—


    Bastion’s resolve and conviction amplified as he tanked the Guardian of the Nothern Sands attacks despite their weight. Even when his feet pierced through the ground from the impacts, Bastion stood upright and pressed back with a throaty growl.


    “Combination Skill: Guardian’s Bulwark!”


    The grand arms wielding arge azure shield with silver edges manifested around Basiton’s body. It was the Combination Skill formed back when the team went up against Colossal Mother Worm.


    As it was an A Rank Skill, Bastion’s most powerful defensive skill to date, even the Guardian of the Northern Sands couldn’t shatter it in a few blows.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Bastion’s Guardian’s Bulwark remained stable under the onught of the Guardian of Northern Sand’s attacks. He imed he would buy enough time as Alice needed and intended to stay true to his word.


    Whoosh!


    However, he wasn’t alone—not by a long shot.


    Ezra passed a sweet smile as she appeared beside Bastion. “I see why Aatrox chose you. You may seem like youck courage, but that isn’t the case, is it? You simply don’t know how to flourish in your environment.”


    Bastion listened to Ezra but remained silent. ‘I don’t know how to flourish in my environment… She’s not wrong. Confidence has never been my strong suit. Once Ipare myself to others, my self-impression usually plummets.’


    “I’m sure Aatrox has told you once before, but he has confidence in all of you. This also includes you. He wouldn’t have added you to his team if he didn’t sense your untapped potential. So… tap into it. Let loose,” Ezra stated.


    Afterward, Ezra left Bastion to ponder her words while she took over the fight against the giant golem._.


    How she approached and shifted her movements made it appear like Ezra was performing an elegant, ovepping sword dance with two swords. She began to understand the essence of the word “Eclipsing” in her sword style.


    Eclipsing referred to two strikes, but one shadowed the other and blocked out its presence.


    Thus, while it seemed like the opponent only suffered from one attack, it was, in fact, two. This swordy not only relied upon Ezra’s skill with the sword but exact motions and high Attack and Movement Speed.


    Without the needed Attack and Movement Speed, the attacks wouldn’t link together correctly, which is why Kieran stressed that Ezra allotted her points while focusing on Strength, Control, and Agility.


    “I have to admit, she’s pretty amazing,” Bastion muttered in a dazed voice. He watched as Ezra slid under the golem’s swing and her long ck hair swayed in the wind generated by the fight.


    Aside from the gracefulness of her attacks, Bastion noticed the sharp focus radiating from Ezra’s gaze. She was in her zone, a ce where she was unaffected by her surroundings.


    This was a state most yers dreamt of obtaining because it could heighten theirbat standards permanently if they could hold onto it long enough.


    Swoosh! ng! ng!


    Ezra countered the Guardian of the Northern Sands movements, closing the small distance with frequent Sonic Thrust. Although her damage wasn’t bizarre like Kieran, Ezra disyed the superiorbat awareness of a Titled Ranker.


    Just then, Ezra dragged her sword across the ground and activated a skill gained at Lv.40.


    “Echoing Sword st!”


    The Condensed Sword Force at the tip of her sword expanded and rushed forth in a condensed beam with vibrating rings around it. But, after traveling 5 meters, the beam’s momentum inverted and retraced its trajectory from an opposite direction.


    Once the beam returned to the Guardian of the Northern Sands’ body, it emitted a strange echoing noise that seemed to somewhat destabilize its body.


    “I have weakened the Golem’s Defense, but it’s only temporary,” Ezra eximed.


    “That’s great! Because I am ready!”


    Alice’s shout sounded from not too far away as the corridor filled with a stifling heat. The Inferno Sphere levitating above her staff was at least 50%rger than the one unleashed against the Colossal Mother Worm.


    Whoosh! Sssszzzt!


    Everyone braced themselves after Aliceunched her Inferno Sphere.


    A great wave of heat spread throughout the surroundings once it made an impact with the Guardian of the Nothern Sands and engulfed its body in a sweltering ming sphere.


    Facina screeched in pain as it felt like her skin was boiling since she could feel everything her contracted summon felt.


    “Ezra!” Bastion eximed while directing his gaze to Facina, who fell to her knees while gripping her body.


    Ezra snapped her head toward Facina and quickly rushed toward Facina. Now that she was incapacitated and the golem was stuck inside the ming sphere, it was the perfect time tounch an attack and potentially end the battle.


    However, when Ezra tried to unleash an attack upon Facina, one of the twelve pirs released a dense burst of sand that defended against her attack.


    It didn’t seem to be Facina’s doing because she continued to writhe in pain while digging her fingers into her arms.


    The golem’s white eyes intensified as a bright white glow filled a portion of the Inferno Sphere. Miniature versions of the golem coalesced from the twelve pirs, summoning weaker yet still rming.


    “Are you serious? We have to deal with more of them? It can split its body?!” Lux frowned.


    He thought these pirs were only tasked with summoning the golem. It never dawned upon him that these pirs were also a means for the gargantuan golem to attack and defend.


    “It appears so,” Bastion responded while looking around. One golem already required all of their attention; twelve smaller versions would make this battle problematic.


    Bastion looked up at his Guardian’s Bulwark and estimated it wouldn’tst much longer. Thirty seconds at most, and that was provided the golems didn’t unleash some ungodly attack.


    Just as the party felt they as seen it all, something shocking urred.


    While the Guardian of the Northern Sands wielded a strange longsword, the summoned golems varied. The items they wielded varied from shields, spears, and swords to axes and maces.


    “I’ll try to hold on for as long as possible. We need to subdue those new summonings immediately.” Bastion eximed grimly.


    “Dispersion and Sword Wheel hase off cooldown, so restricting a few should be doable. But, those with shields may pose an issue.


    “Shields?” Bastion smirked. “I’m not losing to these damned things in the way of the shield. I’m the Chief Tanker of Aatrox’s team, after all!”


    Ezra smiled and nodded at the subtle change in Bastion’s demeanor and confidence.


    “Ready? Begin!”


    Lux aimed at the spear-wielding golems and unleashed a few of his robust skills, namely Spiral Shot, el Shot, and a few others.


    Ezra challenged the sword-wielding golems and kept them at bay while moving them closer to the original golem. Their priority was to make Facina vulnerable so either Lux or Alice could attack her from afar.


    The team doubted another summoning could ur because the sand pirs decreased in size. Another summoning would potentially exhaust the pirs.


    Handling the twelve newly summoned pirs proved to be a difficult task. However, matters worsened because Inferno Sphere’s burn duration concluded, leaving the Guardian of the Northern Sands free to act.


    Groahhhh!


    The corridor shook due to the Guardian of the Northern Sands’ vociferous roar.


    A momentter, it mmed its fist into the ground, which conjured tworge sand walls. The walls moved toward the hall’s center, intending to smash everyone into human paste!


    Bastion noticed this, prompting him to activate another skill.


    “Guardian’s Embrace!”


    Tworge hands manifested and pressed against the sand walls, stopping them in their tracks. However, although the skill momentarily stalled the sand wall’s progress, the manifested arms exhibited signs of shattering after holding off the wall for three seconds.


    “I can’t hold it any longer! I think this is a party wipe skill. It’s too strong for my skill!”


    Although Bastion held off the shielded golems, he didn’t forget to warn the party since their safety was paramount on this mission.


    The others looked at the iing walls and frowned.


    Suddenly, a deep voice sounded from not too far away.


    “You don’t need to. I’m proud of how well you all worked together and against such a difficult enemy, no less.”


    Crrrrrrr! Bang!


    Arge red object whizzed above everyone’s heads and exploded roughly four meters in the air. The explosion didn’t damage Ezra or the others, but a flow of warm blood did shower down upon them.


    The two sand walls exploded from the impact while a dark shadow rushed past the rest of the team.


    Shnk! Shnk! Shnk!


    Small pieces of the Guardian of the Northern Sands’ now ss-like texture were chipped away by rapid attack. Once the person slowed down, the party soon realized it was Altair.


    Meanwhile, Kierannded close beside the rest after executing a powerful jump to throw Crimson Ashrune before Seethe Burst detonated.


    Kieran eyed the golem before switching to Facina. ‘Another Titled NPC and a summoner-type at that. They’ve done well to reduce her Health by so much.’


    With a proud expression, Kieran tapped Bastion’s shoulder as he walked past. “Confidence is something that you  must awaken in yourself. I can’t provide it for you. So, I’m happy that awakening is urring.”


    Kieran and Altair had returned in a ze of glory!