Wills That Will Not Break
Bolivian Altiplano – Bastion of La Paz
The creature roared again. Its six arms moved with impossible speed for its size, launching columns of liquid fire that melted the rock of the mountains. The ground trembled. The outer defensive structures began to give way. But Rob didn't stop.
"Right flank, now! Spiral distraction, then pull back! Do not engage directly!" he commanded, vanishing from sight.
Jump.
He reappeared on one of the monster's shoulders, and without giving it time to react, unleashed a series of lightning-fast slashes.
The colossus' living metal resisted, but Rob wasn't aiming to wound—yet. He was studying.
"Its weak points are at the joint intersections. The fusion of the upper arms is softer," he thought.
He activated Unstoppable Edge again. His speed doubled. Every movement of his sword left a trail of energy slicing the air.
For over twenty minutes, Rob became a dancing storm. He leapt from point to point, moving through space like it was a three-dimensional chessboard. The creature began to retreat.
But even for someone like him, the strain was real. His breathing deepened. The skin on his hands cracked from the strain of his blade. Blood flowed from a wound on his abdomen.
"I can't lose momentum… not now."
He gathered all his strength into a precise thrust. The sword pierced one of the creature's torso joints, making it scream with a sonic roar that shattered windows five kilometers away.
B+ and A-ranked Guardians guarded the perimeter, preventing the beast from escaping or redirecting its fury toward civilians.
Rob didn't say it out loud… but he felt it: His ascent to S-rank was near. Very near.
France – Western Alps
The air was white. The snow didn't fall—it danced. At the summit of the French Alps, a creature resembling a black ice-winged tiger advanced with deadly elegance. Each step it took froze the surroundings at a molecular level.
But Thea was already waiting.
Dressed in her bluish-white ceremonial outfit, her eyes gleamed like two frozen moons. Around her, spears of ice hovered suspended like crystalline petals.
"I don't care how cold you are. I am winter."
The creature charged at supersonic speed, leaving a trail of shattered crystals. Thea raised a hand, and time seemed to slow. Her glacial power had evolved. She no longer only froze matter… now she altered the friction of space itself.
"Crown of Permafrost."
A dozen ice columns surged from both the ground and the sky, encasing the creature in a perfect dome. But it didn't stop. It roared and unleashed a burst of frozen fire energy, tearing part of the prison apart.
Thea remained unfazed. She leapt onto a floating shard of her own structure and began launching diagonal slashes with her long crystal sword.
Each strike shattered part of the beast's body. Each slash released sparks of ice magic. But the monster was resilient.
The battle was beautiful. Violent. Silent. Like a dance of death between two elemental gods.
International Communications
While Rob and Thea fought with surgical precision and unshakable resolve, the communication networks broadcasted their every move. From command centers to civilian homes, millions of eyes watched. The contrast with the chaotic bastions was all too evident.
On social media and in news outlets worldwide, comments multiplied:
"Thea, the Ice Queen, fights like a deity.""Rob is facing an SS- monster without using his ultimate ability. What kind of being is he…?"
"The difference between surviving… and winning… is leadership."
And once again, the phrase echoed as a global refrain:
"This isn't just a battle for survival… it's a demonstration of who was prepared for the inevitable."
Blood and Fire Bonds
As the creature's body in Bolivia began to stagger, and the ice dome in the Alps flickered with cracks of energy, one shared feeling coursed through both Rob and Thea: Resisting was no longer enough. They had to win. They had to send a message to the world: the era of improvisation was over.
The Fracture of the SkyBolivian Altiplano – Final Assault
The creature bled energy. From its wounds, a violet vapor emerged that seemed to corrupt the very air. Despite its size and power, its body was faltering. And standing before it—clothes torn, face bloodied, eyes ablaze—Rob did not back down.
"Your strength... is exactly what I needed," he muttered, gripping his sword with both hands.
Unstoppable Edge was still active, but nearing the end of its duration. Leap had become his tactical lifeline throughout the fight. His breathing was heavy, his energy nearly spent. But his conviction... untouched.
The monster raised all six arms for one final offensive, and Rob smiled, fire flickering in his gaze.
"Now... it's my turn."
With a deep roar, Rob launched himself into the sky. The wind shattered around him, as if space itself collapsed under his will. In the air, he twisted his body and focused all his essence into the edge of his sword.
And in that instant... something changed.
The sky above La Paz fractured. As if an invisible layer of reality had been split apart. Cracks of light opened around him. They weren't physical—they were spiritual.
A dozen floating swords—forged from golden and black energy—began to orbit around him. They weren't material weapons. They were symbols. Echoes of what Rob represented to the world.
The System activated with a voice that resonated in the soul of every sensitive being in the region:
[Ascension Confirmed: Rank S Achieved][Sword has been Sublimated][Strength, Speed, and Energy Doubled][Passive Ability Unlocked: Judge's Aura]
In the bastion, all Guardians paused their battle for a second. The weaker ones fell to their knees under the pressure emanating from Rob's body. The colossus froze. Instinctively, it felt that the fight was no longer in its favor.
And then... the sword fell.
One slash.Silence.Then, an explosion of light that shook the entire altiplano.
The creature's body was split in two—from skull to earth.Rob landed atop one of the metallic plates of its back… and only then did he breathe.
"I did it…"His eyes gleamed like those of an awakened god.
France – Snow over Ashes
Thea descended upon the frozen remains of the creature. The permafrost dome slowly fractured. Her breathing was calm, but her cheeks… were wet.Not from the cold.
As she walked among the crystals, an image appeared in her mind without invitation:Rob. His smile from another life. His voice calling her by that secret nickname.His promise to protect her… even if the world burned out.
"You… already saved me before," she whispered."How many more times?"
She covered her face with both hands, kneeling in the snow.No one saw her cry. No one heard her. But her tears fell in silence, like the snow surrounding her.
Global Network – A New Myth Is BornAll across the world, sensors and satellites registered the pulse of energy emanating from La Paz.International media began to broadcast the scene again and again: Rob falling from the sky surrounded by swords, the very fabric of the world cracking around him, the final slash… and the silence that followed.
A Japanese newscaster couldn't help but say with a trembling voice:"That man… is he really human?"
Meanwhile, the phrase that had defined the day… now sounded like a prophetic warning:
"This is not just a battle for survival… it is a demonstration of who was prepared for the inevitable."
And the world knew:The war was just beginning,but the Guardian of the Last Human Bastion had been fully reborn.
The Echo of DecisionsGlobal Transmission – 5 hours after the battleInternational channels kept looping the same scenes:—Rob's sword descending like a divine sentence.—Thea's frost dome fracturing with grace.—The piled corpses in Manchester, the ruins drifting in Perth, the poisonous mist in Gwangju.
The entire world reacted. Not with indifference.Not with logic.But with grief and rage.
Manchester Bastion – Ruins and ScreamsSmoke still billowed from the rubble. The bodies of fallen Guardians were being piled up by recovery drones. The cameras recorded in silence. There were no speeches. Only empty stares.
In a corner, a young Rank C Guardian sobbed, his arms stained with blood.
"They told us Rob was a radical… that he didn't understand diplomacy… that he was dangerous," he wept."And we were the blind ones!"
British social networks exploded. Hashtags like #RobWasRight and #LeadersBetrayedUs trended globally.
"Why didn't we follow the only one who warned us this would happen?" asked a political analyst live on-air."How many of these dead would still be alive if we had trusted the Guardian of South America?"
Perth Bastion – Blame on the ShoreOn the still-quaking coast of Australia, an improvised press conference was interrupted by a protester with his face covered in ash.
"You killed our children!" he shouted."Rob offered to share his global defense plans and you rejected him out of pride!"
The defense minister tried to respond but was booed until he was forced to leave under escort.The images went viral in under an hour.Public opinion was clear: the alliance that opposed Rob had failed their people.
Germany Bastion – Blinded by ArroganceIn Munich, the survivors of the attack on the world's most technologically advanced bastion could barely speak.A wounded general confessed live on national TV:
"I refused to accept his strategies… I thought his style was barbaric.And now… I've watched my men die for nothing."
Meanwhile… in the Free WorldIn La Paz, thousands began to gather silently in front of the site where Rob had delivered the final blow.It wasn't a celebration… it was reverence.
Guardians from other regions began to arrive.Some, just to witness him.Others… to join him.No longer for gain.But out of conviction.
The first public broadcasts began using a new term, one born from the forums of young Guardians around the world:
"He's not just a leader, or a warrior…He is our shield, our beacon, our last line."
"He is… the Guardian of Humanity."
That title began to spread.First in whispers.Then aloud.And soon… painted on murals, sung in songs, printed in articles, inked into tattoos, written on banners, spoken in prayers.
South America – A Silent MessageRob said nothing after the battle ended.He didn't ask for applause.He didn't claim leadership.He simply stood still, gazing at the horizon, with his sword still vibrating at his side.
But the world had already spoken for him.
And in the bastions that once scorned him, speeches of apology began to be drafted, open letters published, proposals for reform circulating…
Too late for the dead.But maybe not for the living.
The Guardian of HumanityPeace did not return.But hope did.Because when the world hit rock bottom, he stood up…
And the world, trembling, believed him.
[End of Chapter 32 – Between Joy and Regret]