the young boy, cleansing her mouth and floor of the vomit with a flick of her wrist. "There’s nothing to worry about."

’Good gods, that’s the stuff paranoid nightmares are made of!’ She inwardly grunted. ’Is this how you see your life? Everybody’s lives? Like a collection of failures, bad decisions, and even worse endings?’

’No. You saw all that because you’re young and your mastery over your foresight ability is limited by your poor skill and blinded by your fears.’ Tyris replied, and the Sekhmet sighed in relief.

’Seasoned Guardians like me, Salaark, or Leegaain have it much worse. What you see now is just the tip of the iceberg. Wait until your gaze can pierce through the roiling tides of causality and you finally notice what lies beneath the surface.

’That’s when you’ll truly know fear.’ At those words, Scarlett swallowed hard and regretted ever leaving her lair in the White Griffon Forest and starting her quest for Guardianhood.

’Then how can you smile like that?’ The Sekhmet asked. ’How can you and the other Guardians go on with your lives pretending everything is alright?’

’We don’t pretend. Everything is alright, child.’ Tyris inwardly shook her head. ’Mogar is bigger than you and me. Life has gone on for eons before I became the First Guardian and will continue even if we all disappear.

’Remember this, child, for those like us, knowledge is just the side effect of power. The stronger you become, the farther you’ll be able to see. What you think is a dark tide ready to swallow us all is just a passing thundercloud.

’Don’t let your fears control you, child. Everything you see now existed long before you were born, yet you are still here. The only thing that’s changed is that now you can see it. You can see the truth of this world and why Guardians interfere so rarely often.’

Scarlett mulled over those words, finding them true yet deriving no consolation from them. She couldn’t forget all the visions of her own demise and how easy killing her seemed.

’That’s because you are at your weakest right now.’ Tyris answered the Sekhmet’s silent question. ’Under our guidance, you’ve learned what your powers and bloodline abilities are. You know how to tap into your Guardian core.

’Yet you don’t know a single Guardian spell, and your understanding of your abilities is limited by our teachings. None of us can tell you what a Sekhmet can do or how strong you are. That’s for you to find out.

’You are at the same level Salaark was when she fought Tezka for the first time, and their battle ended in a tie.’

’Yeah, too bad Tezka is still alive and has become much stronger. If I face him in a battle to the death as I am now, what are my odds of survival?’ Scarlett asked.

’None.’ Tyris said, and color drained from the Sekhmet’s face. ’In your shoes, however, I wouldn’t worry about the Suneater. Filia and Frey know and like you. He wouldn’t make them cry. It’s Orulm you have to watch out for.

’Becoming a hybrid didn’t change his black heart, yet the Master’s workings have increased his power by leaps and bounds.’

’Order and Chaos!’ Scarlett sifted through the past, witnessing several powerful white cores dying at the Breaker’s hands and many Guardians much more powerful than her barely escaping his clutches back when he was still an Eldritch.

’I need Davross, and loads of it! I need enough to make myself some equipment. I need time to train my pathetic abilities. Most of all, I need hope!’

Time had barely moved as the newborn Guardian faced her first struggle. To everyone else in the room, everything happened in the time Scarlett puked, and Tyris offered her a hand to stand up.

The Sekhmet accepted Tyris’ help and straightened herself, while her mind still churned at the realization of how frail her existence was.

"Well, this is new." Tyris’s silver eyes sparkled with excitement, and her smile warmed everyone’s heart.

"What’s new? Not to brag, but I puked much more than that in the past!" Teryon puffed her chest out with pride, and most toddlers nodded.

"Not that, silly." The Great Mother chuckled. "Aunt Scarlett is now her own Guardian. She’s on my turf, and it’s not rejecting her."

"Really?" The Sekhmet smiled at the first good news of that horrible morning. "I thought that was your doing, like with Salaark and Leegaain."

"I simply allow them to be here." Tyris replied. "I don’t actively interfere when they call upon the world energy of the Griffon Kingdom, but I don’t ease it either. Their powers are still limited here. Look."

A spark of light from her eyes made the phenomenon visible to the naked eye. The surrounding world energy flowed in and out of Tyris’ figure as if she were a beating heart, and the world energy was the blood she pumped.

Salaark was cut off from the flow, but she could freely interact with it. Thanks to Tyris’ blessing, the world energy didn’t recoil from the Overlord’s touch, nor did it resist her commands.

Everyone else was immersed in the world energy life fish swimming in the sea, Scarlett included.

"Can this be because Auntie Scar is from the Kingdom like us?" Lenart asked.

"It’s not that simple, sweetie." Tyris replied. "A Guardian is a presence so powerful that it cannot coexist with another one of their kind if they share the same connection with the turf they live in.

"If the Griffon Kingdom were Auntie Scarlett’s potential turf, the two of us would feel a strong hostility towards each other and feel the need to settle the ownership of this land through battle. I have no such impulse. You?"