The Forest Warden's body did not fall.
The gaping hole in his chest seemed almost not to exist — his face was ashen pale, yet his body didn't even sway.
Instead, it was the little wooden cabin they stood in that began shaking violently the instant that beastly roar rang out.
Within seconds the tremors intensified, and the roar exploded directly overhead.
Dark bolted out of the cabin just in time to see a massive claw descending from the sky, crushing the cabin flat with a single stomp.
Two shadows shot out of the collapsing wooden structure in the same instant.
The Vampire Young Lady, parasol in hand, landed lightly beside Dark.
The Forest Warden, meanwhile, retreated rapidly toward the edge of the Grey Mist Forest.
Dark slowly raised his head and finally saw the shape of the colossal creature charging out of the forest — a beast as massive as a tyrannosaur!
"An Ironclad Dragonbeast!"
The thought crossed his mind in an instant, and he recognized the creature's origin.
The Grey Mist Forest was no obscure place in the kingdom.
Year-round, it lay shrouded in grey mist, and within it lived many rare species theoretically long extinct.
But the moment any of those species left the mist, they would swiftly perish.
The undying mist within that forest was like dust from time itself, allowing life long vanished from the world to reappear.
In recent years, though, more and more scholars had come to believe that the extinct species living within the mist were nothing more than the physical manifestation of people's wishful fantasies.
Those species, they argued, were merely illusory projections sustained by the mist.
But whichever theory held true, no one could deny the presence of the mist-born lives — they could be touched, could grow, could hunt, could even kill. In every way, they were indistinguishable from real living things.
Claire's Travels recorded the details of the Grey Mist Forest clearly, and it also mentioned the forest's Warden.
Serving as Warden of the Grey Mist Forest was a cushy, coveted post, passed down through generations.
The reason they could hold the forest in check was a single Ironclad Dragonbeast, hundreds of years old.
As a Sub-Dragon Breed, the Ironclad Dragonbeast already had an extraordinarily long lifespan by nature — and this particular one, dwelling in the Grey Mist Forest, seemed to be something even more unusual still.
Dark narrowed his eyes, studying the beast, and couldn't help a faint, mocking smile.
There was no wisdom of a long-lived species in the Ironclad Dragonbeast's eyes — only the savagery of a monster.
"You there, Warden," Dark suddenly called out.
The Forest Warden, who had retreated to the forest's edge, jerked his head up to look at him, his expression unreadable.
Dark asked, curious: "I can see a devotion to knowledge in your eyes. So why is it that the life you created has no wisdom at all?"
Half of the Forest Warden's face twisted at once into something monstrous, demonic.
The moment Dark spoke those words, the Warden felt the balance of the situation shift beneath him.
This place had been his creation from the start — by rights, he should be the one interrogating from a position of power.
But the twelve-year-old Magic Guide Master refused from the very beginning to follow the pace he'd set, and his already unstable temper finally snapped, twisting half his face into that demonic mask.
Things had progressed far beyond anything he'd anticipated.
[Fight, or flee?]
The thought surged into his mind.
But the Warden's eyes flickered, and he chose to keep fighting.
He meant to use the battle to probe out the secrets of his opponent's Magic Guide Spirits.
So the fight continued.
The Forest Warden gave no spoken command, yet the enormous Ironclad Dragonbeast lurched into motion all the same.
It roared down at Dark on the ground, a stench pouring from its mouth foul enough to make anyone want to cover their nose.
"Drifloon!"
Drifloon, floating above Dark's head, was buffeted by the blast of breath and wobbled about, pulling a sour face.
"At full strength, this Ironclad Dragonbeast is probably somewhere around eight or nine stars, isn't it?"
Dark twirled the Magic Guide Card in his hand, fully in command of the situation.
The other side's intent was already plain — he'd come purely to probe the secrets of Dark's Magic Guide Spirits.
Summoning any other Magic Guide Spirit here for no reason would only be playing into his hands.
"In that case... Vampire Young Lady, I'll leave the Warden over there to you."
"Mm-hm."
The Vampire Young Lady nodded firmly, clearly treasuring this hard-won chance to fight.
In the next instant she burst into wind-like speed, sweeping around the Ironclad Dragonbeast and darting straight at the Warden.
Dark himself activated the other Magic Guide Card in his hand.
"As for this Ironclad Dragonbeast — I'll handle it myself!"
He raised the card, his eyes lit with excitement.
A battle this hard-won — of course he wasn't about to let it slip by.
"In the name of Dark Demon, Magic Guide Summon!"
"Armament, Evolve!"
Pure moonlight poured down from above, and the phantom of the Moon God Spirit rose behind him, raising a silver mirror high.
From the silver mirror burst light of unmatched purity, enveloping his entire body.
He could feel his very life-form undergoing a violent transformation!
His body, not especially tall to begin with, suddenly surged upward, as though he'd aged from twelve to eighteen in an instant, and a bone-deep pride rose across his brow.
Around him, one silvery-white piece of armor after another materialized out of nothing, each one radiating the presence of the Moon God.
In the blink of an eye, the armor pieces fastened themselves to his slender frame, the light of evolution flowing over every inch of him.
A surge of power rushed through his entire body, and Dark knew at once — he had successfully evolved into "Moon God"!
The column-shaped sensors standing up at his ears formed a V-shape with the curve of his jaw, a purple visor covering the upper half of his face and leaving only his thin lips and finely-carved chin exposed.
At the center of the silver armor was set a heart-guard mirror engraved with mysterious runes.
The six-star Magic Guide Spirit — Moon God — had made his grand entrance!
...
"What kind of armament is this??"
Having watched the whole thing unfold, the Forest Warden's eyes went wide to their absolute limit.
That Dark Demon, as the Son of the Valkyrie, possessed an "Armament Card" was no surprise in itself — but the armored form before him felt so utterly bizarre that it nearly shattered his entire worldview.
But he had no time to dwell on it — the Vampire Young Lady's parasol was already streaking toward him.
...
"Roar!"
The enraged Ironclad Dragonbeast slowly raised one massive foot, a pitch-black shadow blotting out the light.
It bore down with tremendous force, stomping down with everything it had!
But the stomp that had crushed the cabin came to an abrupt halt halfway down.
A silvery, moonlike radiance spread out from beneath its foot, soft and sacred.
When the dust settled and the light faded—
Dark Demon's "Moon God" form stood revealed.
He stood there casually, having stopped the Ironclad Dragonbeast's foot with nothing more than a single raised hand.
"So this is the 'Godhood Armament'?"
Dark felt oddly, easily unburdened — the Ironclad Dragonbeast's strength fell far short of what he'd expected.
With the six-star "Moon God's" base magic attack and defense at 3000 each, and the passive boost from the Ultimate Move "Godhood Armament," his magic attack and defense had now both hit the eight-star ceiling of 4000.
By all estimates, the Ironclad Dragonbeast should have been an eight-or-nine-star monster.
And monsters at the same tier were invariably far harder to deal with than Magic Guide Spirits of equal rating.
That was because monsters, unlike Magic Guide Spirits, didn't collapse into empty shells the moment their magic ran dry — they typically possessed formidable vitality and status resistance, and weren't easily struck down.
"But if that's the case, then isn't this Ironclad Dragonbeast an empty shell too?"
Dark's eyes flashed, and he suddenly raised his other hand, gripping the Ironclad Dragonbeast's foot in an iron hold. Power surged through his whole body, and he let out a fierce shout.
"Hah!"
The mountain-sized Ironclad Dragonbeast was hauled off its feet and slammed to the ground with a resounding boom.
Dark didn't stop there — fearless, he charged straight into the dust cloud that erupted from the impact, his clenched fists driving forward like hammers, smashing into the Ironclad Dragonbeast's jaw!
"Bam!"
The difference in size between the two was enormous.
But the balance of raw power was completely reversed.
Every one of Dark Demon's punches landed true — each strike leaving behind a gaping hole.
The Ironclad Dragonbeast, so overwhelming just moments before, had now become nothing more than a helpless chick, only able to take the beating.
Dark felt his entire body flow smoothly, unblocked, as if all the pent-up frustration buried deep in his chest had finally found an outlet and burst forth in full.
"BOOM!"
The final punch landed.
The Ironclad Dragonbeast was blown apart on the spot.
Beast blood rained down over his face, sliding down the smooth surface of his armor and dripping to the ground.
Dark slowly turned around, and, like a menacing Demon God, fixed his gaze on the Forest Warden, still locked in combat with the Vampire Young Lady.
Then he stamped his foot, driving a crater into the ground the instant he exploded forward — his whole body seeming to turn into a silver-white bullet, piercing straight through the Forest Warden's chest and abdomen in an instant!
The Warden, whose left chest had already been torn open before, now had his body nearly ripped in two.
Yet still he didn't fall — only stared with shocked eyes at Dark Demon, still in his "Moon God" form.
"You—!"
Dark didn't bother wasting words on him — the next punch drove straight into his face!
"Bam!"
Blood mist exploded outward.
The entire world suddenly spun, then collapsed in an instant.
...
Dark slowly opened his eyes.
The rumble of the Magic Guide Motorcar in motion filled his ears at once, as if the whole world had suddenly come back to life.
The others in the compartment were still fast asleep; listening closely, he could hear faint murmurs from next door.
Dark wasn't especially surprised.
He'd already known that the place he'd just been in was something dreamlike and unreal, which was why he'd summoned Drifloon the very moment he arrived.
He'd then confirmed almost immediately that it wasn't an illusion, but a dream.
If it had been an illusion, he would have had more to worry about.
But since it was merely a dream, he could have broken free at any time he chose.
"Balloo—"
Drifloon nuzzled against his cheek, leaving behind a trace of coolness.
Among the Magic Guide Spirits activated within that dream, Drifloon alone had been truly, actually summoned.
All the other Magic Guide Spirits and Magic Guide Cards had been illusory — even DemiDevimon had remained lying on the table the whole time, without so much as stirring.
But Dark had had room to spare the entire time.
Having room to spare, though, didn't mean he could afford to be careless.
"That Forest Warden was probably just a disguise, a costume to conceal someone's true identity."
"But if he really thinks it ends there, he's being far too naive."
Some people, though dead, still live on.
Some people, though still alive, are already dead.
____
Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 10 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉