The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family-Chapter 397: The Last Stop (2)

Reidar spread the first nine kills across the cities he searched on his way to Kilovar. Reidar couldn't avoid the Ignis entirely, despite him trying and wanting to, not when they were patrolling the ruins where Mara might be hiding.

So he fought them, and that brought him to Level 530.

He wasn't the strongest thing on this planet. The titans in the cities were far beyond him, and most likely he hadn't even seen it all. But he was strong enough to handle most threats now, at least the average ones. Strong enough to survive long enough to find Mara.

If she were still here.

Reidar stood and looked out over the city.

Kilovar stretched for miles in every direction, with ruins packed so densely that navigating them required constant attention. The Sky-Hunters had mapped most of the city, but there were still sections they hadn't fully explored—dark zones where the ash was too thick to even see past 2 meters or where the monsters were too aggressive to risk sending scouts.

Mara could be in any of them. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Reidar had searched nine cities in the last month, checking every laboratory, government building, and research facility. He'd scoured basements, rooftops, and underground bunkers.

He hadn't found the woman in any of them.

The cities were all on the route to Kilovar. Mara needed materials to build her portal, and major cities were the most likely source.

But she hadn't stayed in any of the places Reidar searched.

Either she'd already checked them and moved on, or she'd skipped them and gone straight to Kilovar.

Kilovar was the last option he had. The capital city. The heart of the Ignis Kingdom.

If Mara wasn't here, then Reidar was stuck.

He didn't have another lead, and he didn't have another city to search. He had already examined every major population center on the map, except for Kilovar. If she wasn't here, she could be anywhere—a small outpost he'd never heard of, a hidden research facility that wasn't on the map, or a random cave in the middle of nowhere.

He'd never find her, and that meant he'd never get home.

Reidar reached into his inventory and pulled out the journal. He'd been carrying it since the palace, reading it over and over during his downtime. Zhen-Gora's notes were the closest thing he had to a guide for understanding the Ignis civilization.

The journal mentioned Kilovar multiple times, describing it as the seat of the High Council and the central hub for all major decisions. When the apocalypse hit, survivors fled here, hoping the government could protect them, while the Allied Worlds set up their base of operations here too, using the palace as a meeting point.

Zhen-Gora had described Kilovar as the last bastion of order before everything fell apart.

The research facilities here would have been the most advanced, and the material stockpiles the largest. Mara would know that as much as he did. After all, it wasn't difficult to assume.

<She must be here…>

Reidar put the journal away and summoned his Apex Menagerie. The wolves materialized around him, and once they were ready, he climbed onto the back of the largest one, feeling its body adjust under his weight. Then he sent the others ahead to scout.

The city wasn't like the other ruins he had passed. The other cities had been shells—hollowed-out skyscrapers, collapsed bridges, and residential zones turned into dust.

This place was different.

Even from miles away, the scale of it was oppressive. The buildings were many times bigger and higher than the ones Reidar had seen in the cities he had gone through.

<There are a lot of monuments.> Reidar saw statues and buildings that were unique and, most of the time, simply ginormous.

He took a deep breath, tasting the sulfur and the mana.

"All right," he said. "Let's test those F.L.I.P. points."

…

…

…

Reidar moved deeper into Kilovar.

He kept his profile low, sticking to the shadows of the massive structures that lined the streets, and then stopped at the corner of a wide avenue.

Heavy footsteps echoed on the pavement, and Reidar had no wish to meet those who were making them.

Reidar ducked behind a collapsed wall and held still, then connected to the nearest Sky-Hunter to shift his sight.

Through the insect's eyes, he saw a group of Ignis. There were at least forty of them, wandering or hunting. Of course, Reidar didn't know what they were doing. Though they looked far less feral than the other Ignis he had met until that point. Patrolling wasn't exactly something a feral monster did.

Whenever Reidar said or thought the Ignis patrolled the streets in the other cities, it was more appropriate to say they were searching around as a beast would do when searching for food, but here it was somehow different, as if there was some kind of purpose behind it.

<That's weird.>

What was weirder was how they were moving—like a sort of army. They were uncoordinated, mind you, but not as the other Ignis, who looked more like rabid animals rather than once intelligent creatures. These creatures seemed to still have some kind of intelligence.

<No… It's more like they were so used to patrolling the area that they hadn't forgotten about their duties even in ferality.>

Reidar checked the tags above their heads.

[Elite Feral Ignis—Level 551]

[Elite Feral Ignis—Level 567]

[Elite Feral Ignis—Level 563]

[Elite Feral Ignis—Level 578]

<Shit.>

Reidar expected the monsters here to be stronger… But the Ignis having reached this level was a surprise.

Besides, none of them were below 550. Most were in the 560s and 570s.

Reidar pulled back from the connection and pressed himself against the wall. These things were twenty to forty-eight levels above him. One-on-one, he could handle them if he had enough numbers on his side. But forty of them? That was suicide.

The levels didn't worry him as much as their appearance did. The Ignis he had fought in the other cities were twisted abominations, their weapons fused to their bones.

These Ignis were different. They were tall and broad, with far fewer mutations than the other Ignis he'd seen. They looked more like soldiers than beasts.

The biggest difference was that they didn't have melted legs like many Ignis he met had, and most importantly, they still had their hands. They had four larger fingers, rather than five. Their weapons hadn't fused with their limbs.

Instead, they wore armor—actual plate armor. It fitted them perfectly, covering their vital areas while leaving their joints free.

They carried weapons held in hands that still functioned as hands. Swords. Hammers. Spears. They held them in their hands like soldiers, not beasts.

But of course, they were beasts. Of that there was no doubt.