The first Elite monster reached within twenty meters of him.

It stopped.

Not because it wanted to. Because it could not move. Space itself locked around its massive body like invisible chains. The creature’s eyes widened with confusion and terror. Its muscles strained against nothing. Muscles that could crush steel strained uselessly.

A light sword shot forward.

The sword pierced through the Elite monster’s thick hide. Through its reinforced bones. Through its vital organs.

Dead.

The second Elite monster reached twenty meters. It stopped. A sword shot forward. Dead.

The third. Fourth. Fifth.

Dozens. Hundreds.

Every Elite monster that crossed the twenty meter boundary froze instantly. Space locks held them helpless while light swords pierced through their formidable defenses. Their roars turned to gurgles. Their charges turned to stillness.

Victor stood at the center of it all. A circle of death surrounded him.

Elite monsters piled up outside that circle, unable to penetrate, unable to escape. They roared and clawed at the air but could not reach him. They could only watch as their comrades died one after another.

Sword after sword shot forward.

Corpse after corpse piled higher.

Victor never stopped smiling.

He never stopped walking.

---

The battlefield fell completely silent.

Not a single human fought anymore. Not a single monster attacked them anymore.

Everyone simply watched.

A single man was fighting thousands of Elite monsters alone.

And he was winning.

A young woman from the Royal Magus Academy stood among the stunned crowd. Her robes were torn and bloody. Her staff had long since shattered. But her eyes remained fixed on the walking figure in the distance.

"No wonder," she whispered, her voice trembling. "No wonder he refused to bow to the Sages. He is a future sage."

Beside her, a warrior from the Royal Warrior Academy nodded slowly. His voice was thick with emotion.

"He is not just a future Sage. He is the future guardian of humanity."

The woman shook her head. Tears streamed down her face.

"No."

The warrior looked at her.

She pointed toward Victor with a shaking finger.

"Look at him. Look at what he is doing right now. He is not the future guardian."

Her voice cracked.

"He is the guardian. Right now. At this moment. While the Sages lie unconscious and the generals lie broken, he stands alone against thousands of Elite monsters. He is humanity’s shield. He is humanity’s sword."

The warrior stared at Victor’s bloody figure. His own eyes grew wet.

"You are right," he said quietly. "He is humanity’s guardian."

---

Three hours passed.

The sun began setting behind the mountains, painting the sky in shades of red and gold. The blood soaked battlefield reflected the colors back toward the heavens like a mirror of suffering.

Victor continued fighting.

His consciousness had long since faded. His eyes were open but completely blank. His hands hung limply at his sides. There was no thought behind his actions. No strategy. No awareness.

His body moved on pure instinct now. The spells continued flowing from his broken mana circuits without deliberate direction. Space cracks continued forming around each sword without conscious will.

He was a machine of destruction powered by nothing but stubborn refusal to die.

Blood gushed from his body like a fountain. His nose. His ears. His eyes. His mouth. Every opening poured crimson. His skin cracked open in dozens of places. His body armor had transformed from silver to deep red.

But the swords kept shooting forward. And the monsters kept dying.

The pile of Elite monster corpses around him had grown into a small mountain. Thousands of dead creatures lay stacked against each other. Black blood formed rivers that flowed across the battlefield and pooled in the craters.

Still Victor walked forward. Still the swords flew.

---

The remaining humans could not hold back their tears anymore.

Strong warriors wept openly. Seasoned veterans covered their faces. Young mages fell to their knees and sobbed into their bloodied hands.

"He is going to die," someone whispered. The words carried across the silent battlefield like a death knell.

"Someone stop him!"

"Please, I beg of you, someone stop him!"

A young girl from the support corps screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice cracked with desperation and grief.

"Please! He will die! Humanity will lose its most precious treasure! Somebody save him!"

The elite awakeners looked at each other. None of them moved.

They were afraid. The spells Victor was casting killed Elite monsters like they were nothing. If those swords turned on them, they would not survive a single second.

They hated themselves for their cowardice. Their faces twisted with shame. Their fists clenched until nails drew blood from their palms.

But they could not move.

---

Then the sky rippled.

Nine figures descended from the heavens.

The Sages had returned.

Their bodies were wounded. Their clothes were torn. Blood covered each of them from head to toe. They had spent hours hunting down the S Rank monsters that had attacked the Federation cities. They had killed them all. But the price was severe.

Yet their eyes burned with the fire of those who had just saved millions of lives.

Diana landed first.

Her twin swords dripped with dark monster blood. Her blue hair was matted and tangled. Her elegant robes were shredded in a dozen places. But her ocean blue eyes immediately scanned the battlefield for one person.

She found him.

And her heart shattered into a million pieces.

Victor walked through a field of thousands of Elite monster corpses, covered entirely in his own blood. His eyes were open but completely vacant. His hands hung limply at his sides. His chest rose and fell in shallow, irregular breaths.

Yet swords continued forming around him and shooting toward any monster that still breathed.

He was unconscious.

He had been unconscious for hours.

But his body refused to stop fighting.

Diana’s lips parted. Her voice came out as barely a whisper.

"Victor..."

Then she shot forward.

The air exploded behind her as she moved at maximum speed. Wind screamed past her ears. Tears streamed from her eyes and evaporated instantly from the friction. Her hand reached toward him desperately.

"Victor!"

---

And then a man appeared.

He materialized directly in front of Victor as though he had been standing there the entire time. A black hoodie covered his face. Dark pants and simple boots completed the outfit. Nothing about him seemed remarkable except his pressure.

Diana stopped mid air because of her reflexes.

He was an Epic Rank awakener.

Diana could tell that much instantly.

Suddenly, every instinct inside her body screamed in warning.

Her movements halted for a fraction of a second purely out of reflex.

For the first time in her life, Diana hated her own reflexes.

Because of that single moment of hesitation, Victor was about to die.

This man was none other than the same individual who had sent those assassins into the dungeon that day.

His white teeth could be seen under his hoodie. He had that same disgusting smirk she saw in that video.

Suddenly a dagger appeared in his hand and he thrust it directly toward Victor’s heart.

"No....", Diana screamed like a wounded beast.