"I am the gatekeeper," the old man said as each one of them stared down at the portal. It was pulsating every second as if it was a heart doing its best to stay alive.
Ed and Johan looked at each other for a second, and then Johan asked "Where does it lead to?"
"No one knows for sure."
Johan refused to accept such an answer and asked again, "Aren't you the gatekeeper? Would it make sense for you to protect something you know nothing about?"
The old man chuckled and answered, "What I protect is this side, not the other one…"
"Portals and gatekeepers," said Ed. "The death of the last Transcendent person, and the appearance of grotesque monsters all around the world. The Tower of Strength, known as the Tower of Origin, while the latter has long been erased from the memories of the people of our world."
Ed uttered the words rather slowly as if he himself was trying to understand what he was saying. Johan's eyes widened as he realized what was happening; the old man only nodded.
"Our world has been under attack for a long time," the old man explained. "I remember it happening when I was nothing but a child. The sky cracked into a million pieces, and monsters started to fall one after the other. They were so far up, they looked like nothing but ants; the smallest one was bigger than a house once they reached land."
The old man turned around. Ed and Johan followed closely behind him, all the way back inside. As the old man retrieved his pipe, he settled down on a seat and continued.
"Most of us died on the first day. Until that day, the concept of monsters was foreign to us. We lived with animals, we've heard of divine beasts such as the White Dragon, and the Black Tortoise, but we've never seen them before. That day worse things appeared."
"You said the world was under attack?" Asked Ed. "By whom?"
"We had no idea…I still have no idea," said the old man as he exhaled a cloud of gray smoke. "All the monsters that were sent to this world are nothing but small fry. That is something I can guarantee you; every time a strong one was sent, I lost a dear friend of mine. You see, sacrificing one's self was the only way we could kill them."
Once again, Ed and Johan looked at each other. Both witnessed a scene similar to what the old man said. Both of their grandparents sacrificed themselves in order to destroy the intruder during the War of Generations.
"Some great masters of our time managed to seal the cracks on the sky, but more would always appear. For a hundred years, we did nothing but fight. That is until your ancestor, Avalon, came up with an idea," said the old man as he pointed at Ed.
"One of our friends came from another world. He could create special subspaces and seal one thing inside of them. Another friend could combine any fragments of one thing back to a whole. The two of them managed to gather the sky cracks and seal them in one subspace. That was the Tower of Origin. Since the day this tower was finished, no more cracks appeared. We thought we were safe. We thought wrong."
The old man fell silent, and neither Johan nor Ed could say anything. They knew memories which he's sealed in the darkest reaches of his mind were suddenly uncovered by them. They both lost people which were dear to them; yet they could only imagine how this man could feel, hidden in this dark tower, forgotten from the memory of this world. He, himself, must have forgotten how many years he'd been confined in this place, with only his dear ones' images to keep him company.
"The next time the monsters appeared, they all came from the portal you just saw; they numbered in the millions!" he spoke with a weak, cracking voice. His eyes were seemingly too dry to ever produce tears again. "We were taken by surprise, and once again, people all over the world started dying. We tried to be ready! We created sects! Guilds! Schools! All in order to fight against this calamity, yet we still failed! The world itself recognized how we'd failed and put a limiter on itself…No person since that day could rise to the Transcendent rank. Few people would infringe upon this restriction, but would find themselves stuck at the entrance, unable to take a single step further."
Ed thought back to how he's encountered a ton of Immortal establishment people, yet the number of Transcendent level existences numbered no more than five! And all of them were at the first level.
"That very restriction ended up saving us," the old man continued. "The monsters were also affected, and the strongest ones couldn't pass through the gate. My dearest friend who created the two towers gave the last of his life in order to impose his own restriction on his creations. Time would flow slowly here. We all thought this would be the best course of action. This way, the people outside would have enough time to grow stronger. Yet, at the same time, we realized it would be a gamble. Would the world lose the power of its restriction first, or would the people rise above the challenge faster? It seems you two are proof that we won."
The old man looked at Ed and Johan with the faintest smile taking shape on his mouth. He could tell that the two of them managed to break through the world's restriction and had both achieved Transcendent establishment-level 1!
"The two of you would surely be able to fight back against…"
"That's enough old man," Johan interrupted. "What you've said until now is enough for me to confirm my suspicions, and make up my mind on what to do." He said, with a sly smile, and a twinkle in his eyes. Both he and Ed stood up at the same time; Ed seemingly agreeing with his rival.
"Our world has been under attack for hundreds and thousands of years," said Ed as he crushed Suika's card in his hand. The latter materialized right by his side.
The two young men's fighting spirits stirred and a wave of Qi, large enough to shake the entire tower blew out of them as they said in unison: "It's Time for a Counter Attack!"
Hey Everyone.
I'm sorry for being absent for such a long time, many things kept happening that stopped from writing. I can't promise a steady release everyday, but I do promise to try and finish the novel as soon as possible (I won't be cutting corners, or deleting events I thought of writing before. I simply mean that I will try to write consistently without disappearing for long periods of time)
I hope you still find my novel enjoyable, as I remind you, this is the final volume^^
The gatekeeper stared at the young boys with awe and a bit of regret. He felt helpless as he realized their potential, and how much they could improve if he could provide them with a smidge more time. Yet, he knew his powers were exhausted already. He couldn't maintain the powers of the Tower; the cracks in the world were more than enough proof. The same could be said for the time alteration between the Tower and the outside world; that had also disappeared.
As he was lost in thought, in the corner of his eye, he noticed Johan retrieving his aura and bracing for a jump. His heart raced, and before he could move, he shouted, "Wait! If you jump in now, you'll meet a legion of monsters!" as his hand reached out for the young man, his eyes, dry from crying over his friends over the hundreds and thousands of years, welled up once more. He relented once he knew he couldn't reach Johan in time and watched him sink deeper and deeper towards the gate.
"No need to be in such a hurry," Edward mockingly said. The old man watched as Johan blinked out of existence, right as he was about to be swallowed by the gate. As he looked around, the old man felt a disturbance in the air and heard a thud by his side. Johan, who should have gone to the invading world, was standing next to him as though he never moved.
"Seems like you're in a hurry to die, Avalon," Johan said as he stared daggers into Ed. He was incensed by the fact that Edward pulled him out of the air with his Space magic. He was also more enraged by the fact that he didn't manage to react in time.
"Take it easy," Edward replied. "An invasion of this scale won't happen in one night. We're also ill-prepared to take on this unknown world and its inhabitants right now. We have much to do, and no time at all, yet jumping in right now is nothing more than suicide."
"Then, what do you suggest we do? Sit around and wait until they attack us?" asked Johan, continuing his discussion with Ed, all while ignoring the old man next to them who went through a multitude of emotions in such a short period.
"Of course not!" Answered Ed as he crushed Suika's card in his hand. The latter appeared beside him, and her color was now more transparent than ever, yet she could alter her looks and color at will. "I'm also a firm believer of offense is the best defense. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare."
Ed hovered his hand, and in front of him dangled ten rings, each of which had a different colored pearl. "These will protect you from most attacks, even if someone stronger than you attacks." He said as he pulled out another thing. "And this…this should work great with the weapon you inherited." A sword, so crimson it almost looked alive, shone its brilliance in the area they were in; outdoing even the brilliance of the gate below. "Now, you can jump if you want. I still have some business to take care of in our world."
"Are you going to bring your little pack of comrades with you? They won't be able to survive." Johan said as he examined the equipment he received. He was not a fool to refuse them, as he knew how dangerous their mission was.
"Of course not," answered Ed. "Most of them are living blissfully unaware of the dangers, and I don't intend on getting them involved in any way. Now Suika, if you don't mind." He gestured toward Johan's face, and Suika immediately went into action. She jumped on Johan's face and surrounded it like a ball of water. The latter knew very well that she meant no harm, and did not retaliate.
In a moment he felt burning pain searing across his face, yet before he could complain, it had subsided; Suika had also let go of him. His hands shot up to his face, and as he felt it, he could tell his scar was gone. It was ironic that his once enemy Edward caused him to bear that scar for a while, and now he was the one to remove it.
"Enjoy my last gift to you," Edward mentioned with a sly smile on his face, the sight of which made Johan's danger senses activate. But, before he could react again, Edward pushed him down towards the gate.
"Sorry, but I can't be too nice!" Ed shouted at the falling Johan who was cursing him, yet the two of them cherished this moment. It was the calm before the storm after all.
"Now then, old gatekeeper, you'll have to wait for a while more; I still have much to do before I rejoin Johan," Ed smiled softly as he patted the worn-out shoulder of the old man who had stayed quiet for quite a while.
.
.
.
Edward and Suika walked ahead with the sun blaring above their heads. They only spent a small amount of time inside the Tower, but it was enough for them to miss the natural warmth of their world. Yet, as they basked in the sunlight, Ed's heart was frigid. He was returning to a place where he suffered heartache. It was the location of the Battle of Generations, where both his father and grandfather perished.
"I still didn't forgive you and Merry for lying to me that day," Ed faked a sob as he looked at Suika, who started flailing her hands when confronted. "I know, I know. You lied so I could win. I don't think Arthur would have minded. He was probably proud to score a draw against Johan's dad, even if it cost him his life."
Edward lamented as he stared down at the gaping hole left behind on this ground. After a second, he plunged and seemed to fall for an eternity, only to stiffen once he hit the ground. As Suika provided him with light, he was greeted with the sight of a dismembered arm, black and purple surrounded by a pool of dark blue blood. The damaged end still looked as though it was cut this morning. He could feel the presence of death emanating from it.
As he approached it apprehensively, his right hand clutched a sword, while his left crushed a card. However, it wasn't one of his monster cards; it was a healing card.
The light of the healing surrounded the arm and with a great gush of wind, the crater shook and rocks fell from above. Ed held Suika and escaped to the top. Once there, all he had to do was wait, as a figure rose from the crater. It was the same monster that his grandfather, and Johan's, fought on the same day they died. As the two of them locked eyes, the monster howled and sent all the nearby lifeforms fleeing in fear. Even Ed found himself shaking a little. Yet, he resolved himself, crushed the entirety of the monster cards he had. As he was surrounded by the light of their summoning, he pointed his sword and said, "Time for round two mother*cker!!"
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GOT IT