Swordmeister of Rome

Stiel couldn't find a word to describe it.

It was a huge body with numerous red particles covering it. It was covered within the mountain so it must have been lying underground for thousands of years, but the red particles, or the scales, were flawless.

The head had six horns. It wasn't like Fish No.1's young horns. All of the horns were fully grown and twisted, showing that it had been growing for ages.

What was more amazing was that it was just a husk. It looked like it would come back to life at any moment, but it was all but a husk.

Stiel then let out a sigh of relief. She then realized she had been nervous and couldn't even breathe correctly because of it.

"No wonder why I couldn't feel anything."

Stiel moaned at the fact that she had been living on top of this husk for 200 years.

"It's not an empty husk."

"Huh?"

"It has all of the power extracted into it. It's sealed tight inside. That's why you and I didn't feel anything."

Sian looked serious.

"How much power does it have?"

"It's much more than mine."

"What?"

"It has weakened due to age though. It probably was stronger back when it just got here. I think the reason why the Lagran Region is prosperous is because of this."

Stiel was astounded. A power that allowed the land to grow and prosper for thousands of years.

"But that doesn't make sense. Why was it abandoned then?"

"It's either of the two. Either it had no choice or…"

"Or?"

"This power was nothing to the new one that came out from it."

"…"

"Haha… I thought the Seven-Horned Harijan was a fairytale."

"Haha…" Stiel could not say anything but laugh.

"So this is the reason why they keep coming back to life. If they are getting power from here, we will need to kill them hundreds of times."

"Then what should we do?"

They were buried, but there would be no time later when they came out from it. Killing it hundreds of times was not something even Sian could do. Without Sian, those monsters would destroy everything in the region.

"Miss Stiel, there are times when I have a feeling that I have no choice left."

"What do you mean."

"I know I vowed to never go to a dangerous place again, but there's no other way."

"What are you talking about?" Stiel asked.

"I can't keep killing them. They're strong and they won't die. The reason why they have awakened is because we touched the husk here. My practice a few days ago was the final trigger."

It was an easy guess. The Granines were somewhat like guardians to this husk and gained energy in return. The reason for their madness was probably connected to Sian using his power near this place. It was because his power affected the husk down here.

"But…"

"I don't know how long it will take… but I won't die."

"Hey, why can't you just run! And you just said you are going to put yourself into danger!"

Stiel became frustrated. Sian just said that he had no choice but to face the danger of death to solve this.

"I told you. They will come after me. I can't run away. Besides, I should take responsibility for my actions. Don't worry, I'm not going to die. I'm going to become stronger."

It was different this time. It was him who touched the sleeping husk and it was him who was responsible for the upcoming death.

"You idiot… that's nothing! You're not a normal human!" Stiel shouted. Responsibility for the lives of humans… it didn't make sense.

"Hehe. I'll be normal as far as I can be. It's been fun. Take care of my family, will you? Oh, and take this too."

Sian then took off his Nitzmatan and put it on Stiel's neck.

"You… you said you're not going to die…"

"I'm just letting you keep it so it won't get destroyed. It's mine. I'll come back for you."

Sian then began moving toward the red scale. Before Stiel could do anything, Sian laid his hands on it.

<…Food…>

"Not so fast."

The husk began moving. The husk was left by such a powerful being that it had its own will and after it had been awakened, and it was now feeling hungry. The husk didn't want to lose this high energy food that had contacted it. The husk then stopped sending all the energy to the <Guards> and began focusing on the food.

The husk then swallowed Sian at an incredible speed.

"What…!"

Stiel couldn't do anything but watch. Scales were quickly swarming over Sian and the whole husk started moving to eat Sian whole. The skeletons that were scattered around changed shape and returned to the scales to join forces. The scales then began spinning, becoming a red sphere before getting smaller.

After shrinking down to a sphere about four feet in diameter, it stopped. It was trying to destroy something inside, but it was being fought back from the inside. From the outside, it looked like a red egg.

Stiel stared at the red egg. She wasn't powerful enough to fight it, and knowing what was happening inside, she didn't want to feed the husk energy.

"Hehe… if you want to play it cool, then I'll help you as your mate. Come back victorious."

Stiel then began pulling Bander into her entire body.

When all power was gathered, she then smacked the ground hard. It was a fist on the ground, but it rumbled like an earthquake. No, it was an actual earthquake. The ground that was weakened by the fight between Sian and the Granines began crumbling and the entire ground around the red sphere began to fall. The sphere was then buried a few hundred feet below ground and there was no trace left afterward.

"That's good. You should thank me when you come back."

Stiel then moved out to check on the buried Granines.

Stiel checked the area where she had buried the Granines a while ago. There was a trace of them trying to dig out of the ground, but it seemed that their bones were left in dust after the power source stopped.

"They're all dead…"

The others were okay, but she needed to check on the three. Stiel then began digging down to check on the three Elders. Fortunately, they were all dead. The energy source stopped before they could finish their regenerations, thus killing them. Stiel then picked up Chrona-Phon that was on top of them and then stashed it into Nitzmatan.

"Good. This is finished."

Stiel then buried all bodies by destroying the hole and moved out. One person watching her from the distance. It was Rodeval.

"I was lucky."

<Our people's revival is in your hands. You are the sole survivor.>

"I know."

Rodeval answered the weird voice coming from within.

He couldn't make sure if the monster woman was gone for sure, so he waited for a day and began digging down. He then collected the bones and moved to a part of the Sky Mountain where nobody could find him.

Territory of Dragona, the ruler of Sky Mountain.

It was the place where no Harijan or human would enter. It was the perfect place for him to grow more powerful.