Chapter 25: The Guardian

(Lily!)

It felt as if her head had been split open.

Even as she tried to open her eyes, everything was blurry. The incessant ringing in her ears made her head spin even more, and the nausea intensified.

"N-Nia?"

Lily didn’t understand what was happening or where she was, but upon hearing the desperate voice of her beloved calling out to her, she forced herself to try and stand.

(Lily, are you alright!? You were unconscious for more than an hour.)

Her vision began to adjust, and with the help of two tentacles supporting her arms, she managed to sit up. Her heterochromatic eyes scanned the environment as her weary mind tried to process the information Nia was giving her.

“I-I’m okay, I don’t feel any pain. I’m just confused. What happened?”

The memories from before she passed out were a blur. Her last recollection was being thrown by an enormous mass of energy.

(The explosion from the stardust staff caused a massive fissure in the labyrinth, and we fell hundreds of meters.)

Nia’s words jolted her foggy memory, and the last battle came rushing back to her thoughts.

"Did that bastard die in the collapse!?"

(I don’t think so. The explosion was focused in our direction, so he had a much greater chance of escaping than we did.)

Lily felt a surge of anger building inside her. She had thought she had the situation under control and that just one more attack would’ve been enough to get rid of that man forever.

“I’m sorry, Nia. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t taken so long to finish him off, none of this would’ve happened.”

However, what hurt her most wasn’t the possibility of him escaping—it was the thought that her incompetence might now put her beloved at risk.

(It’s not your fault, Lily! If I had realized what he was planning earlier, he wouldn’t have hurt you like this. We’ll find him, I swear to you we will, and then we’ll have our revenge!)

This was the first time Lily had seen Nia so angry. Even when they had to kill dozens of monsters or mages that stood against them, the shapeshifter had never shown such fury.

Reaching out to the floating tentacles, Lily gently stroked one of them.

“I guess if we keep blaming ourselves, this will never end, will it?” She chuckled softly, realizing that neither she nor Nia would stop until the other admitted it wasn’t their fault. She kissed the tentacle lightly before standing. “Do you think you can lead us to the entrance?”

The silver-haired girl didn’t even know where they were. Nia had told her they had fallen at least a hundred meters, so they were now in a deep level of the labyrinth.

(I believed that as long as the entrance remained intact, I could move us there. But I was wrong. Between each floor of the labyrinth is a dense layer of mana. Even though I have the coordinates of the entrance, I can’t force my spell through all the layers. I only realized this as we were falling. I’m sorry, Lily.)

Nia’s voice was soft, filled with guilt over her misjudgment that had put them in this situation.

“It’s okay, Nia. We’ll find a way up, and once we’re close enough, you can get us out of here~”

Both girls knew that continuing to wallow in regret wouldn’t change their situation. Observing her surroundings, Lily took note of where she was now. The ceiling where she had fallen had already closed up. She found herself in a circular room, with a single wide corridor made of smooth, polished stones being the only way forward.

(I used mana detection to check the corridor as far as I could. It’s just a straight path for about five hundred meters, but my mana collided with something that prevents it from going any further.)

With no other option but to check out the passage, the girls cautiously walked the entire way.

Although Lily no longer needed oxygen due to the dark mana coursing through her veins, she couldn’t help but notice that, despite still being underground, the air didn’t seem any thinner than it would on the surface.

Nia, having grown up in the subterranean world, could easily see even in the absence of light. And since Lily shared her senses with Nia, she could do the same. Within a few minutes, they reached the end of the corridor.

“A door?”

The structure stood over four meters tall and was wide enough for five Lilys to walk through side by side. Its texture resembled wood, with various blue filaments running across its surface. When Lily touched it, she realized the material was as hard as steel.

(I can’t push my dark mana through to the other side, so I can’t tell what’s beyond the door.)

Nodding in agreement, Lily placed both hands against the door and began to push. Four purple tentacles aided her in the task, with dark mana once again enveloping her body in a thick layer to protect her from any danger.

A sound akin to steel scraping echoed as Lily struggled to push the doors open. Once she had created a small enough gap, she slipped inside, immediately adopting a combat stance.

Lily wasn’t particularly sensitive to mana, but even she could feel the overwhelming density in the room as if hundreds of hands were tightening around her neck.

The chamber was circular, with dozens of pillars along its circumference, all interconnected by a web of tree branches, their blue pulses matching the filaments on the door.

On the opposite side of the entrance, what appeared to be a massive statue made of the same wood as the rest of the room sat on a throne. Though humanoid in shape, its limbs were disproportionate—its right arm was three times the size of its left, and its legs looked like ancient tree trunks. Its face resembled a flat mask carved directly into the wood.

(Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh?!)

Lily was caught off guard by the sudden scream of pain from Nia. It was the first time since they’d met that the shapeshifter had shown any sign of physical pain.

“Nia!? Are you okay?!”

The silver-haired girl shouted in panic, her trembling hands pressing against her chest, where Nia resided.

(It’s burning, Lily, it’s burning!)

Nia had never felt anything like this before. For the first time since she gained consciousness, she could feel her mind in such a chaotic state. It was as if something fundamental inside her was burning in flames.

Nia's shock rippled through Lily. Not only did the tentacles on her back dissolve as Nia writhed in pain, but even standing upright became a struggle for Lily.

"Welcome, daughter of Sylvan."

The moment that voice echoed through the chamber, Lily spun as fast as her aching body could manage toward the source of the sound. Her trembling hands instinctively reached for her swords.

"What are you doing!?" she roared at the statue, which remained unmoving, panic written across her face as Nia continued to suffer.

"Tell me your name, daughter of Sylvan."

The voice, sounding like an elderly man, echoed again through the room, though Lily was too weak to rush toward the figure.

“W-Who is Sylvan?! Why do you want to know my name? Stop whatever you're doing!”

“I am not speaking to you, foolish human. I’m addressing the being dwelling within you.”

“!?”

Lily froze, unable to process the voice's claim. How could that even be possible?

“W-What are you talking about?!”

“I see... 'the two' are resonating. You are struggling merely because of that?”

The casual tone of the voice caused Lily to suddenly feel the tremors in her body begin to ease.

"Nia, are you okay?!"

Lily desperately pressed her hand to her chest again, feeling the gentle rhythm of Nia's heart pulse back to her.

(I-I’m okay, Lily. It doesn’t hurt anymore.)

The metamorph’s voice had calmed, and Lily felt an overwhelming sense of relief, though it only lasted a few moments before the statue spoke once more.

“I expected more from one who has acquired the knowledge of one of the volumes of the Book of Truth. But, yes, you are still immature, with great potential to learn, so I shall overlook your lack of mastery as something fleeting.”

Neither girl could comprehend what the statue was saying, but one of the words caught Nia's attention.

(Book of Truth?)

“Yes, a grimoire personally written by my master. The Book of Truth contains all the life knowledge of my master Sylvan.”

The statue's response was not what startled Nia. It was the fact that her question had been answered.

(He can hear me!?)

"You can hear her?!"

Lily and Nia both shouted almost in unison, their growing unease now confirmed.

"More than hear, daughter of Sylvan, I can see that you have assimilated the volume granted to you from the Book of Truth."

The girls were both shaken by the unfolding situation. From the beginning, the only person who could hear Nia had been Lily—and only her.

(A-Assimilated?)

Nia was still in shock, her first-ever conversation with someone besides Lily taking every bit of her strength to form even short sentences.

"My master entrusted each of the six volumes to one of her guardians and instructed us to safeguard them until someone we deemed worthy appeared. I have been waiting here, following her will all this time, and at last, that person has arrived."

(I-I didn’t receive any book from anyone!)

Nia couldn’t understand what the guardian was talking about. The moment she had gained consciousness was when she absorbed the book she'd found scattered among the rubble of a destroyed battlefield. She had never encountered one of the guardians, nor had she ever proven herself worthy of receiving such a thing.

“I see," the guardian said, "the one chosen by that guardian must have perished before fulfilling their mission.” His words carried a tone of loneliness, as though he understood the loss of a companion and the pain that came with it. “However, the fact that you have absorbed the knowledge and mana of that volume and became a sentient being while retaining your sanity makes you worthy. Take pride in that.”

The girls listened to the guardian's proclamation. Despite his still form, he exuded life.

"Metamorph, to carry the will of my master, I shall grant you the volume of the Book of Truth that I guard. You need not prove yourself more worthy than you already are. Your efforts have already been acknowledged by me.”

Though neither Lily nor Nia fully understood the guardian's words, they both felt a wave of relief. It seemed that the situation had been resolved without conflict, and they might even find a way to the surface with the guardian's help.

However, just as they were about to step toward the statue, the guardian's cold voice echoed once more.

"However, the host who has established a parasitic relationship with the metamorph must prove themselves worthy of inheriting my master’s legacy."

The surroundings hadn’t changed; she was still in the great hall. But in the mere blink of an eye, Lily felt as though her world had been utterly destroyed.

Placing her right hand on her chest, she felt her heartbeat—a sensation that should have been natural but now filled her with the deepest sense of dread.

“Nia?”

She didn’t care that one of her arms had vanished, or that half her vision had been taken away.

Nia wasn’t there.

The girl she loved more than anything in the world was no longer with her.

“Nia!!??”

Lily screamed. It was more than just walking away from her beloved. The calming sensation of always being connected to Nia had vanished. She was truly, utterly alone.

A heavy sound echoed through the hall as the three-meter-tall guardian rose to his feet, his wooden face staring down at the white-haired woman.

“Now come, foolish human. Let us begin your trial.”