Above the summit of Mount Longridge, the sky was alive with swirling clouds. The sea of mist parted as a lone figure stepped forward.
Clad in sacred robes and crowned with a lotus circlet, Aeron descended the mountain not on stone—but on clouds themselves.
He walked down the heavens.
The clouds served as steps.
The world watched and trembled.
Even the most hardened warriors of light and darkness couldn't help but be stunned. Some dropped their weapons. Some fell to their knees.
> "A Guardian Lord...! The Guardian Lord of our Temple!"
An old priest cried out, tears brimming in his eyes.
Only one who had mastered the union of the Moon Path and the Sun Path could descend from the sky in such a way. Not even those who surpassed the Phenomenon Tier could achieve this. Only the one chosen by the Blade of Balance could walk like this—a Guardian Lord reborn.
> "Guardian Lord!"
> "All honor the Guardian Lord!"
> "The 183rd disciple of the Temple greets the Guardian Lord!"
Disciples dropped to their knees. Even the warriors of allied sects bowed in unison. A Guardian Lord was not just a leader of the temple—he was a pillar of the world.
Standing among them, Elder Pinecrest stared in disbelief. His mind spun.
He knew their generation had produced one chosen by the Blade of Balance. But it had been less than a decade. Even with extraordinary talent, it should have taken Aeron forty or fifty years to ascend.
> "Guardian Lord..."
Even High Lord Crestfall, standing on the battlefield below, looked up at the descending figure.
> "Aeron... it's really him."
His heart tightened.
> "Was I wrong all along? Can someone truly walk both the Moon Path and Sun Path—and still reach this level?"
For centuries, it had been considered suicide. Every Guardian Lord before had chosen only one path. The forces of light and shadow were too unstable together. Anyone who tried to merge them had been destroyed—until now.
> "He chose the impossible. And made it real."
Crestfall felt his chest rise and fall with awe, regret, and relief.
> "If he had followed my advice... if he'd chosen just one path... we would have gotten another Guardian Lord, yes—but an ordinary one. One who'd arrive fifty years too late."
> "But Aeron—he may be the greatest Guardian Lord our world has ever seen."
Behind him, the battlefield held its breath.
On the opposing side, the Legion of Shadows stared in stunned horror.
> "Impossible..." their leader muttered.
For years, he had watched and probed the Temple, searching for weakness. When he had found no sign of a Guardian Lord, he launched his final attack.
> "We surrounded the mountain... and they did nothing. That means no Guardian Lord, I thought. But now—NOW—at the final moment..."
> "He appears."
The leader of the Legion gritted his teeth. He had known the risk, yet gambled on victory. And now, with one man's arrival, that gamble collapsed.
Aeron's feet touched the ground.
His presence—calm, focused, divine—washed over the battlefield like a sunrise. The Blade of Balance, embedded in the earth, rose and circled him before coming to rest at his side.
"Guardian Lord..."
The Legion leader turned to flee.
He still had trump cards—dark relics from the Original Demon Sect—but even those were nothing against a Guardian Lord. At most, they might delay death by a few seconds.
He made his decision.
> "Retreat!"
His figure blurred—then split into six shadow copies, each bolting in a different direction.
It was a forbidden Shadow-Split Escape, a technique only high-level demonic lords could use. Not even a Guardian Lord could catch them all—especially one who had just broken through.
The Legion leader smiled.
> "You're strong. But you're new. You won't stop me."
But then—
> "Rise," Aeron said softly.
From the center of the battlefield, a vast circle of energy bloomed outward.
Within miles, black and white energy surged—Moon and Sun merged—forming an enormous Yin-Yang diagram. The shadows within the circle twisted violently.
> BOOM!
Five of the six shadows shattered instantly.
Only one figure remained: the real Legion Master, eyes wide in disbelief.
> "No—what is this? This isn't Guardian Lord power—it's something else!"
He tried to resist. Black flames ignited between his brows, a final death-sealing spell—desperation incarnate.
Aeron didn't flinch.
> With a wave of his hand, the flames vanished. The Legion Master disintegrated into dust.
Just like that, the most feared leader of darkness in a century was gone.
---
The battlefield fell into complete silence.
The defenders of the Temple of the Guardians stood stunned.
Even though they knew a Guardian Lord could sweep the enemy away—to see it happen was still overwhelming.
> "He was... like an insect," one elder murmured.
To the righteous, this was a miracle.
To the demons, this was a nightmare.
Panic exploded through the ranks of the Legion.
> "Run! RUN! A new Guardian Lord has been born!"
> "The sect master is dead! Don't stay here or we'll all die!"
The nine deputy commanders—once proud Phenomenon-tier demons—turned and fled in different directions, abandoning their forces.
Aeron watched them go, his eyes soft.
> "Cut."
He raised the Blade of Balance.
The Yin-Yang field expanded, glowing brighter. He swung once.
> SWOOSH.
One simple strike—clean, elegant, final.
Seven of the nine deputy commanders were bisected instantly. The rest of the Legion began to collapse.
He moved again.
> Strike.
Strike.
Strike.
Each blade tore through hundreds.
When the dust settled, thousands of demon corpses littered the mountain's base. The earth had turned red.
---
Aeron sheathed his blade.
The mountain was silent.
Above, clouds drifted gently. Below, the battlefield was still.
And all who remained—righteous or otherwi
se—could only stare at the figure standing alone amid the carnage.
A Guardian Lord.
Not just reborn.
Unmatched.
Invincible.
---
(End of Chapter)
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