PHASE 82 - THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I SAW INVISIBLE BEAMS

Key is astoundingly beautiful on her . Her steel wings release photonic blue particles as she flies around the room, evading all smashes, punches, and gnaws from that chubby baby rhinoceros giant.

“Brother… Please stop...” Key said, but the gigantic Cursed Guardian has no intention of resting a bit. He just keeps in mauling everywhere like a berserker!

Key must have realized that she’s wasting her time, so she proceeded to her Plan B… Which is to beat the crap out of her test-tube-brother. She pointed her hand at the gigantic baby, and the circle flashlight on her palms glowed with bluish light!

“”

That built-in flashlight on her hand flickered bright lights, like a consecutive camera shot. Suddenly, the giant baby got some invisible explosions all over his face, went outbalanced, and was put down on the ground!

Seeing these, the floating sorceress applauded. “You are certainly the most powerful Artificial Guardian of them-Pwah!”

An invisible UV bullet exploded on the Cursed Guardian’s face! She almost fell from her floating ax, but she regained her flight. That smug face of hers didn’t fade.

“I won’t let you get away.” Key was furiously staring at the enemy with a monotonous threat.

“Come and get me, you soulless cretin!”

Key still had her poker face, but I know she’s seriously mad right now. She used her to fire at the sorceress, but the sorceress teleported. Key repeated her attacks over and over again, but the Cursed Guardian keeps on playing on her!

<>

As the gigantic room was filled with bearable explosion noises and laugh of the evil witch (I’m talking about Mia, not Tiara...), I grabbed the attention of my groupmates.

“Kristoff, you go notify Amy and Heushac. Tiara and I will take it from here.”

“Great, I’m an errand boy.” Kristoff scratched his head with a smile. “I only accept orders from beautiful women.”

“I happen to be a field commander and the vice-leader. Deal with it.”

“W-W-We’re counting on you, Mister Kristoff!” Tiara pumped her fist as she made a cheerful smile at the playboy.

In an instant, Kristoff had his cheeks blushing. “T-Thank you, M-Miss Tiara.” Then our lackey turned around and bolted out of the room with an extreme speed.

Now I know why Kristoff gets so many girlfriends. He always does the ladies a favor. I can’t imagine myself getting on his shoes.

“Shall we assist Key?” Tiara glared at the aerial battleground with the eyes of determination.

“Of course,” I said. “Let’s summon the sword!”

“Right!” Tiara pumped her fists.

I slowly reached out my hand, pointing at Tiara’s chest, but it didn’t glow like before. It seems like the Gate won’t be opening soon.

There was an awkward silence between us.

Maybe I need to get my hands closer to her heart. So nervous as I am, I mustered my courage to slowly close the distance between my fingers and her chest. The Gate of her heart would open any second… Just wait for it… Steady… Steady….

...

Nothing is happening.

Suddenly, I realized that Tiara’s face is now red like chili, and she’s now uttering an embarrassed cry!

“Eeeeeek!”

Bam!

“Pwah!” I got my nose shattered as I fell to the ground. The ‘conservative’ shrine maiden’s steel gauntlets are now stained by my own nose blood.

“I-I’m sorry, Rikkun! I overreacted! Let’s try it again!”

“To hell with it!” I protested. There’s no way I can grab the sword like this! “I’ll just shift to pure commander!”

I used my again to track the sorceress’s movements for the next twelve seconds and then gave my battle commands to Key.

“Next position! Six o’clock!”

Key fired her invisible blasts on her right, and bingo! The succubus which was directly hit in the face! She disappeared thereafter, but I know where she’ll appear!

“Down! Four o’clock! Nine! Six!” I shouted. Because of her obedience to my orders, Key is definitely giving the enemy a hard time!

“Why you vermin!” The cursed succubus growled. She’s now charging a gigantic ball of flames from the tip of her ax!

“Begone! !!!”

That miniature sun rushed to my position in a blinding wind-speed! Even if I can predict its route, we won’t be able to avoid it because it will explode like an atomic bomb! We have to block it somehow!

“!!!” Key shouted. Her whole body dissolved to dust, and mysteriously appeared in front of me! Then her hand transformed into a cybernetic shield that she used to catch the projectile!

“Hnnnnngh!” Key kept on struggling just to repel the attack.

“Keep holding it, Key-chan!” Tiara said as she went in front and then touched the glowing sun with her bare hands. “!!!”

The sun ball was immediately absorbed by Tiara, and now she’s completely dizzy.

“!!!” I shouted as I surged forward and made a long cut to the succubus wizard’s midriff!

“!!!” Key morphed her hands into a futuristic cannon and fired wide lasers to the enemy!

“Aaaaaargh!” The enemy couldn’t help but scream as she was launched to the ceiling! Thick smoke came in as a result of the tremendous blast.

While waiting for the smoke to fade, Amy, Heushac, and Kristoff entered the scene. Now that we’re full house, we can finish the enemy!

Suddenly there is this witch’s laugh behind those smoke. I’m sure that she was directly hit by our combined attacks, so why is she still laughing like she didn’t suffer injuries at all!?

“AHAHAHAHA!!! Fabulous! So you are really the ‘Key’ to mankind’s ultimate demise!” Mia said.

The evil sorceress revealed herself, full of burnt skin and slash-wounds. But there are these disgusting tiny tentacles on her flesh that keeps wriggling. Some of it seemed like it’s sewing up the torn muscles, and the other tentacles are replacing her charred skin.

After two seconds, all her wounds have completely healed.

“No matter how fast you regenerate, you’re outnumbered! You can’t fight the six of us at the same time!” Amy had her crosshairs focused on the succubus wizard.

“Oh, don’t be so cocky, Jeannette Amiella von Noctis. Just because you are the fragment of the Frozen Soul doesn’t mean that I’m scared of you.” The Cursed Guardian’s red eyes glowed and combined with her menacing smile, it gives me chills on my spine.

All of us readied our weapons due to the imminent threat. I can sense that her prana levels are rising, and her aura is now exceeding the powers of a Mythical God. My says that she can use a powerful Goddess Core at any minute.

Suddenly, the tension dropped.

“Oh well. Aeternos will be pissed if I went all-out here. So I’m letting you go. Playtime is over.”

“W-Wait!” Amy shouted.

But alas, the succubus wizard’s body has evaporated and combined to the humid air. And just like that, our enemy disappeared. Not only that. The gigantic baby also disappeared. I’m certain that sorceress transported him using her vast powers in teleportation.

But before that enemy erased her presence, she left out a horrible parting message that echoed around the room.

“Enjoy the rest of your life, Key. Your deadline of one year will be over before you realize it.”

<>

It didn’t take long before we know the true meaning behind those words.

“...That Mia must be telling the truth.” Amy said.

When I turned to her, she gave me the papers pertaining to Project 522, or also known as “Key”. Unlike what we saw on the terminal, it has a complete information. Our computer technician Heushac must have been able to recover the missing data.

Key has five abilities.

First is her , which makes her so smart at geometry.

Her second ability is her , which is the power to transform into an awesome exoskeleton suit and merge with another Gate Guardian, enhancing his or her abilities.

Her third ability is , the power to make Key’s body mature 10 times faster, depending on the expansion of her prana capacity. That explains why she now looks like a seventeen-year-old girl.

Her fourth ability has the power to shapeshift her body into cybernetic limbs like those badass wings and invisible-blaster-shooting hands.

Her fifth ability is the weirdest thing ever. I know that the past chapters are weird but let me tell you her last superpower: . This Guardian Ability makes Key a living timebomb person, that has only a lifespan of fourteen years. After her fourteenth birthday, her body would explode with the power of a nuclear bomb that can destroy cities.