Who on earth could have imagined such a thing?

"Are you the king of the gargoyles?"

Ian spoke, taking a step closer to him.

"They said that you were sealed in by the dragons."

(Krrr…..!)

"How did you escape?"

(Krrrrrrr…..!)

The ent.i.ty did not seem to understand.

Is he no more than just a monster?

The ent.i.ty that had ruled as the ancient predator?

"My queen."

(I'm listening.)

"Please look for Evantus.  I'll take him on."

(Can you handle it?)

"Definitely."

(…..Good.  Be careful.)

"You be careful, too, my queen."

The cave was s.p.a.cious.  If Evantus has not been eaten yet, he will certainly be somewhere in the cave in one form or another.  Ian put the queen in charge of searching for him.

(Krrrrrr…..!)

There was no more need to even think.

Ian, immediately, gathered mana.

Clearly, hostility was being detected from all around.

"I thought we could talk."

The king of the gargoyle drooled seeing that.

Although there weren't any words, emotions were felt.

It did not appear as if it was setting up guards against the intruder.

The predator that put the entire world in terror at one time.

It was the easiness that only such an ent.i.ty could demonstrate.

(Kkkkkkkk…..!)

The king of the gargoyles split open the wings in a threatening manner.  Yet, Ian showed no sign of hesitation.  The size of the monster only neared the bottom of what he has encountered up to now.  The spirit of Reeses Rajendu, inside the repository of time, the dragon, and drdragons were bigger that this king of the gargoyles.

(Kaaaakkk-!)

Bizarre cries flowed out of the monster's mouth.  It was in the sound range that simply went beyond the normalcy.  Perhaps, this sound was a way to summon all the gargoyles in the Soffits Mountain Range.

Kookookookoooo-!

Then the whole mountain range shook as if there was an avalanche in the mountains.  It was due to the fact that countless number of gargoyles was all moving at once.

'Crying out loud, how many are there?'

It was impossible to even guess.  But one fact could be antic.i.p.ated without much difficulty.  Should all those gargoyles descend from the mountains, that is, if they were to go out in to the world and go berserk…..

'Catastrophe.'

According to the spirit of the dragon, this was a race of monsters that could not form any harmony.  However, that was only a necessary character when forming an ordered military force.  But to think that those monsters would go berserk and kill humans, its own kind, or any 3rd ent.i.ty types without any regard.  That would be nothing short of a disaster for all of the continent.

"….. At any rate."

Ian summoned many ice blocks.

It was certainly a cla.s.sic battle to be cherished for the first time in a long while.

"Any reason to reduce the numbers."

'The ancient predator' and 'this world's strongest'.

The two monsters began to engage.

"Aaaaah!"

Meanwhile, Craven, the youngest looking one of the small group that was guarding the entrance, shouted.  He was watching over the entire mountain range with the drdragon, and must have finally detected the gargoyles' movements.

"They're coming!  So many of them!  Like a colony of ants!   A colony of ants!"

How could he be so innocent?

He should know who that colony of ants will be attacking.

"Come down now.  Should protect our position."

"Yes-sup!"

Craven, the kid sculptor listened to Bertoldo, the tailor, closely.   Without questioning, he came down and began guarding the entrance of the cave.  Of course, he did not separate himself from the scruff of the neck of the drdragon.

"As all of you know, we cannot allow the gargoyles to advance.  At least until Sir Ian returns from his mission.  So, do not become overzealous and break the formation by moving forward individually.  For the most part, they will stop at the foot of the dragon statues."

The six 'drdragon' dragon golems were great s.h.i.+elds on their own.  Not only could they not feel pain, they were also incredibly strong.  Even Ian would not be able to break them.  If such statues were to blockade the entrance then certainly almost all attempts to get through would be deterred.

"Half human, half dragon, young lady Honey and all of you fairies would just stop those that try to come into the cave…"

(Wait.)

Helenelia, the dragonian, interrupted Bertoldo.  Why did she as it wasn't a half bad instruction?

"What is it?"

(What do you mean, a young lady?  Although, my façade may appear young, I more than likely have lived several life times of your lifetime, the human.  I advise you to speak with caution going forward.)

"Hahaha!"

Helenelia warned, taking a little bit of time.

Bertoldo laughed heartily in response.

The other masters also laughed loudly.

(…..Why are you laughing?)

"Ah, I beg your pardon.  So, the young lady is how old this year…..?"

(I gave up keeping track, long ago already.  I've been living since almost two hundred years ago.)

"Two hundred?  Well then, addressing you as a young lady is appropriate.  I thought you were going to say much longer."

(…..What?)

"If young lady is not to your liking, I will call you a young maiden."

(What nonsense…..!)

Helenelia is over two hundred years old.

Bertoldo has existed much longer than that.

At the moment the conversation between the two fossils was about to drag on.

"Kaaaaak-!"

The first gargoyle came into the view.

Of course, that was only the beginning.

Then gargoyles began to swarm in from every direction.

Their number was as described by Craven.

It was truly as if a 'colony of ants' was swarming.

On top of that, they were the colony of ants, each individual one bigger than human.

"Everyone stand your position!"

A fierce battle also ensued outside of the cave.

K-w.a.n.g!

The king of the gargoyles was covered with dust.

The opponent that he looked down on as a mere prey.

Unexpectedly, his resistance was much stronger than thought.