Chapter 45: Guardians Awaken

The ancient door slammed shut with a thunderous crash, plunging the chamber into darkness save for the malevolent glow of the obsidian orb. Yang and Anqi stood shoulder to shoulder, the fragile bond of the ritual humming between them.

From the shadows emerged forms—hulking silhouettes draped in ancient armor, their eyes burning with a cold, unforgiving light. The guardians had awakened.

They moved silently but with lethal purpose, their presence a chilling reminder that the seals were not mere stones but living legacies of a power humanity was never meant to control.

Yang's grip tightened on the talisman, his body alight with the agonizing energy of the Womb. Each guardian stepped forward, their footsteps resonating like distant thunder, shaking the very foundations of the tomb.

Anqi raised her lantern, the light casting sharp angles on her sharp features. "They test us now—to prove if the vessel is worthy."

The guardians circled, their movements deliberate and predatory. Yang felt the eyes of countless souls weighing on him, a judgment passed across millennia.

A battle not just of flesh and steel, but of wills and ancient magic was inevitable.

The chamber seemed to contract, walls closing in as the orb's glow flared brighter. Shadows twisted and writhed, as if the tomb itself sought to consume them.

Yang took a steadying breath, readying himself for the impossible trial that would decide not only his fate but the fate of the world sealed beneath layers of history and silence.