The guardian’s eyes widened slightly.

Just for a moment.

And that was all Arthur needed.

As he moved forward and past it.

His dagger came out in the same motion, already coated with wind.

The edge wasn’t just sharp. It felt like it cut before it touched.

Arthur didn’t hesitate.

He struck cleanly in a single motion as he passed.

Then he was already behind the guardian.

A second passed.

Then the blood came.

It spilled out from the guardian’s chest in a heavy line, soaking through as the cut opened fully.

From where the others stood, it looked deep.

Serious.

Enough to matter.

The guardian staggered slightly.

Arthur turned back to face it.

But his expression didn’t change.

"...Not enough."

He had felt it.

Right at the last moment.

The resistance.

The earth.

The guardian had reacted not effective, but enough.

A thin layer of hardened earth had formed over its body just before the strike landed. The blade cut through it, but it slowed just enough.

Reduced the damage.

Not by much.

But enough to matter.

The wound started closing almost immediately.

The same forced movement of mana.

The same unnatural stitching.

Torren clicked his tongue. "It’s learning."

Arthur nodded once.

"And adapting."

But that didn’t slow him down.

If anything... it pushed him more.

Arthur rolled his shoulder lightly, adjusting his grip on the dagger.

"...Then i don’t give it time."

The guardian steadied itself again, its breathing rough but holding.

Its eyes locked onto Arthur once more.

This time, there was no laughter.

No mockery.

Just focus.

Arthur met its gaze.

"Come again."

No fear or hesitation.

But it was a direct challenge.

The guardian moved first. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Again.

And Arthur followed right after.

Closing the distance without waiting.

The ritual guardian changed its approach though.

It stopped trying to trade damage.

Its body tightened, and the earth around it responded. A thick layer of hardened soil wrapped over its skin, not thin like before, but dense. Heavy. Built to take hits.

It wasn’t playing anymore.

It had learned.

Arthur noticed it immediately.

"...So now you want to endure?"

The guardian didn’t answer.

It moved first.

Arthur didn’t wait either.

He stepped in and raised his hand slightly. The ground answered him this time. Wind spears shot forward, fast and direct, aimed straight at the guardian’s chest.

Not to kill.

To force a reaction.

The guardian saw it and reacted just as fast. Spikes burst from the ground around Arthur, sharp and sudden, aimed to catch him mid-step.

At the same time, the spears reached the guardian.

Some hit.

Some were dodged.

The ones that landed struck the earth skin and cracked against it. They pushed it back a little, but nothing more.

Not enough.

Arthur already knew that.

"...Yeah, that won’t do."

But that was never the point.

The spikes around him closed in, fast enough that anyone else would have been caught.

Arthur vanished.

A shift of intent.

A step placed perfectly between danger and space.

The spikes missed.

And in that same moment..

He disappeared from the guardian’s sight.

The guardian stiffened.

It felt it.

But it was late.

Arthur was already behind it.

His dagger came up, and this time it wasn’t just wind.

Fire followed.

It wrapped around the blade, thin at first, then sharper as wind tightened it into something more focused.

Not wild.

Controlled.

The guardian turned, but it was rushed, off balance. It raised its hands, earth gathering around them in a thick defense.

It aimed to block.

Arthur didn’t slow down.

"...Too late."

His intent settled.

Execution.

He didn’t strike the surface.

He struck the weakness.

The point where the earth skin thinned just slightly, where the flow of mana wasn’t perfect.

The dagger went in.

There was resistance at first, but then it gave.

Wind cut through.

Fire followed.

It burst inside the guard, not loud, but violent enough.

The impact snapped through both of the guardian’s wrists at once.

It screamed.

A real scream this time.

Not from anger, but pain.

Arthur pulled back, already moving again before the guardian could recover.

The earth around them went wild.

Walls rose.

Spikes shot out.

Spears formed and launched without pattern.

The guardian wasn’t thinking cleanly anymore.

It was reacting.

Trying to push Arthur away.

Trying to survive.

But Arthur stayed on it.

Every step was tight.

Every movement had purpose.

He didn’t waste time breaking through the attacks.

He slipped through them.

His intent step carried him past the worst of it, placing him where the attacks weren’t.

Close.

Too close.

The dagger moved again.

Same pattern.

Wind.

Fire.

Execution.

Another cut.

Deep across the shoulder.

The earth skin cracked, split open, and the blade dug in.

The guardian staggered.

Arthur didn’t stop.

He stepped in again and drove the dagger forward, this time into the arm the guardian raised too quickly.

It exposed it.

Just for a moment.

And it was enough as the blade went through.

Clean.

Arthur twisted and pulled.

The arm came off.

The guardian’s body jerked as blood poured out again, thicker this time.

Its tainted mana surged.

Trying to heal.

Trying to hold everything together.

But the damage kept coming.

Faster than it could fix.

"...Stop...!"

The words came out broken.

Barely clear.

A plea.

Arthur heard it.

But he didn’t answer.

His eyes stayed cold.

Focused.

Because he could still see it.

The wolf.

The cub.

Nox running.

The spears falling.

He exhaled once.

"...You don’t get to beg."

The dagger came again.

And again.

Each strike clean.

Each one placed.

The guardian’s body was falling apart.

Shoulder torn.

Chest opened again.

Leg cut deep enough to shake its balance.

Its earth skin kept forming, but slower now.

Messier.

It was losing control.

Behind them, the others watched in silence.

No one stepped in.

No one tried to stop it.

Torren folded his arms. "...He looks angry."

Ryn shook his head slightly. "No... he’s focused."

Nox didn’t say anything.

She just held the cub tighter, her eyes locked on Arthur.