War Beast — Guardian Gargoyle, Clark

As archers, they had sensed the impending danger ahead of time and all looked up, only to see an enormous boulder falling from the sky.

“A meteorite!?”

Why would such a huge piece of stone fall from the sky?

No, that wasn’t the main point. The real issue was that this boulder seemed to be crashing down straight toward them.

“Quick, get out of the way!”

At the order, the archers scattered in all directions, but the previously wounded unlucky fellow was a step too slow, so he was struck directly by the falling boulder.

Boom!

A powerful shockwave rippled outward, instantly scattering the archers’ formation.

Though they dodged in all directions, most of them were still affected. Once the boulder landed, they managed to regroup.

“That woman’s a caster too—take her out first!”

At the command, the archers gathered again and aimed their arrows at Serea.

However, before they could loose a single arrow, a hollow voice rang out first.

“Guardians! The honor of the bloodkin!”

With the shout, everyone hurried to the source of the sound, just as the fallen boulder began to tremble.

“Wh-what kind of monster is that?”

The leading warrior captain looked toward the boulder, instantly panicking—because something was clearly wrong with that boulder.

Blood-red patterns covered the stone, and just watching the fluid surging through those grooves, the first word that sprang to anyone’s mind would be—

Blood!

Just as they witnessed, this seemingly ordinary boulder, now injected with blood, had been given life.

Its name: gargoyle!

Its unit type: War Beast!

Crack!

The rock shattered, and a pair of gigantic stone wings spread open—wings like those of a bat, easily spanning eight meters.

As the wings unfurled, the creature hidden beneath was revealed; it was a monster with a fierce demon’s head, its strong body rising up to a height of seven meters.

It walked like a human, but it possessed sharp five-clawed hands. In its right hand, it gripped a sharp stone spear.

As the gatekeeper of the bloodkin—or one could call it the tomb’s guardian—this gargoyle was created for the very purpose of guarding.

Now, the infusion of blood had freed it from the stiffness and sluggishness of mere rock, endowing it with a life, a body as solid as stone, and the savage power of a beast.

System: Summoned unit, bloodkin Primary War Beast: Guardian Gargoyle.

Character: Clark (Guardian Gargoyle, War Beast, Epic)

Level: 30

Status: Healthy

Spirit: D

Strength: S

Agility: B

Endurance: A

Constitution: B

Charisma: D

Luck: C

Skills: War Beast—Army Soul (Tier 2), Burning Ray (Tier 2), Petrified Body (Tier 2), thunder Strike (Tier 2), Assault Support (Tier 3), Bloodspring Explosion (Tier 4)

Description: Guardian Gargoyle, a product of bloodkin technology, is the basic unit of the bloodkin’s war beasts. It primarily serves as a city or tomb guardian for the bloodkin, but is also the vanguard force of the bloodkin’s armies.

War Beast—Army Soul (Tier 2): Increases damage dealt to non–war beast ground units by 20%, reduces damage taken from infantry units by 20%.

Petrified Body: Receives 20% damage reduction and is immune to negative status effects targeting living creatures.

“War Beast!”

Upon seeing the full form of the Guardian Gargoyle, Pedory’s face showed incredulity.

“Impossible! Why is there a war beast here? There have been no reports of war beasts at the front lines!”

But no one answered him. On the battlefield, only the sound of that deep vow rang.

“Glory and blood, in service of my Lord! I am the spear of the bloodkin, guardian of the bloodkin, immortal forever!”

The voice boomed out again, and then a blood-red gem began to glow.

It was a blood-like gemstone!

Positioned in the gargoyle’s forehead, the blood crystal gem activated the sleeping behemoth; its head-size eyes glowed blood-red.

War Beast, activated!

In the instant it activated, Serea directed the bloodspring in her hand to flow into the Gargoyle, powering it and granting it movement.

But right after all the bloodspring was depleted—

“This is bad…”

Serea muttered under her breath. Lola turned and saw that their queen’s forehead was now drenched in sweat.

With the stone spear swinging out, the gargoyle’s movements weren’t particularly fast, so the archers managed to react first, darting backward away from it.

They knew that a war beast was death incarnate for infantry like themselves. They had to retreat—at least to somewhere outside the war beast’s reach.

However, shocked by the sudden appearance of the war beast, no one remembered to give the order.

Wielding the swinging stone spear, the remaining warrior raised his shield, still clinging to the vain hope that he might block it.

Bang!

As expected, both shield and man were sent flying. With a tremendous crash, the man’s body smashed into a house, punching a huge hole in the wall.

Under such a brutal impact, the man was likely nothing but pulp, while the Guardian Gargoyle once again set its sights on the fleeing archers.

“Blunt…blunt arrows, hurry and use anti-beast blunt arrows!”

Although terrified, they were still warriors. So long as the retreat order hadn’t been issued, they had to keep fighting, even if it was certain death.

Blunt arrows were nocked onto longbows, the archers aiming them at the Guardian Gargoyle’s head.

Their so-called “blunt arrows” were tipped with cone-shaped bludgeoning heads instead of blades. Unlike ordinary arrows, which were useless against heavy armor or beast units, blunt arrows could deal some impact damage.

Still, the harm was limited—even if they were called anti-beast or anti-armor arrows, that was really just a comforting lie the archers told themselves.

Their true targets were still light-armored or caster units. Against heavy armor or beasts—well, unless they had some special technique, running was best…

—Just like now.

Thunk thunk thunk!

The blunt arrows struck the Guardian Gargoyle’s head, but it didn’t care in the slightest. As it halted, its eyes locked despisingly onto the archers.

Being stared at by those eyes, the archers felt something cold climb up their spines, as if something very bad was about to happen.

Burning Ray!

The gargoyle opened its huge mouth. At the same time, magical arrays appeared at its eyes and mouth—at the center of each, the pattern of a blood droplet, alluring and deadly.

“Glory to my Lord!”

BOOM!

Three thick rays shot from the Gargoyle’s head.

The crimson beams were searingly hot—at one touch, three archers perished instantly, bodies charred to ash before they could even scream.

After the red rays swept out, several archers on the fringes were caught and fell dead on the spot.

Yet after unleashing that devastating strike, the red light inside the Gargoyle dimmed somewhat, and Serea herself began to feel weak, collapsing to the side. Lola hurried to support her.

“Your Majesty!”

“I’m fine, I can hold on…”

Serea tensed every muscle.

“No…impossible…there’s no way we can win against something like that!”

One attack, and not only were the enemy slain, but the surviving archers’ morale was totally broken. They looked at the Guardian Gargoyle in a daze, terror etched across their faces.

While the gargoyle slaughtered, Serea’s own strength was also fading away.

It felt like the blood was being pulled rapidly from her body.

“I can still hold on a bit—Clark, finish them off now while you can!”

Serea gave the order to the temporarily summoned Clark. Responding to his master’s call, Clark replied in a deep voice:

“As you command, my lord.”

(To be continued…)

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Where’s Superman when you need him?

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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