"Stay calm—don't panic!"
Yuzare shouted as she spoke, simultaneously attempting to condense a sphere of light, hoping to sever the Gijera vines binding the airship.
However, under these conditions, the light sphere could not be stabilized at all. The violent shaking of the ship was too intense—any trace of Light power she summoned dispersed the moment it formed.
"Woof!"
Suddenly, a sharp bark rang out.
Guardie transformed into a streak of light and burst through the airship's window.
Its massive body slammed onto the ground with a thunderous crash. Its claws flashed sharply, tearing through the Gijera vine in an instant. Fragmented particles scattered through the air before the severed vine fell limply to the ground.
"We're saved!"
The pilot inside the airship shouted in excitement.
The engines were immediately pushed to full power, and the airship climbed rapidly, avoiding further entanglement by Gijera.
Guardie, however, remained on the ground.
From within the excavation tunnel dug earlier in search of Gijera's roots, thick, elongated vines surged forth once again.
Just as Guardie had been preparing to leave, it was forced back into a defensive stance. Under these circumstances, flight was impossible.
From the sky above, the crew watched Guardie engage Gijera in combat. Unsure of what to do, they turned their gaze toward Yuzare, seeking her judgment.
"You take the Gijera essence back first," Yuzare said after a moment's thought. "I'll stay here to ensure Guardie doesn't get into trouble. Once the essence is delivered, you can come back for us."
"Understood!"
After brief hesitation, the pilot agreed.
After all, Yuzare was the commander of Earth's Defense Corps and the strongest combatant among them. In the royal city, she had once been unmatched.
The airship landed briefly in a safe zone to drop Yuzare off, then immediately departed for the Moon.
Guardie and Gijera clashed—one a beast, the other a plant—locked in a fierce stalemate.
Vines wrapped around Guardie, only to be torn apart by its jaws.
The ground was soon littered with severed sections of Gijera vines, all bitten clean through by Guardie.
But Gijera appeared to adapt.
Dozens of vines burst forth from the tunnel at once.
Guardie quickly fired a beam of light, attempting to annihilate them in a single strike.
Unexpectedly, the vines twisted together midair, splitting Guardie's beam apart.
Without slowing, the mass slammed into Guardie's body, then scattered like falling petals, reforming into individual vines that wrapped tightly around its limbs and torso.
Crack—crack—crack!
In a series of sharp sounds, Guardie was bound completely, unable to break free no matter how violently it struggled.
"This is bad!"
Seeing this, Yuzare immediately sensed danger and rushed forward.
She condensed several light spheres and fired them at the vines restraining Guardie.
The spheres struck their targets accurately—yet the vines did not budge in the slightest, failing to break as she had expected.
Although bound, Guardie's head remained free, allowing it to fire its beam after a brief pause.
However, Gijera seemed to anticipate this. Using the vines, it forcibly redirected Guardie's beam toward Yuzare on the ground.
Fortunately, Yuzare reacted instantly, leaping away from her position.
Boom!
The beam carved a massive crater into the earth.
Realizing it had nearly injured Yuzare, Guardie no longer dared to fire indiscriminately and could only continue struggling.
At that moment, a large bud bloomed from one of Gijera's vines and opened directly atop Guardie's Colour Timer.
The Light particles within Guardie's body seemed to be drawn outward by an unseen force, continuously siphoned into the flower.
Guardie could feel its Light rapidly draining and began thrashing in desperation.
Ding—dong. Ding—dong. Ding—dong…
Before long, the Colour Timer on Guardie's chest began to sound, signalling critically low energy.
"If this continues, Guardie will die."
Yuzare realized the severity of the situation.
Multiple light spheres formed around her, then, guided by both hands, merged into a single massive sphere of light in front of her.
"If I compress them together, it should be enough to sever the vines!"
Without hesitation, Yuzare thrust the massive light sphere forward.
Boom!
The moment the sphere made contact with the vines, it detonated violently.
At the same instant, Guardie gave a powerful struggle and broke free, falling out of the mass of vines.
"Go, Guardie—now!"
Yuzare shouted urgently.
Ding—dong—ding—dong—ding—dong—ding—dong…
The Colour Timer's flashing accelerated. Guardie understood—it had to leave immediately.
Grabbing Yuzare with one hand, Guardie leapt skyward.
But both stamina and energy had already been pushed to their limits.
Mid-flight, Guardie lost balance and plummeted toward the ground.
Yuzare instantly generated a golden barrier around herself, avoiding injury.
Guardie, however, collapsed, utterly exhausted.
Fortunately, although they failed to reach the Moon, they had travelled far enough that Gijera did not pursue them.
"Guardie, you need to revert to your small form—your energy is almost gone!"
Yuzare said urgently.
Guardie forced itself upright and shook its head.
Others might not understand, but Guardie knew—having originally been a monster, even reverting to a smaller form still consumed its energy. The difference was only in convenience, not expenditure.
Dragging its weary body forward, Guardie slowly approached a cliff face and gently pushed.
The rock crumbled and fell away.
A hidden passage was revealed.
"This is…?"
Yuzare was momentarily stunned. She had not expected a cave here—nor could she understand how Guardie knew of its existence.
Watching Guardie enter, Yuzare followed closely behind.
The cave was spacious for her—clearly something Guardie itself had excavated.
Before long, they reached the deepest part of the cavern.
What stood before Yuzare was Cain's stone statue.
Or rather—the petrified body of Cain's Giant of Light form.
Yuzare already knew that Cain could no longer transform, but she had never imagined he had hidden the Giant's body here.
Regardless of her thoughts, Guardie dragged itself to the statue, gently nuzzled it in affection, then moved to the side.
The Colour Timer on its chest stopped flashing.
Its body began to turn to stone.
"Guardie?!"
Only now did Yuzare realize—Guardie had returned here to remain beside Cain's statue.
Just before Guardie completely petrified, Yuzare quickly sent a beam of light into its Colour Timer.
"This is all I can do," Yuzare said softly, sighing as she addressed the stone figure.
"I hope this light will allow you to recover… within the long river of time."