The gigantic boulder screamed against the boy’s glowing gauntlets.

Blue cursed energy exploded through the collapsing tunnel while stone cracked apart beneath his bare feet.

Every muscle in the child’s body trembled violently.

Blood dripped from his fingers onto the shattered ground.

Still—

he refused to let the mountain fall.

Behind him, terrified children crawled through clouds of dust and debris while miners desperately pulled them toward the tunnel exit.

“HURRY!” one miner screamed.

“The ceiling’s collapsing!”

Massive rocks crashed from above.

The mine groaned like a dying beast.

Torchlight flickered wildly across the darkness.

And at the center of the chaos—

the barefoot child remained kneeling beneath the enormous stone boulder alone.

The cursed runes burning across his black gauntlets pulsed brighter with every second.

One older miner froze in horror.

Because he recognized those runes.

“No…” the man whispered.

His face turned pale beneath the dust.

“Those are the Gauntlets of Vharos…”

Several nearby miners immediately stared at him.

Even through the chaos—

fear spread across their faces.

Everyone inside Ashkar knew the legend.

Long before the kingdom existed—

a giant called Vharos supposedly carried mountains on his shoulders during the First War.

The black gauntlets had been forged for him alone.

Any human who touched them was said to die screaming.

The miners slowly looked back toward the child.

And realized something terrifying.

The gauntlets were alive.

Blue veins of cursed energy crawled upward from the metal into the boy’s arms.

The child’s body shook harder.

Cracks spread across the stone floor beneath his knees.

Still—

he kept holding the mountain.

Another child finally escaped from beneath the boulder.

Then another.

Then another.

But deep behind the collapse—

a tiny voice suddenly cried out through the darkness.

“HELP!”

The miners froze.

A little girl remained trapped.

Half her body was pinned beneath broken timber near the far side of the tunnel.

And above her—

the entire ceiling had begun splitting apart.

The older miners panicked instantly.

“We can’t reach her!”

“The tunnel’s going to collapse!”

“She’s too far inside!”

The barefoot child slowly lifted his head.

Through falling dust—

he saw the terrified little girl crying beneath the shattered beams.

For one brief second—

the boy’s glowing blue eyes widened with fear.

Not for himself.

For her.

Then—

he did something impossible.

The child slowly pushed upward.

The gigantic boulder actually moved.

The miners screamed in disbelief.

“He’s lifting it?!”

Blue energy erupted violently from the cursed gauntlets.

The tunnel exploded with blinding light.

Stone pillars cracked apart beneath the pressure while the child forced himself to stand beneath the weight of the mountain.

Blood poured down both arms now.

His small body shook uncontrollably.

But he kept rising.

One inch.

Then another.

The gigantic boulder lifted high enough for a narrow path to appear beneath it.

The boy turned toward the miners.

His voice came out strained and shaking.

“Get… her… out…”

Nobody moved.

Not because they didn’t want to.

Because they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

The child was holding up an entire section of the mountain.

Alone.

Then suddenly—

BOOOOM.

Another violent tremor ripped through the mine.

The entire ceiling split open above them.

More gigantic boulders began falling directly toward the tunnel.

The miners panicked instantly.

“EVERYONE RUN!”

The older miner grabbed two children and sprinted toward the exit.

Others followed in terror.

Because now the entire underground mine was collapsing.

And still—

the little girl remained trapped.

The barefoot child looked toward her one final time.

Then slowly—

he released one hand from the mountain.

The miners screamed.

“DON’T!”

The entire boulder shifted violently.

The tunnel groaned.

The child nearly collapsed beneath the crushing pressure.

But with only one glowing gauntlet holding the gigantic rock overhead—

he stretched his free arm toward the trapped girl.

Blue cursed energy burst outward across the tunnel floor like lightning.

The broken timber exploded apart.

The little girl cried out as the force shoved her free from the debris.

A nearby miner lunged forward and grabbed her just before another rock crashed down.

“We got her!”

The child smiled weakly.

For the first time since the collapse began—

relief appeared across his dirty face.

Then—

CRAAAAACK.

One of the cursed gauntlets suddenly split open.

Blue energy erupted uncontrollably through the darkness.

The child screamed.

The sound echoed through the collapsing mine like pure agony.

The miners turned in horror.

The glowing veins spreading across the boy’s arm had reached his neck.

The gauntlets were consuming him.

The older miner’s face turned pale.

“Oh no…”

Another tremor exploded through the tunnels.

The gigantic boulder began slipping downward.

Dust flooded the air.

Everyone knew what was about to happen.

The child couldn’t hold it anymore.

And if the mountain fell—

everyone still inside the tunnel would die instantly.

The miners backed away helplessly.

Some grabbed the children.

Others simply stared in horror.

Because there was nothing left they could do.

The boy’s knees slowly buckled beneath the impossible weight.

Blood covered the stone floor beneath him.

The cursed gauntlets screamed with violent blue light.

And then—

the child suddenly began laughing.

The sound shocked everyone.

Not madness.

Not fear.

Just… relief.

The boy looked toward the rescued children standing near the tunnel exit.

They were alive.

That was enough for him.

One tiny little boy suddenly broke away from the crowd.

“Ash!”

The barefoot child froze.

The miners stared.

Because nobody knew the ragged orphan’s name before now.

The small child crying near the exit stumbled toward him through the dust.

“You promised you’d come back!”

Ash’s glowing eyes softened.

The little boy couldn’t have been older than six.

Tiny.

Thin.

Covered in soot.

Ash remembered finding him starving near the lower tunnels weeks earlier.

The child had followed him everywhere ever since.

Ash tried smiling again despite the blood running from his mouth.

“You need to leave…”

But the little boy shook violently.

“No!”

The mountain shifted lower.

The tunnel screamed around them.

Another crack spread across the cursed gauntlets.

The older miner suddenly roared,

“TAKE THE CHILDREN AND GO!”

Finally—

the miners moved.

Several men grabbed the crying little boy while others carried the younger children toward the surface.

The tunnel collapsed harder behind them.

Ash remained alone beneath the mountain.

Blue energy completely consumed both gauntlets now.

The glowing veins reached his face.

The child’s breathing became shallow.

Slow.

Painful.

Then suddenly—

he heard footsteps approaching through the dust.

Ash looked up weakly.

And froze.

A tall figure emerged from the darkness beyond the collapsing tunnel.

Black cloak.

Silver armor.

Eyes glowing faintly gold beneath the hood.

The miners near the exit gasped instantly.

Because everyone recognized the symbol burned into the stranger’s armor.

Royal Execution Corps.

One of Ashkar’s elite hunters.

The man calmly walked toward the collapsing mountain while rocks crashed around him.

Ash stared weakly.

“Why… are you here…?”

The stranger stopped before him.

For several long seconds—

he simply watched the child holding up the mountain.

Then the man slowly removed his hood.

Several miners gasped in terror.

Commander Vael.

The king’s most feared executioner.

The man responsible for hunting cursed relics across the kingdom.

Vael’s cold golden eyes studied the glowing gauntlets carefully.

Then—

he smiled.

“I finally found them.”

Ash’s blood froze.

The commander stepped closer.

“You survived far longer than expected.”

The boy’s breathing became uneven.

“What…?”

Vael slowly crouched before him.

“The gauntlets chose you.”

Another violent tremor shook the tunnel.

But Vael remained perfectly calm.

“Do you know why these mines exist, child?”

Ash struggled to breathe beneath the crushing weight.

Vael continued quietly.

“The kingdom was never mining iron.”

His golden eyes slowly lifted toward the mountain overhead.

“We were searching for something buried beneath Ashkar.”

The commander leaned closer.

“And now… you’ve awakened it.”

Suddenly—

the entire mountain trembled.

Not from collapse.

Something else.

A deep sound echoed through the darkness below the mine.

Like an enormous heartbeat.

BOOOOM.

BOOOOM.

BOOOOM.

The miners near the exit froze in terror.

Dust began rising upward from the cracks in the tunnel floor.

The heartbeat grew louder.

Vael smiled wider.

“There it is.”

Ash’s eyes widened weakly.

Then suddenly—

the ground beneath the child exploded apart.

A gigantic glowing hand burst upward from beneath the mine.

The miners screamed.

The colossal stone hand was larger than houses.

Ancient runes burned across its surface with the same blue cursed energy flowing through Ash’s gauntlets.

Another gigantic hand burst upward beside it.

Then—

something enormous slowly began rising beneath the mountain itself.

The entire mine exploded apart.

BOOOOOOOOM.

The mountain above Ash suddenly stopped falling.

Not because he held it.

Because something underneath had lifted it.

Miners ran screaming toward the surface as the underground tunnels shattered completely apart.

Ash collapsed onto the broken stone floor.

The cursed gauntlets flickered weakly.

And before him—

a gigantic stone titan slowly rose from beneath the earth.

Its glowing blue eyes opened inside the darkness.

The creature was enormous.

Ancient.

Its body looked carved directly from the mountain itself.

And burned across its chest—

was the exact same rune glowing on Ash’s gauntlets.

The titan slowly looked down at the exhausted child lying before it.

Then—

to everyone’s horror—

the colossal creature knelt.

The mountain trembled beneath its movement.

Commander Vael smiled coldly.

“The last Guardian has awakened.”

The miners stared in disbelief.

Guardian?

Ash struggled weakly to lift his head.

The titan’s glowing eyes remained fixed on him.

Not hostile.

Protective.

Like it recognized him.

Then suddenly—

Ash remembered something.

A memory buried deep in his mind.

A woman’s voice.

Soft.

Warm.

“You must never remove the gauntlets, Ash.”

The child’s eyes widened.

He remembered fire.

Screaming.

A giant hand carrying him through collapsing darkness years ago.

And then—

those same glowing blue eyes watching over him.

The titan.

It had saved him before.

Commander Vael slowly drew his black execution blade.

The sound echoed sharply through the ruined mine.

“The king ordered every Guardian bloodline exterminated after the First War.”

His cold eyes locked onto Ash.

“But somehow… one survived.”

The miners slowly realized the truth.

Ash wasn’t just an orphan.

He was connected to the ancient Guardians.

The titan suddenly growled.

The sound shook the entire mountain.

Vael calmly raised his blade.

“Kill the child.”

Instantly—

dozens of hidden royal soldiers emerged from the collapsing tunnels above.

Crossbows aimed downward toward Ash.

The miners screamed.

The children cried in terror.

Ash could barely move.

The cursed gauntlets had nearly destroyed his body.

Vael’s expression remained emotionless.

“The kingdom cannot allow another Guardian to live.”

The titan stepped protectively before Ash.

But suddenly—

the glowing runes across the creature’s body flickered weakly.

Commander Vael smiled.

“It’s dying.”

Ash’s eyes widened.

The titan had spent centuries sleeping beneath the mountain.

Awakening had weakened it.

And the cursed gauntlets had drained the rest.

The gigantic Guardian slowly stumbled.

The soldiers prepared to fire.

Then—

the little boy Ash had saved earlier suddenly ran forward again.

Everyone froze.

The tiny child stood directly between Ash and the soldiers.

“No!”

His small body shook with fear.

“But you can’t kill him!”

Another rescued child stepped beside him.

Then another.

And another.

Soon—

every rescued child stood before Ash.

Terrified.

Shaking.

But refusing to move.

The miners stared silently.

One older miner slowly lowered his tool beside the children.

Then another miner stepped forward.

And another.

Until dozens of exhausted miners formed a wall around the kneeling child.

Commander Vael’s expression darkened.

“You would betray the crown?”

The older miner looked directly at him.

“That boy just held up a mountain to save our children.”

More miners stepped forward gripping broken pickaxes and mining hammers.

“He saved all of us.”

Vael slowly raised his blade.

Royal soldiers tightened their crossbows.

Tension flooded the ruined mine.

Then—

Ash weakly lifted his head.

The titan behind him suddenly glowed brighter.

Blue energy spread through the collapsing cavern.

The ancient Guardian looked down at the child one final time.

And smiled.

Not with its mouth.

With its eyes.

Then—

the gigantic titan slowly dissolved into blue light.

The miners gasped.

The glowing energy flowed directly into Ash’s broken gauntlets.

The runes reignited brighter than ever before.

The child’s wounds instantly stopped bleeding.

Commander Vael’s face changed for the first time.

Fear.

Because now—

the gauntlets no longer consumed Ash.

They obeyed him.

The barefoot child slowly stood.

Blue energy spiraled violently around his small body.

The collapsing mountain shook beneath his feet.

Royal soldiers stepped backward instinctively.

Ash lifted his glowing eyes toward Commander Vael.

And for the first time—

the terrified miners realized something.

The child who held up the mountain…

was no longer weak.

Vael suddenly shouted,

“FIRE!”

Hundreds of bolts exploded toward the child.

Then—

time itself seemed to stop.

Blue energy erupted outward from Ash’s gauntlets.

Every crossbow bolt froze midair.

The entire mine fell silent.

Even the soldiers stared in horror.

Ash slowly closed his glowing fist.

CRAAAAASH.

Every bolt shattered instantly.

Shockwaves exploded through the cavern.

Royal soldiers were thrown violently backward across the rocks.

Commander Vael’s eyes widened.

Impossible.

The barefoot child slowly stepped forward through the dust.

One glowing step at a time.

The miners watched silently.

Because now—

the mountain itself trembled beneath the child they once mocked as weak.

And deep beneath Ashkar—

ancient Guardians were beginning to awaken once more.