Inside the iron gate.
All the surviving Silvermane Guards hung their heads low, their gazes fixed on the cold, heavy steel gate, their faces ashen.
Just moments ago, to save them, Belobog's Warden had remained on the other side of the gate forever.
They had survived, but their hearts felt as if a piece had been gouged out.
"Guard Captain Gepard, he... it was for us..."
A young guard murmured, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.
Another veteran slammed his fist against the cold wall, "He clearly... he was always so strict with rules, why would he do something like that for us guys?!"
"I still remember... the officer scolded me just yesterday, telling me to polish my combat boots, saying it was the face of the Iron Guard..."
"And his voice... damn it, it still seems to be ringing in my ears..."
"Me too..."
"Me too..."
Several guards subconsciously echoed, and then, everyone suddenly froze.
"Hm?"
Everyone looked up in horror, exchanging glances.
The air, previously saturated with sorrow, turned eerie.
They all, as if seeing a ghost, fixed their gazes on the steel gate.
That's right.
Guard Captain Gepard's voice.
Not an echo, not a hallucination.
It was coming from outside that door, so clear, so real!
"I am Gepard Landau! Open the door!"
The familiar, authoritative, and undeniable voice rang out again, like a thunderclap striking the silent crowd!
"It's the Warden! It's the Warden's voice!"
The young guard, who reacted first, scrambled towards the door, shouting hysterically.
The remaining guards swarmed forward, their faces a mix of ecstasy and disbelief, like drowning people grasping at their only straw.
"It has to be him! I wouldn't forget that voice even if I were burned to ashes!" The guard's face showed a frantic joy born of extreme sorrow, "It's the Warden! He's alive! Open the door quickly!"
"Stop!"
A cold, sharp shout, like a basin of icy water, instantly extinguished everyone's hope.
Dunn stood like a wall, blocking everyone's path.
His weathered face showed nothing but steely coldness and resolve.
"He is not Gepard."
His voice was not loud, but every word pierced their hearts.
"Gepard... is already dead."
"Impossible!" The guards protested excitedly, "That's clearly the Warden's voice! Captain Dunn, listen!"
Dunn slowly closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them.
He spoke, word by word, the truth everyone had deliberately ignored.
"The power of the fragmentum can mimic the people we are most familiar with, luring us to open our defenses..."
"Ask yourselves, with that many fragmentumcreatures, covering the sky and the earth, even blocking out the sun! Could anyone truly... survive that?!"
"Everyone, snap out of it!"
"Once this door is opened, if what comes in is a monster we cannot imagine, behind us... is all of Belobog!"
At these words, all the clamor and euphoria turned to ashes.
The Iron Guards gripped their weapons, but could not utter another word.
Yes.
The truth was that cruel.
No one... could have survived that apocalyptic disaster... Outside the door.
Gepard listened to the sudden silence from inside the door, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.
Phainon, beside him, simply watched the door calmly, his gaze like he was looking at a lifeless object with no connection to him.
"Can the door... be opened from the outside?" Phainon asked indifferently.
"No," Gepard immediately replied, "This door was supervised by the former City Builders; it can only be opened from the inside. It's the final line of defense set to completely block the fragmentum invasion. Any attack from outside..."
"I don't have that much time," Phainon interrupted him directly.
Then, he raised the Dawnbreaker, "I'll open the door."
"Wait!"
Gepard's face paled in alarm, and he instinctively reached out to stop him.
He had no doubt that Phainon could cleave open the door, and precisely because of that, he was even more terrified!
"This door contains the power of Preservation! Once damaged, it will be difficult to repair with current technology! And it will forever lose their ability to resist the fragmentum!"
However, Phainon's sword-swinging motion did not pause in the slightest.
He didn't even glance at Gepard, merely replying with a voice so cold it carried no emotion:
"fragmentum creatures?"
He paused, the dark blade of his sword already resting against the cold steel gate.
"One comes in... one is destroyed."
The moment his words fell, a sword hum echoed in the air.
The dark greatsword merely grazed the door.
A deep crack, ignoring the so-called power of Preservation, ignoring the heavy alloy, silently spread from the bottom of the gate to the top, like a hot knife through butter.
Immediately after, this crack began to spread wildly like a spiderweb.
Clang—
Clang—
Accompanied by two metallic groans of unbearable strain, the massive steel door shattered, collapsed, and fell to the ground with a crash, becoming a pile of scrap metal.
Hearing the loud noise, the Iron Guards inside the door were stunned.
As the smoke and dust cleared, what appeared before them was not the fragmentum monsters they had imagined, nor the Warden they had hoped for.
Instead, it was a lone black-robed figure.
And behind him... nothing but scorched wasteland.
The overwhelming swarm of fragmentum creatures had vanished.
Not a single one left.
Everyone's brains crashed simultaneously.
A deeper fear gripped their hearts.
The Iron Guards immediately raised their weapons, aiming at that sole "living thing."
In their eyes, there was only one truth.
Officer Gepard was dead.
And the beast tide... had been "eaten" by this thing in front of them!
Just at this tense, explosive moment.
"...Stop."
A tired but familiar voice rang out. Gepard, supporting his shoulder, walked out from behind the pile of scrap metal, step by step.
When everyone saw his familiar face and repeatedly confirmed that Gepard was indeed alive.
Their taut nerves suddenly snapped, and their weapons fell.
Dunn rushed forward, grabbing his shoulder excitedly: "Gepard! You really are alive! I knew you wouldn't die!"
Then, his peripheral vision caught sight of the black-robed figure, his eyes filled with wariness and confusion.
"Who is he?"
Gepard's lips moved, as if searching for a suitable word.
After a moment of contemplation, he uttered a few words with difficulty.
"He... is a newly recruited Silvermane Guard."
Gepard immediately changed the subject, using his last strength to give an order: "There shouldn't be a large number of fragmentum creatures appearing for a while, quickly send three times the manpower to re-garrison the defense line!"
Then, he turned to his adjutant, his voice as heavy as iron.
"Inform Bronya that an emergency military meeting will be held in the High Command Room in half an hour!"