[Oath of the Guardian Sword]
This was Godo’s most powerful strike, but it was also the first time he had used this sword technique, as he could only perform it once.
This strike was a technique only a sword saint could execute. However, in Godo’s current state, he was not quite a sword saint, merely half a step from it. This strike would completely exhaust all his strength, a formidable power unleashed at the cost of his oath and over two hundred years of guardianship.
He had been waiting for the opportunity to use it.
Waiting for a moment when he had no lingering concerns, when the demon Lier would also expend all its strength, to unleash it.
In his soul state, he could not perceive the outside world. Only when fighting Lier could he connect with the “present world.” Thus, it was only moments ago that he noticed Ye Chui and his group. Their presence here meant the people of the Holy Light Forest would be safe. The demon Lier, enraged by the death of its minion, had frantically unleashed all its strength to attack Godo. This was the opportunity Godo had been waiting for.
So, he used his most powerful, once-in-a-lifetime sword technique.
[Oath of the Guardian Sword]
As the sword aura of this strike slowly dissipated, the grey mist that seemed to perpetually shroud the holy mountain vanished as well. A faint glow descended from the sky. The majestic holy mountain stood before everyone, the ground no longer trembling. The evil demon had been utterly defeated.
Having just witnessed a power belonging to a sword saint, unseen on the Castro Continent for five thousand years, everyone stood stunned, filled with an indescribable awe and reverence for the skeletal figure.
For Ye Chui, Debbie, and the others, there was a profound shock that stirred their hearts. The chubby troublemaker from Windrock City, who had repeatedly provoked them, was now so powerful and majestic.
However…
Having performed this strike, Godo had to pay the heaviest price.
He slowly turned around. During this movement, the sword in his hand, as if corroded by countless years, turned to ash and dust, dissipating into the air.
His armour was also rapidly disintegrating.
He was swiftly decaying.
On his bones and armour, a faint illusory figure of a chubby man could be seen, the Godo who first arrived in the relic world, without white hair or beard. He smiled at Ye Chui, Cass, and the others, saying, “You’ve finally come.”
“Ancestor.” Guni, realising something, knelt in panic, watching the decaying figure of bones and armour, tears streaming down her face. “What’s happening to you?”
“Are you this generation’s warrior? I can sense you are a descendant of me and Linda. Good, very good,” Godo said softly, slowly, with a mix of emotion and relief. He reached out, attempting to gently pat Guni’s head, but his hand, upon touching her, crumbled into ash.
His power had sustained his body’s immortality, but with that strike, his strength was completely exhausted. His body was rapidly decaying into ash, like bones that had endured two hundred years.
Godo glanced at his disintegrating hand, seemed to smile, then looked at Ye Chui.
“Thank you for bringing me here.”
“I saw the letter you left,” Ye Chui said, feeling a pang of sadness, nodding gently.
“I’ve finally become the hero I always dreamed of,” Godo continued.
Ye Chui nodded again. “Indeed, you are an awe-inspiring hero.”
“Then, the people of the Holy Light Forest are in your hands. Protect them for me. I’m afraid I won’t be here anymore,” Godo said, his armour nearly completely fallen away, dissipated.
But at that moment…
“What are you talking about?” Debbie suddenly interjected.
Everyone looked at the little girl in surprise.
They noticed Debbie standing beside Godo, hands clasped in front of her chest, as if preparing something.
Seeing her like this, Ye Chui suddenly realised something. His sorrowful expression vanished, replaced with a hint of excitement. “Debbie, are you going to turn Godo into a heroic spirit?”
Godo looked at Debbie in astonishment as his body completely crumbled to the ground, leaving only a faint, ethereal ghostly figure.
“His power is too great, even stronger than Gilga’s. I can’t turn him into my heroic spirit, especially since he’s already bound by a contract, his oath is his contract. But I’ve heard that in some northern tribes, they have guardian spirits, a form of heroic spirit. A tribe collectively venerates a heroic spirit through a guardian contract. I can use a summoner’s method to make him the guardian spirit of the Holy Light Forest. Godo would essentially form a guardian contract with the people of the Holy Light Forest, with each person as his summoning host.”
Debbie explained earnestly. Though the little girl often acted silly, she was remarkably capable in critical moments.
As she spoke, Debbie’s face rapidly paled. The Valkyrie Jiji she had summoned also vanished into the air, a sign that Debbie’s magical power was rapidly depleting. She exclaimed, “I’m using my magic to sustain his existence for now. Once we reach the Holy Light Forest, I’ll use the guardian spirit ritual to let the people there take over. But his power is too great, my magic is almost drained. Auntie, quick, give me a heal.”
“Alright, little miss.” Lesha hurried to Debbie’s side, using restorative holy words to replenish Debbie’s magic.
Guni, still kneeling, wiped the tears from her eyes. Realising something, her face lit up with joy, looking at Debbie with anticipation.
“Debbie, can you do it?” Ye Chui asked, somewhat worried.
“Hmph, I’m the genius summoner girl. Maintaining Godo’s heroic spirit state won’t stump me,” Debbie said proudly, her complexion improving slightly with Lesha’s magic restoration.
Ye Chui paused, struck by something. “Called a genius, that title…”
He thought of certain things, suspicions he’d long held, which now seemed to be rapidly clarifying.
Godo’s soul, meanwhile, was utterly bewildered.
He had prepared himself for dissipation and death, ready to face it calmly, only for Debbie to say he could continue existing in another form?
He soon realised Debbie wasn’t lying.
Without his body’s support, his soul’s strength began to fade rapidly, on the verge of vanishing. But with Debbie’s magic flowing into him, he felt his body gradually regaining substance.
Noticing Godo’s confusion, Ye Chui walked to his side, smiling. “With us around, don’t think you can get all sentimental.”
As his companion, how could you die so easily?
Godo: “…”
Things seemed to be heading toward a hopeful outcome.
But just then, the holy mountain, which had calmed down, suddenly trembled violently again. Rumble, rumble. From the dark cave, writhing, tumour-like masses surged forth.
The demon Lier was not dead.
Everyone was stunned.
Godo, filled with shock and anger, exclaimed, “He, he’s not dead…”
“Haha, hahaha…”
Lier’s hoarse, shrill laughter echoed from the cave. Though transformed into a terrifying demon, it hadn’t lost its ability to speak. “Godo, you fell for it. I always knew you had a final trump card, so I pretended to be furious just now to lure you into using that strike. I sacrificed seventy percent of my body to trick you into unleashing it. You fell for it. Now you’re spent, and all of you will die, hahaha…”
Hearing the demon’s words, Ye Chui and the others wore expressions of utter shock.
The demon Lier’s frenzied, all-out attack had been a ruse to provoke Godo into using his strongest strike, sacrificing seventy percent of its body to deplete Godo’s strength. Even the earlier demon minion Crete might have been part of its plan, attacking Ye Chui to be killed, making it seem Lier would be enraged, convincing Godo it was using all its power, thus prompting him to unleash his ultimate move.
Now, the demon Lier had thirty percent of its strength left, but that was still enough, or so it believed.
“Damn it.” Godo roared, a longsword materialising in his hand, the same one he had when he first arrived here. He was about to launch an attack.
But Debbie let out a startled “ouch,” collapsing limply to the ground, her face rapidly paling again. “Don’t use sword aura. I’m already struggling to maintain your body.”
“But Lier…” Godo looked at Debbie, his expression filled with worry.
“Your mission is complete. Leave the rest to me.”
Ye Chui spoke up. Initially surprised that Lier wasn’t dead, he was now calm. His fingers slid across his iPad magic book.
Godo looked at Ye Chui in surprise.
Ye Chui tapped lightly on his iPad magic book, smiling at Godo. “Take a rest. Dealing with bosses like this is my specialty.”
With his words, a bald heroic spirit materialised beside Ye Chui.
Yellow uniform, white cape, a pair of listless dead-fish eyes.
When Ye Chui and his group entered the relic world, it was Friday morning. They had been in the relic world for nearly two days. Though there was no day or night here, Ye Chui’s iPad magic book displayed the time. It was now just past eleven o’clock on Saturday night, the perfect time for Ye Chui to summon the One Punch heroic spirit.
He hadn’t summoned the One Punch spirit earlier because there hadn’t been a chance to use this trump card. Now, the opportunity had come.
“No need to hold back.”
Ye Chui smiled at Saitama-sensei, who was curiously looking around, and pointed at the tumour-like monster emerging from the cave. “Smash it.”
