Chapter 169 - 165: Against The Guardian

"Let's go, Rale. We don't have time to waste. I want to deal with it before night," Ryder told Rale, who was standing at the mouth of the cave, looking outside.

"Your Highness," Rale greeted Ryder.

Everyone stood up as well. They all left the cave and entered the core region of the Valley of Wandering Souls.

"Your Highness, When we find the Guardian of the Valley, I would suggest you to stay back. You will get harmed. The Guardian would be very strong. It's impossible to kill it, but I can hold it back. It would all go to waste if he managed to harm you," Rale told Ryder.

"Don't worry about me. Killing me is more difficult than killing you at the moment. I'm not bragging when I say that even Grand Duke Orisis can't kill me," Ryder chuckled as he tapped on Rale's shoulder. "But I would let you deal with the guardian. I only need that orb in his hand. Throw that orb towards me, and then you can hold him back."

"I will take that orb for you, I promise," Rale promised Ryder.

They faced many specters along the way, which were growing stronger. No matter how much Ryder attacked, he wasn't able to harm them. His strength had reached its limit on this Valley. The opponents that they faced were way stronger than the ones he could hurt.

Rale and the others handled the specters with ease, though. Ryder had already known how wide the gap between Rale and him was, but Rale's team was just as strong. 

He had known that Rale was stronger than Duke Devilia. 

Even when Ryder was over level 150, he wasn't able to harm a dragon, but Devilia killed another dragon, which seemed to be hundreds of times stronger than the dragon that had killed him in the previous timeline. Rale, on the other hand, was even stronger than Devilia after he unsealed his power. He could only imagine how strong he was.

Level thousand was the least that Ryder considered Rale to be. He was quite glad to have someone like Rale to be his subordinate. He was like the most OP character in the game at the moment, but this only meant that the old enemies were not his enemies anymore. He was way above their league. 

He was in an entirely different league altogether, but he also knew that being in a powerful league meant facing powerful enemies. He also knew that it was not his own power. He wanted to find the Bracelet Fragments the fastest he could so that he could strengthen himself. The two fragments that he had found were enough to make him almost an immortal, but that still wasn't enough for him. He didn't want to die and revive, but he wanted to be strong enough to kill his enemies without dying.

They had only traveled for 2 hours before they heard a loud roar.

"This sounds like the Roar of the Guardian. He should be nearby. Guys, get ready to engage. The Guardian of the Valley can use Spectres like his personal slaves. I'll deal with the guardian; you guys deal with the specters. No harm should come to His Highness!" Rale declared.

"Understood Captain! We won't let them harm the Prince!" the men let out loud.

They walked in the direction that roar was coming from.

The number of spirits they faced kept increasing. Now they were seeing hundreds of specters every ten meters, but Rale was still able to deal with them without unsealing his power 

After some time, they finally saw the Guardian of the Valley of Wandering Souls.

The Guardian of the Valley was similar to the Guardian of the Lightning Valley that Ryder had controlled to force the Dark Elf King to surrender. It was also a giant, but it seemed to be made of wood.

The Guardian of Valley of Wandering Soul was like a giant Wooden Golem that had a humanoid shape.

The Guardian of the Valley also had two giant horns on his head.

There was a necklace on the neck of the Guardian of the valley, which had a tiny orb tier to it.

"There is the orb!" Ryder pointed towards the orb near the Guardian's neck.

The Guardian looked towards them. He roared loudly. A screeching sound came out of its mouth.

Thousands of Spectres from all over the valley rushed towards Ryder and his team to attack them.

"Take care of his highness. I'm going for the necklace!" Rale let out as he unsealed his powers.

His wings appeared behind his back.

He flew towards the guardian like lightning.

Rale was about to reach near the Guardian when a barrier appeared around the Guardian.

Rale punched out. His fist struck the barrier, shattering it instantly, but that's when he saw the hand of the guardian coming towards him.

He flew to the side, dodging his hand, and again started flying towards the neck of the guardian.

The Guardian stared at Rale. Rale felt as if there was a binding force that was trying to take control of his body.

"My body is to protect the Royal Blood! I will never let someone like you control me!" Rale roared as an energy burst was released from his body, breaking the restriction around him.

He shot out towards the neck of the guardian and tore off the orb, which he threw towards Ryder.

Ryder reached out his hand to catch the orb, but he saw another specter coming towards the orb. He knew that if he stayed there, the specter would get to the orb.

He brought out his Scythe and started running towards the orb.

Ryder and the specter, both were moving towards the orb.

Ryder was slightly faster as he managed to grab the orb, but he also saw the Spectre coming towards him. It was too late to dodge. 

He changed the scythe to a shield and placed it between him and the specters. He was tossed back like a broken kite as he crashed on a tree.

He felt his HP going down by leaps and bounds before it could reach Zero; he used the Ruler of Nature to heal himself. His Hp was again full.

He breathed in relief. His men had also dealt with the specters in the nearby region and surrounded him again.

"Your Highness, please do not do this again. It puts you in danger and decreases our ability to protect you," One of the members of Rale's team requested Ryder. He was relieved as he didn't know how he would have answered if something had happened to Ryder.

"Leave this place! I will keep him back and leave after you are out!" Rale let out loud.

Ryder didn't hear his words as he was looking at the notification.