✨ CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE — GUARDIAN PHASE TWO: THE DOMINION UNLEASHED ✨
The Citadel Guardian's shattered body froze mid-reboot.
Sparks stopped.
Metal plates hovered, suspended in the air like puzzle pieces waiting for a new shape.
Maya inhaled sharply.
"That's not a normal reboot… it's rewriting its entire combat mode."
Dara dove behind Aiden.
"Bro, it's evolving. Why is it evolving?!"
Aiden's wings flared brighter as he floated above the smoking battlefield.
"Then we end it before the rewrite finishes."
But the Citadel answered him first.
A deep, mechanical voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere:
"PHASE TWO — ASCENSION PROTOCOL: AWAKEN."
Light speared upward from the Guardian's broken chest, and the pieces snapped together—not into the bulky construct from before, but into something far more refined.
Slimmer.
Faster.
Sharper.
Deadlier.
Its new armor gleamed, jet-black metal lined with burning red conduits. Its hands reshaped into dual bladed gauntlets that vibrated with enough force to cut the air.
Dara stared, horrified.
"Oh no. It went from boss fight to FINAL boss fight."
---
THE NEW SPEED
The Guardian vanished.
Not teleported—
Moved.
Aiden barely raised his arms in time—
CLANG—!!
The force threw him skyward, smashing him through a billboard. He hit the ground in a crater, dust spiraling upward.
Maya gasped.
"Aiden—!"
A burst of golden light erupted as he rose, shaking off debris, wings snapping outward.
"I'm fine."
He wasn't.
But he stood anyway.
The Guardian flashed behind him.
Maya screamed—
"Aiden, LEFT!"
He spun—
Too slow—
SHHHHHK—!!
Twin crimson blades sliced across his chest. His aura flared violently to hold back the blow, but the shock still sent him skidding across cracked pavement.
Dara pointed wildly.
"THIS IS TOO FAST! BRO THAT THING IS TOO FAST—!"
Maya grit her teeth, fingers weaving silver starlight threads with desperate precision.
"It's using a micro-shift matrix. It's bending vector space around itself to shorten distance."
Dara blinked.
"English—?"
Aiden wiped blood from his lip.
"It's cheating again."
"YES!"
---
MAYA'S COUNTER
The Guardian rushed Maya next.
She stood her ground, hands moving in elegant, razor-sharp motions.
Silver runes flared under her feet.
Threads wove into a dome.
SHRRRAANG—!
The Guardian's blades slammed into her barrier—
and stuck.
A moment of perfect, impossible stillness.
Maya's eyes glowed silver.
"I locked its vector field. Aiden—NOW!"
Aiden didn't hesitate.
He streaked forward, wings blazing—
BOOOOM—!!!
His punch hit so hard the air detonated.
The Guardian flew backward, smashing into a building across the street.
But it didn't stop.
It twisted mid-air, landing perfectly upright, red armor glowing brighter.
Aiden frowned.
"It absorbed the blow."
Maya's expression tightened.
"It's adapting to you."
Dara threw his hands up.
"I vote we stop letting it adapt! How do you kill something learning in real time?!"
Aiden stepped forward, aura burning white-gold.
"By not giving it time."
---
THE GUARDIAN DEPLOYS THE STORM
The Guardian raised both arms.
Energy surged to the sky.
Then—
The clouds exploded downward in a torrent of red lightning.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!!!
Bolts rained over the entire district. Streets melted. Towers collapsed. Every explosion shook the air.
Maya screamed, "DOWN!"
Aiden grabbed her and Dara, wings wrapping around them as the storm struck—
White-gold aura shielded them, but each bolt chipped away at it.
Dara shouted over the chaos—
"BRO YOUR AURA IS DROPPING LIKE BATTERY PERCENT!"
Aiden grit his teeth.
"We move. Now!"
He shot upward with the two in his grip as the building beneath them became molten glass.
---
AIDEN'S COUNTER-ASCENSION
High above the storm, Aiden let go—
not of them, but of restraint.
His aura burst outward—
FWOOM—!!
Feathers of pure light unfolded behind him.
White-gold energy spiraled into the sky, forming a halo of ancient symbols.
Maya gasped, voice trembling not in fear, but awe.
"Aiden… your Vessel is syncing.
Your channels are stabilizing in real time."
Dara squinted.
"So he's going Super Mode?"
Aiden's eyes glowed like twin suns.
"Something like that."
He dove.
---
THE SKY COLLISION
The Guardian leapt up to meet him mid-air.
Two lights streaked across the sky—
crimson and white-gold—
until they slammed together—
KRAAAAAAAM—!!
The shockwave shattered windows five blocks away.
Aiden's fist met the Guardian's blade.
Golden energy clashed with red plasma sparks.
The Guardian's chest thrummed.
Its matrix recalibrated.
It began overwhelming Aiden, bit by bit.
Maya's voice cut through the storm:
"Aiden! It's overpowering your Vessel channels—
You need something stronger than raw force!"
Aiden roared, aura shaking the clouds.
"Then guide me!"
Maya thrust both hands toward him—
Silver threads snapped into place—
connecting her heart, her energy, her will—
Directly to Aiden's core.
Dara braced himself.
"Oh great. They're syncing more. Every time they sync something explodes."
---
THE FINISHER — STARBRINGER IMPACT
Aiden's aura shot upward in a spiral of white-gold flame.
The Guardian faltered—its sensors scrambling under the sudden spike.
Maya's energy flowed through him:
Stability. Direction. Amplification.
Aiden cupped his hands.
A star-shaped sphere began forming.
Dara's jaw dropped.
"BRO… BRO WAIT… IS THAT A MINI SUN?!"
Aiden's voice deepened, layered with celestial resonance.
"STARBRINGER—"
The Guardian charged—too late—
"IMPACT!"
Aiden slammed the star-sphere into the Guardian's core—
BAAAAAAAAAAM—!!!
Light swallowed the entire district.
Buildings bowed outward from the pressure.
The Citadel's spire flickered.
When the light faded—
The Guardian lay embedded in the street, armor shattered, core extinguished.
Silence.
Maya collapsed to her knees, exhausted.
Dara fell face-first onto the ground.
Aiden hovered, breathing hard, wings flickering.
Then—
The Citadel's lights turned blood-red.
Maya looked up in horror.
"Aiden…
they're activating the Omega Protocol."
Aiden's fists tightened.
His wings flared once more.
"Then Chapter Forty…"
he said quietly,
"…is going to be hell."