Reincarnated as an SSS-Ranked Blacksmith Who Refuses to Forge Weapons-Chapter 83. One Last Survivor

Chapter 83: 83. One Last Survivor
Level ten was not like any of the levels above it. They could feel it in their bones as soon as Elias pulled Marina and Ryn through the door. This wasn’t just another level in a dungeon, but it was something old and wrong, a place that had been there before the Citadel fell and would still be there long after it turned to dust.
The room was huge, at least as big as a cathedral, and the ceiling was so high that it faded into darkness that even Elias’s dark magic couldn’t reach. The walls were covered in murals of battles between gods and mortals.
Despite hundreds of years of neglect, the paint remained vibrant. The boss was in the middle of the room, chained to a huge stone pillar by restraints that pulsed with divine energy.
It looked like a human, but it was at least thirty feet tall. The creature’s skin resembled polished obsidian, and its eyes burned with trapped rage.
Its body was covered in runes, each of which was a seal that held back enough power to level the entire mountain. This was what other expeditions had been afraid of, and it was why they had all turned back before they could fully clear the Citadel.
The creature was the Abyss’s Guardian. Elias looked at it for a second, then threw his head back and laughed. "This? This is what everyone was so afraid of?"
"Looking like a dog on a chain!"
He pushed Marina forward, and she fell to the ground. Ryn, who was freed but still chained, caught her before she fell all the way, and both women were too tired to do anything but help each other.
"Stay there and watch," Elias told them. "I want you to see what real strength looks like."
"I want you to know that your precious Greyson’s philosophy doesn’t mean anything when it comes to real strength."
He walked up to the Guardian with too much confidence, his dark sword already drawn and pulsing with evil energy. "Hey there, you fucking freak!"
"I’m Elias Grimhart, an S-rank adventurer, and I’m about to add you to my list of things I’ve done!"
The Guardian’s burning eyes were fixed on him, and for a moment, something like amusement flickered in their depths. "Look at me, you bastard!"
Elias held up his sword. "I’ve killed dozens of monsters that are stronger than you!"
"I’ve beaten dungeons all over the continent! I tortured and broke an entire group of so-called heroes! And now I’m going to kill you and make my legend!"
He was so focused on his speech and how great he thought he was that he didn’t notice the room getting colder. He also failed to notice that the shadows in the corners were growing darker and thicker, until the presence that had been watching all along finally made a move.
Elias turned around, and his confident look changed to one of fear and anger. A dark figure stood in the shadows at the edge of the room. It was the same one that had humiliated him weeks before.
The figure in the shadow. "You...!?"
Elias hissed, "What the fuck are you doing here?!"
The shadow replied calmly, "Making sure the story ends well."
"Grimhart, you were given power as a test."
"A chance to show that reincarnators could be more than just toys for the gods. You’ve turned into something worse than any monster in this dungeon."
"I don’t need your fucking opinion!" Elias’s voice broke with rage. "I’m unstoppable now because of this power I got from my system, which answered my revenge!"
"I’ve shown how strong I am!"
"You’ve shown nothing but that being cruel and powerful is not a good way to show worth." The shadow focused on the Guardian. "But I’m not here to give you a lecture. I’m here to show you what real strength is."
The shadow’s hand made a simple move, and the Guardian’s body began to break the divine seals that were on it. The runes that had held it for hundreds of years broke like glass, and the chains fell off with a sound like thunder.
The Guardian stood up straight, and the whole room shook. Its eyes, which had been filled with rage and anger, were now filled with something much more dangerous, that is, freedom. And behind that freedom, something else had been added, which is a spark of the shadow’s own dark power.
Elias took a step back and said, "No."
"No, this isn’t right! This isn’t how it’s fucking supposed to go!"
"Why... Why do you ruin my chance as someone who I really wanted to be!?"
"Life isn’t like that frequently," the shadow said, and then it was gone, just as quickly as it had come.
The Guardian looked down at Elias, and its lips pulled back in what could have been a smile. Then it moved so fast that something that big shouldn’t have been able to, and its giant fist swung down toward the silver-haired reincarnator.
Elias barely escaped by rolling to the side and then raised his sword. "Okay! Fuck it all! You want to see what I’m really capable of? Let me show you!"
He used everything he had to attack, and his dark blade left trails of corrupted energy in the air. The Guardian blocked with one arm, and Elias’s sword, which had cut through steel like paper, barely scratched the black skin.
Elias gasped, "Impossible."
"I’m S-rank! Dark magic gives me power! You can’t just ignore what I’m saying!"
"By this power, I command you to—"
The Guardian’s answer was to hit him in the back of the head. Elias hit the wall so hard that it made a crater, and then he fell to the ground and coughed up blood.
Marina watched all of this with a mix of fear and grim satisfaction. Elias’s beating felt almost like a release after everything he had done, including the deaths of Kael and Denna. But that happiness went away when the Guardian looked at her and Ryn.
The huge creature moved closer to them, its eyes full of interest. Despite his injuries, Elias burst into laughter upon witnessing this.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, clearing his throat. "Yes, kill those bitches!"
"Make Greyson’s rescue pointless!"
"Show him that his precious philosophy of peace can’t help anyone!"
The Guardian raised its hand, and a dark energy sphere began to form above it. The attack was huge and much stronger than anything the women could handle.
Marina took Ryn’s hand, ready to face the end with him. Ryn, on the other hand, had other plans.
The mage hadn’t said a word since Denna died. It looked like the terrible things she had seen had broken her spirit.
But now, at this last moment, something came back to life. Her magical suppression barriers were still up, but they were meant to keep her power in check, not get rid of it completely. She broke free from Marina’s grip and stepped forward, putting herself right in the Guardian’s line of fire.
"Ryn, no!" Marina screamed because she knew what was going to happen.
"I’m sorry," Ryn said, and even though she was crying, her voice was calm.
"I couldn’t help Kael...."
"I couldn’t do anything to help Denna."
"But I can do this... I can save you, Marina."
The Guardian’s attack hit, and Ryn closed her eyes and put all of her remaining strength into one last spell. Her barriers against magic broke down from the inside, releasing it in a huge explosion.
She made a shield around Marina, not around herself, with her body as the center. Ryn screamed when the dark energy hit.
But her shield held, sending the force away from Marina and into the stone around her. The ground broke, and the pillars fell, but Marina was safe behind the barrier.
Ryn got down on her knees and then fell forward onto her face when the attack stopped. The spell had taken everything from her, even her life force, to keep her safe. She died before she hit the ground.
"RYN!" Marina’s scream was raw and full of pain.
It echoed through the room, and then she crawled over to her friend’s body, hugged it, and cried. "No, no, no. Not you too...!!!"
"NO!!! NO!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
With that... Marina has lost all her family, leaving her all alone with the trauma. She remembered the pain of losing her little brother and how powerless she felt at that time.