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

Below, the massacre of the bears was complete. The last of the eight hundred summons dissolved under a final, contemptuous stomp.

The giant was standing by himself on the plain. It threw its huge head back and stared up at the circling crows with its fiery red eyes.

It was targeting them now.

"Gods, there is nothing to stop it now!" a survivor screamed. They didn't even know if the altitude was enough for them to avoid the attacks.

A man swore. "We can't kill it from up here! We're not doing enough damage!"

Reidar's mind was going a mile a minute. Panic seized the raiders, and their organized lines fell apart. Another two deaths and they would rout. He couldn't let that happen.

Reidar's jaw clenched. <There is no choice now.>

"Everyone, we are going to resume our attacks!"

Four massive shapes broke from the treeline.

[Reidar Miller's Feral Pack (Bear) - Level 118]

[Reidar Miller's Feral Pack (Bear) - Level 118]

[Reidar Miller's Feral Pack (Bear) - Level 118]

[Reidar Miller's Feral Pack (Bear) - Level 118]

Reidar's own four bears, each the size of an elephant, each at level 118, charged at the monster. They were faster, smarter, and infinitely tougher than the cannon-fodder bears the raid had used until that point.

The giant paused, its head tilting; it recognized their power level. These were not gnats; these were rivals.

The Merged Boulderback Titan charged.

The lead bear met it head-on. Stone met flesh with a thunderous collision. The Titan's fist slammed into the bear's shoulder. The bear's claws raked across the Titan's chest. Neither gave ground.

The other three bears joined the fray. They attacked from different angles, coordinating instinctively. One went for the legs. Another targeted the tail. The third climbed the Titan's back, seeking its crystalline spine.

The Behemoth's massive, tree-trunk club swung down. Instead of dodging, the first bear reared up and caught the blow head-on. Empowered by Reidar's Chitinous Carapace, its shimmering hide deflected the strike, shattering the ancient wood. The impact hurled the bear backward, but it landed squarely on its feet, its defiant roar echoing the sound of the splintering wood.

The Titan fought back with savage intelligence. It seized the bear clinging to its back and hurled it thirty yards through the air. A brutal kick sent the one at its legs sprawling. Then its tail whipped in a wide arc, smashing into the fourth bear and launching it like a boulder into the distance.

But these bears were different. They were on level 118. They matched the Titan's S.H.I.E.L.D.. When they hit the ground, they rolled to their feet and charged again.

The clash was titanic. The giant was immensely powerful; its Tier was clearly higher than the bears, allowing it to fight four creatures of the same level even in its numerical inferiority. They were empowered by his perks: Pack Tactics and Elemental Infusion. Fire, ice, and wind wreathed their claws as they tore at the giant.

The raid reorganized quickly. Mages prepared their strongest spells. Archers nocked explosive arrows. Fighters readied their weapons for when an opening appeared.

The four bears kept the Titan occupied, never giving it time to focus on the raid. When one was thrown aside, the others pressed harder. When the Titan concentrated on crushing one bear, the others exploited the opening.

Aldric snapped out of his daze. Reidar's bears had the Titan locked down, its massive frame buckling under their assault. The creature was overwhelmed, its stone armor cracking under the attacks. The bears' claws found weak points between stone plates. Their teeth crunched through crystalline spines. Their sheer weight destabilized the giant's movements.

"Keep firing!"

A volley of wind blades carved through the Titan's damaged left flank. Water cannons exploited the opening, blasting deep into exposed stone. Fire spells ignited from within the wounds. Lightning bolts paralyzed the creature's movements.

The Titan roared in pain. It tried to shield itself, but the bears prevented it. They forced the giant's arms down, exposing its torso. They tripped its legs, making it stumble. They created openings the raid exploited.

The Merged Boulderback Titan roared in agony. It tried to shake the bears from its back and tried to stomp the ones at its feet, but it was being hit from every angle.

The bears on the ground tore at its legs, while the bears on its back clawed at its crystal-spiked spine. And from the sky, a relentless torrent of magic and arrows exploited every opening.

The stone armor, already damaged, began to crack and fall away in giant chunks. The molten blood flowed faster, turning the surrounding ground into a hissing, steaming mire.

The Titan's healing faltered. Its stone plates couldn't close the gashes fast enough, leaving jagged cracks oozing molten blood that sizzled where it hit the ground. Every wound stayed open, bleeding heat into the air.

One of Reidar's bears clamped its jaws around the Titan's throat. Another bear slammed into its legs. The giant toppled backward, crashing to the ground with an impact that shook the plains.

"Finish it!" Helga's voice rang out.

Every mage channeled their most powerful skill. Every archer fired their strongest arrow.

The Behemoth raised its head for one final, defiant roar. The Behemoth's legs finally buckled, shredded by the bears and shattered by the focused elemental assault.

The Titan tried to rise. One of Reidar's bears pinned its chest. Another crushed its left arm. The third and fourth bears tore at its legs, preventing movement.

With a groan that sounded like a mountain breaking apart, the Alpha Boulderback Devastator crashed to the ground, shaking the entire valley.

—[Merged Boulderback Titan—Level 118 — defeated!]—

—[Quest Complete: Shatter the Grotto]—

Notifications lit up across the raid. Levels dinged. Cheers erupted, ragged and exhausted, but triumphant.

Reidar's personal notification was different.

—[The Shepherd's Gambit: Progress Updated] —

—[Collective Raid Success: 60% (3 of 5 major objectives completed)] —

—[Average Participant Level Increase: 20 levels]—

—[Current Reward Multiplier: 4.6x] —

He let out a long, shaky breath. He watched as the raid members began to land their crows near the two massive, cooling corpses. Survivors were helping the injured, their faces a mixture of shock, grief for their fallen comrades, and overwhelming relief.

<Two quests left,> Reidar thought. <We're almost there.>

Helga and Aldric landed near him. Their faces were streaked with sweat and grime. They looked at the two massive corpses, then at Reidar. The earlier hostility was gone, replaced by a complex, grudging respect. Most of it was of fear, though, because if killing that thing had been hard, then what about Reidar? What would happen if they were on the other side of Reidar's scope?