Chapter 17: The Guardian
Chris and Alito rushed forth to the rendezvous point in the Stonefather Valley just in time to reunite with Death and saw Elder Eidard coerce the Guardian.
The Guardian was as tall as the mountain and as huge as the Tree of Life. It has the same features as Oran and the Warden of the Lost Temple and it has a huge right wooden hammer with a cannon-like left arm. Corrupted vines wrapped around its limbs and its face. Its right shoulder had many inert Corrupted Bombs.
Chris spotted three big heart stones that have yellow-green taint that ruined the once bluish-green purity.
"What happened? Why is the Guardian corrupted?" Chris shot out in worry.
"Apparently the last Heart Stone, that attached itself on the crown, is Corrupted. I thought the other two stones will cleanse the third, turns out I am wrong." Death frowned.
"Just our luck...Luckily all of the Makers inside the Forge ain't dead. Hurt, but not dead." Alito replied.
The Guardian brought his large wooden hammer down on Elder Eidard despite the latter's best effort to coerce the Guardian.
"NO!" the team screamed.
The hammer slammed the Guardian, unleashing a huge shockwave that uprooted the trees and rocks nearby, but not enough to blow the team away.
Chris, Alito, and Death cleared their eyes and were relieved to see Elder Eidard surviving the blow with an exceedingly powerful magic barrier he conjured up. However, the hammer's heavy impact bloodied the Elder Maker.
The Elder sighed and shook his head. "Makers' Bones that hurt!"
Eidard clenched his staff and teleported over to the trio, a look of concern written on his face. "He is beyond my control now. Do your worst..."
Chris scanned through the Guardian.
Morphology: Guardian
Status: Corrupted
Description: Target is Corrupted due to the Makers' Stone on its crown head. Attacks with strong hammer blows and shoots out large spiky Corrupted Bombs off its left arm. Weak spots are the three Heart Stones. Its attacks are slow but strong, and it has a short delay after hammering down once.
"You wait here, after I get it kneeling, we fight." Death commanded.
"Be careful." Chris nodded.
"I'm the ender of Life itself; I'm sure I need no concern." the Pale Rider replied.
With the knowledge from Chris's database, Death summoned his spectral horse Despair and rode around the Guardian, playing a game of cat and mouse.
The Guardian brought down its hammer, giving Death a window to shoot the Guardian's right hand. The bombs exploded and keeled the juggernaut construct on its knees.
Alito transformed to Lifebane. Chris sprint towards the Guardian's right arm, summoned a huge icicle platform from the ground, and attacked the right Heart Stone together with Death.
Within seconds, the Heart Stone began to show cracks as the Guardian found its balance and retracted its arm.
"Chris!" Death shot out.
The Icy Maiden nodded as she summoned another icicle platform, shattered it, and commanded the icicle shards to hit the bombs on the Guardian's right arm once more.
The Guardian keeled down once more as Chris, Lifebane, and Death shattered its right Heart Stone. The Guardian's right arm disintegrated as a result.
"Tactics have changed, watch out!" Chris warned.
The Guardian raised its left arm cannon towards the team and shot a huge spiky Corrupted bomb.
Death and Chris dodged just in time, the latter began to take out his redemption pistol and shoot the spiky bomb as it soon levitated in mid-air.
Sensing that the bomb might explode any instant, the team managed to stay behind the Guardian while constantly moving around to make sure the Guardian was in line with the Corrupted material. The giant bomb soon hurled itself towards the one-track minded giant and brought it to its knees with a huge impact explosion.
Chris and Death climbed up the ladder leading to the Guardian's arm cannon and slashed it several times. The Guardian rose up and it took Chris in the process as she attempted to remove the Lifebane out of the left Heart Stone.
The Guardian attempted to shake Chris off, but the Icy Maiden held on the hilt of her Lifebane stubbornly.
Chris managed to get a lock-on at the Guardian's face and shot a concentrated blast of ice towards it, blinding the Guardian and causing it to lose balance. The Guardian created a huge, dusty shockwave as it fell down, but Death dodged it easily with a high jump.
Joining Chris in a final barrage of slashes, Death managed to shatter the left Heart Stone. The left arm dislocated and the Guardian's body fell apart, raining rocks in the process.
"That was a wild one..." Chris huffed as she wiped off sweat from her forehead.
However, the Guardian's head was not finished yet. It screeched, with its mouth full of corruption, as it attempted to attach itself back in shape. Death frowned and quickly climbed up the ascending rock pieces, jumped above the Guardian's head, transformed into the Reaper Form, and plunged his Harvestor straight into the Head's Heart Stone, shattering it to smithereens.
The guardian roared its last as its eyes lost its lustre and dropped on the floor, lifeless and without purpose.
As the team attempted to catch their breath, a weak Elder Eidard limped past them.
"The three of you have no choice but to destroy him. Yet, if the path to the Tree of Life is to be cleared, I have no choice but to bring him back." Elder Eidard said calmly.
Death frowned. "How many times would you have me kill him?"
"The Guardian will resurrect itself as a Newborn, free of Corruption." Elder Eidard replied.
Chris's eyes widened as soon as she realised what Eidard is about to do. She shook her head despite keeping her cool.
"Please, Elder Eidard, there must be other way to defeat this monstrosity in front of us! You don't have to sacrifice your life for this!" Chris replied in worry.
"You know I have to, Chris..." Elder Eidard smiled sadly.
"My Lady is right; maybe there could be other ways! What will the other Makers think if they found out their father figure is gone?" Alito shook her head.
"Sometimes life gives us no choice but to perform certain tasks. What matters is not the result, but it's how you react to adversities. My body might be gone, but my wisdom shall carry on within every Maker's mind and heart." Elder Eidard simpered wistfully.
Chris looked down and clenched her fists, blood seeping out of her palms as her nails dug deep within her palms' flesh.
There was no other choice...
If she and Alito needed to prevent the dimensional disruption into becoming a large interdimensional disaster, they had no other choice - Eidard had to go...
Chris resolved to react 'positively' - seeking solace with the Eidard's words of wisdom.
"Eidard...Elder Eidard...you are the closest I have ever got to a father-figure. You have earned my respect when I saw the measures you will take to preserve the last of your realm. You have shared your wisdom with me. You have encouraged me, and convinced me, to seek solace and the meaning of humanity! Your words of wisdom have also brought Alito and me together! Even if it is just for a few days, we want to say...thank you!" Chris looked at the Elder, bit her lips, and take a big bow with her confidante.
Chris and Alito gave Elder Eidard a huge hug, which elicited a soft chuckle from the Elder Maker.
"I'm glad, you two...Mighty glad. Take charge of yourselves, Chris and Alito, and may you find the solace needed to calm yourselves down. Only then, will you be in a clear state of mind to find the meaning of humanity..."
"Even if it takes me a few years, we will not let your efforts down!" Chris and Alito shot out, holding each other's hands.
Elder Eidard raised his staff as soon as Chris and Alito stood back for a few strides.
"Stand aside...This will take more than a small effort." the Elder Maker hammered the staff on the ground, releasing a powerful stream of blue aura containing the Eidard's Lifeforce. The Guardian's scattered body parts glowed blue as it began responding to Eidard's life force, reconstructing themselves one by one.
"You know you won't survive this!" Death shot out.
"I am a Maker. That task defines my very purpose, as the reaping of souls defines your own, and preventing history from repeating itself for Chris and Alito. There is no escaping it!" Elder Eidard replied firmly.
The Guardian reconstructed itself thanks to the Eidard's life force. The shattered crown Heart Stone pieced itself together and reattached itself to the Guardian's forehead. Its eyes glow pure blue; a symbolism of being reborn and free of Corruption, ready to serve its purpose once again.
The surge of energy soon dispersed as Elder Eidard slumped on the ground; his breathing gradually became weak as his remaining life force slowly drained away into the earth.
Chris, Alito, and Death hurried over to Elder Eidard, with the Icy Maiden clasping her father figure on his right hand tightly.
"Get to the Tree...Your journey is far from over. Moreover, as for Chris and Alito...stay strong, for you will find the answer one day. Promise me...you will find it, okay?" Elder Eidard asked.
Chris and Alito nodded."We will, Elder Eidard...We will..."
Elder Eidard smiled softly for the last time as Chris felt Eidard's lost grip; he passed on.
Alito squeezed Chris's left shoulder with her right hand, feeling intense sadness for the lost of a wise fatherly figure...
Chris clenched her fists once more. As she slowly stood up and dusted the dirt on her armor, a single tear slid down her cheek.
"Elder Eidard...I promise you...Alito and I promise you...We will find the solace needed to begin the journey of discovering humanity's meaning." Chris nodded softly.
"I thought you would just mope about..." Death wondered in amazement.
"We have either two choices, Pale Rider. We either mope around and get us to nowhere...or move on and doing what we should be doing - to seek the necessary solace needed. We go for the latter..." Chris shot back calmly, with Alito holding Chris's hands and nodding firmly.
"Even till death?" Death asked.
"Even till death..." both Chris and Alito's words rang upon Death's mind.
The Guardian moved his right index finger on the Eidard's lifeless body, realised that he was gone for good, and gave a loud, deep, and echoing roar...
The colossus swung its hammer straight at the Corrupted Eye guarding the Tree of Life. The latter used its tentacle to grab hold of the Guardian, attempting to infect it once more, but the will of Eidard still remained within - the Guardian's eyes glowed blue. It overloaded its body with Makers' life force and soon self-destructed, taking the Corrupted eye along with it.
Chris and Alito stood amidst the strong burst of wind caused by the Guardian's self-destruction, and saluted with a solemn look upon their faces.
Thank you...Elder Eidard.
If Alito and I could find solace and the meaning of Humanity one day, we will pay tribute for you. Remember this...