The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family

The raid moved into formation. Helga's Ironsides fanned out to the left; Aldric's Sun Chasers took the right flank.

Kara's fighters spread across the rear, bows drawn and arrows nocked. In the center, mages prepared spells, and the other survivors joined who they deemed were better to join based on their skills and abilities.

Reidar stood at the formation's heart, mounted on one of his bears. Four more bears were around him. Each one was a titan.

The smaller Thorn-Lashers detected the intrusion. Twenty of them moved from the Elder and moved toward the raid party.

Their main goal was to keep the raid away from their master.

"Clear the trash!" Helga said.

The raid and its summons moved.

Reidar didn't wait. Four of his massive bears charged ahead, barreling toward the Elder Thorn-Lasher like a furry battering ram.

His last bear stayed put, standing guard beside him. Twenty smaller Thorn-Lashers closed in on them, but the raid members intercepted them. Fireballs from their Ember Rift-Sprites slammed into the front line, lighting up the field in bursts of flame and flying wood chips.

Helga's warriors slammed their shields together, forming a wall of steel. They met the first wave with a snarl, blades hacking through vines like they were chopping firewood.

Explosions of flame and splintered wood erupted among them. Helga's warriors met the first wave with a wall of shields and hacking blades.

The bears reached the Elder and began circling it. One lunged forward, swiping its massive paw at the creature's thick, vine-like leg. The Elder lashed out with a whip-like vine, but the bear ducked under it and slammed into the plant's base.

That was all the opening the raid needed. The massive creature turned its full attention to the bears and got distracted from the main fight.

Reidar grinned.

In the meantime, the raid itself crashed into the Thorn-Lashers. The Ironsides were the first, and their swords were the first to cut through vines and reach the cores.

Aldric's Sun Chasers attacked from the opposite side. He led the charge; the weapon's point was wreathed in golden fire, and that gave the name to his group. He drove it through a Thorn-Lasher's core. The monster collapsed as its control center got destroyed.

His fighters followed his example.

The mages hung back, launching ranged attacks. Lightning bolts fried vine matter. Ice spears punched through cores. Fire blasts consumed entire creatures before they could regenerate.

Kara's archers added their own contribution. Arrows flew aimed at a core. The arrows themselves were made from skulls, and those arrows could set their target ablaze, preventing regeneration.

The smaller monsters died quickly. The raid had learned their weaknesses and adapted their tactics. Within minutes, all the Thorn-Lashers were reduced to smoldering husks scattered across the clearing.

All but their Elder.

The beast kept fighting Reidar's bears. The core at its crown pulsed, and its light turned from green to red.

The branches swept down at horrifying speed. They crashed onto the ground where the raid had stood moments before. Survivors scattered, diving aside as the impacts cratered the earth.

"Reidar! Keep this thing off us!"

It wasn't like he wasn't trying; the problem was that there were too many vines, and the creature could deal with whoever it wished because of that. Of course, most of the vines were on the bears.

There was a difference in levels between the bears and the Elder Thorn-Lasher, in favor of the bears, but its body made up for it, at least partially.

Reidar could kill this thing with his eyes closed. Quite literally, since it was his summons that would do all the job.

Reidar remained mounted, his bear circling at the clearing's edge. He wasn't going to engage directly. The quest parameters were clear; his reward depended on the other survivors' success. Every kill he made was a kill they didn't, reducing their C.L.A.S.P. and his final multiplier.

"Focus fire on the core!" Now that he was free from the minions, he could focus on the bigger threat.

The mages switched targets, launching lightning, fire, and ice straight at the glowing core atop the Elder's crown. But the spells hit a wall—literally. Smaller branches had been woven into a shield above it, absorbing most of the blasts. A few attacks slipped through, barely scratching the surface.

The Elder didn't wait. Vines shot up from the ground beneath the mages, snagging three of them before they could blink. They dangled helplessly as others rushed in, hacking at the vines to free them.

One of Reidar's bears went for the main trunk, leaping high to clamp down on the Elder's body—but a thick branch cracked down like a whip. The bear crashed into the dirt, leaving a dent where it landed.

The other three bears kept up the pressure, lunging from different sides to split the monster's focus. But they were getting hammered. Thorns dug into their flesh. Branches swung like battering rams. Still, they fought on, their hides torn and bleeding but their jaws locked tight.

Then, a spectral knight strode in, raising a hand. A ring of glowing light bloomed beneath the bears—Circle of Renewal. In seconds, their wounds sealed, their strength returned.

Helga's Ironsides charged in next, swinging axes and swords at the trunk itself. Steel bit deep, shredding layers of vines. But with every chunk they carved away, the Elder sealed the wound just as fast. The fight was brutal, relentless—and so far, a stalemate.

Only fire worked.

"We need to expose the core!" Helga shouted. "Bring that crown down!"

It was easier said than done. The core sat fifty feet above ground, protected by layers of branches. Direct assault was nearly impossible for the raid members, unless the monster got into proper position or the raid members did something specific.

Aldric had another plan. "Sun Chasers! Get ready!"

His team snapped into a tight wedge, their armor flashing silver in the forest's patchy light.

At the front, Aldric raised his spear. Golden light pooled along its dark shaft, building fast. The silver tip blazed like a tiny sun—nowhere near the real thing, but close enough.

The air bent toward the weapon, leaves and dirt swirling around it. Sunlight twisted unnaturally, drawn to the spear like it was magnetic. Aldric's armor lit up, every etched line throwing wild reflections across the trees.

His breathing synced with the pulsing light.

Then—"Solar Lance!"

He drove the spear forward.

A thin, white-hot beam shot out, slicing through the Elder's branches like they were paper. It hit the core dead-on.

The monster let out a scream—half wood cracking, half metal screeching. The core's light wavered, going dark for a few seconds before flaring back.

"Now!" Aldric yelled. "Hit it!"