“Hey, long time no see! How have you been?”
*RUFF!*
“Ugh!”
Joonbum fell back as a giant head lunged at him. It was Galfus, covered with gray and brown fur.
“Hahaha!”
Joonbum laughed. It had been ten years since he last came to this land. He was now much older and had become the emperor of an empire. He now had more dignity and presence, but at this moment, he was back to the days when he first arrived.
“How was it? I heard you had many babies!” Joonbum asked as he hugged the Galfus’ giant head. She was the first and most valuable friend he had in this strange, unfriendly world. Galfus let out a squeal, obviously also happy to see Joonbum.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I missed you too.”
Everyone was shocked to see Galfus greeting Joonbum so excitedly.
“Wow, so it was real.”
“It sure is.”
“Look at that… even us Ainos aren’t allowed that close.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen her do that.”
“I heard the emperor saved her when the Guardians were wiped out.”
“I see.”
The Ainos chattered with each other as they watched on in awe. Guardians had the intelligence equivalent to ten-year-old children. There was no way such highly intelligent beings would forget what had happened in the past.
As it became noisy, giant-bodied male Guardians began walking up to Galfus and glared at Joonbum. Some even growled, showing hostility toward Joonbum. However, at that moment, Galfus suddenly growled at the males which made them retreat with their tails tucked in. It was obvious that the males were afraid of Galfus.
‘Wow, so she’s a queen now, eh?’
She was the sole queen of the Khalodian Mountain Range. She was also the largest of all the Guardians in the mountain range. Joonbum smiled at the sight of Galfus growling at the males.
“It’s okay, they just don’t know me.”
Joonbum smiled and ruffled Galfus’ fur. The males quietly retreated and the Ainos also kept a respectful distance in the back.
“Well, take your time, Your Majesty.”
“Haha, right. She won’t let me go.”
Joonbum chuckled as Galfus did not seem to want to get off him.
“Haha, we’ll go get some rest,” Doral answered and led the other Ainos away. Joonbum turned back to Galfus. She was now about twenty feet long.
‘She’s grown really big. Is it because she’s fed well?’
As the Guardians worked closely together with the Ainos, they had become more powerful than any of the monsters in the mountain range after the Great Disaster.
The most prevalent monsters in the mountains used to be the Kawiqunins. They were usually fifteen feet tall and used wooden clubs as weapons. They were highly intelligent and lived in families, which made them dangerous foes. But that was in the past. Galfus was now the queen of the mountain range. If Galfus climbed to higher ground and howled, hundreds of Guardians would gather under her at once. There was no one that could stop her and her pack.
Joonbum lay next to Galfus and rested his body against her. He instantly felt relaxed and felt like he was going to fall asleep. It had been ten years since his body did not require any sleep. However, he felt good that his body was relaxing enough to close his eyes. Soon he was asleep.
Doral smiled from afar.
“He has never slept for a long time. Look at him sleep now!”
“Really? Oh, I’m Jonua from the Herondia tribe. May the Guardians watch over you.”
The man nodded and Doral also nodded in return.
“I’m Doral. May the Guardians watch over you.”
Jonua then went back to his original question, “But is it really true? I heard a rumor that the Emperor never sleeps.”
Doral nodded.
“Yes, he closes his eyes and rests sometimes, but he never falls asleep.”
“That’s interesting.”
“He was normal before he came. I think something in his body changed after he came through the Gate.”
“Is it the same for everyone?”
Doral shook his head.
“No, it does change you in some ways, but I think the effect differs. His mother, Sunsook became much younger. As for Commander Jinpok, he had come from the same timeframe but was sent back much further into the past. However, his body became really powerful.”
“How powerful is he?”
It seemed Jonua wasn’t too convinced.
“He can rip apart a Kerox with his two hands, he is that strong. It’s not a normal human’s strength.”
“Hmmm.”
Keroxes were vicious beasts. To kill them with his bare hands wasn’t something that was possible for most people.
“Humans call him the ‘Storm of the Battleground’. Oh, and he rides on an Austad instead of a horse.”
“Austad? Is that the dinosaur with a big head? Isn’t it hard to ride?”
“Yes. It’s the one that bashes enemies with its head. But I think Jinpok likes it that way. When he’s on the Austad, all they do is charge and charge.”
“I see.”
Doral then asked the real question at hand.
“So, how is the Gate?”
“We set up a perimeter of a thousand feet radius. Nothing has come out from it yet.”
Doral nodded. The area where Gate was going to open had been sectioned off. There were trenches dug twenty feet deep, twenty feet away from where the Gate had opened in the past. Then, at about three hundred feet away, there was a wooden fence that was over sixty feet tall.
“You should rest easy for now. We will be notified when something happens.”
Doral nodded and turned to return to his family.
