According to Blodelshein, the large entrance in front of Reginn, the size of a castle led to the World Beast. Now, he did not get much explanation about what kind of World Beast it was. All he knew was its name; Har-Meggido.
Reginn pushed the door open fully with ease, the mountainside quaking at eh sudden push. The ancient staircase led far down the surface, each wall lighted up with purple torches, burning eternally. Reginn always thought about creating his own nest like this someday. However, he always lived with the Goddess and the caretaker, so he never really had the need to do so. However, the caretaker was no more, so perhaps he should start thinking about where to create a nest to live in. Or perhaps they would find a caretaker worthy of serving him. Perhaps a maid hero.
Ignoring the foolish thought, Reginn prepared for battle. However, he did not pull out his weapon as he wanted to have some excitement in this encounter. Soon enough, the hero encountered one of his kin, behind a second door, just as large as the first. Reginn wondered when the last time this guy saw the sun was, as the door was extremely rusty and covered in webs. World Beasts, as magical creatures, could theoretically continue their existence without any procurements as long as sufficient amounts of mana could be consumed to turn into energy. While made of magic, magical creatures still needed energy in order to sustain themselves, whether that be from mana or food. Of course, natural creatures could not simply consume mana as their body is not built for it. Reginn sensed the air in the cave and as expected, it was filled with mana, almost to a poisonous degree. This beast was sure to be guarding an extremely powerful magical relic.
"Who dares set foot upon the mighty Har-Meggido's post?"
This particular World Beast resembled a massive turtle, its iron shells covered with spikes and its teeth resembling that of sharks. It also had a tail with a spiked club at the end, making for an explosive attack mixed with iron defence.
"It is I, Reginn, the World Beast of Humanity. I have come to plunder your treasure"
"Huh? A World Beast?..."
"...So are you going to stop me, or..."
"No- I mean yes, but it's the first time I ever met another World Beast"
"Are they really that rare these days?"
"I mean, when I was still roaming the Earth, I searched far and wide on the continent but I could not find a single one. Most of them were already defeated by warriors. I heard some rumours about World Beasts in Britomart and the far east, but I couldn't check myself"
"Hmm... I see thank you for the information"
"Anything for a kin"
"..."
"..."
"...So... I'm going to beat you up now alright?"
"Oh yeah. Sure... Sorry, it's been a while since I last had a visitor"
"I could tell"
"I could count the number of challengers on my hand - and I don't have hands!"
"Well, all World Beasts are blessed by a god, so they have a minimum combat capability. Let's see what you can do"
Reginn vs. Har-Meggido
Reginn stomped the ground and went for a strike, moving at the speed of lightning, the punch landed directly on the beasts's iron shell, leaving a small crack. The durability impressed Reginn as it was the best defence he had seen since his resurrection. He quickly followed up with an axe kick, creating small craters beneath the beat's feet. The shell cracked further open and Har-Meggido knew that he could no longer play defensively.
The beast quickly spun around, trying to fling the hero away. Reginn landed safely but was instantly met with a swing of the beast's tail. Without missing a beat, Reginn swung his fist, penetrating the mace that was the tip of his tail.
Har-Meggido growled in pain. He had never been this hurt before. This was worse than the time he encountered the giants while wandering.
"I've still got more tricks up my sleeve!"
The beast spew a poisonous cloud which befell the entire cavern in thick grey smoke. It was meant to block Reginn's vision, but he could still see clearly where Har-Meggido was based on the movement of the mana. Har-Meggido realized Reginn's capability and decided that he had to try everything. Surely there had to be one aspect he was vulnerable to.
A small spark formed within the beast's jaws, lighting up the gas and creating a loud and bright explosion of pure white. He then submerged the encasement with water using jet streams from his mouth, believing that he, both an underwater creature and a land animal, had the upper hand.
However, the sheer difference in strength made it difficult to even touch Reginn. While the increased speed and agility were indeed useful, it meant nothing if the opponent was not affected. Har-Meggido knew that this was not just a battle for the treasure he was guarding, but a battle for his life. If he was going to go down today, he'd at least show off all of his cool moves.
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Har-Meggido's final element, lightning, electrocuted the water, slightly damaging even himself. Seeing that no paralysis occurred, Har-Meggido concluded that the only way to fulfil his god-given objective was to destroy the cavern, caving in the area and making sure that no one would be able to reach the treasure through the entrance. Of course, it wasn't the perfect solution as without a guardian, the treasure may simply be excavated, but it was the last thing he could do.
Har-Meggido retracted his limbs within his shell and began rotating at high speeds, the momentum propelling him to all walls. The destruction began quickly, the cavern already rumbling to a slow collapse.
Realizing what the beast was trying to do, Reginn knew that he would need to finish the battle swiftly. It was admirable for one to offer up their own life for the mission given to them by their creator, but he still needed the treasure for his own mission. He summoned his weapon, A Glimpse of the Absolute, the cape capable of incredible feats. The weapon of the Goddess moved quickly through the air, keeping up with the accelerating Har-Meggido.
The cape then rammed into the World Beast, slamming it against the opposing. Amidst the disturbed dust rose Har-Meggido, ready to continue the battle. However, that was not part of Reginn's plan. He commended the weapon to lift the World Beast from beneath, the beast rising high into the sky. The weapon was balancing the beast as if holding a plate on top of a needle. The World Beast had never been this high up before due to his incredible mass, awakening a new fear within his heart.
"W-wait! We can talk about this!"
"Look, just be glad that I'm not finishing you off alright? I'm going to get the treasure now. You just stay still"
Reginn walked toward the large vault door behind Har-Meggido. It was reinforced with a myriad of protection and security spells, many of which he had never seen before. Of course, the field of magecraft was always evolving and new, better spells were constantly being invented, not that it mattered to Reginn.
The 2nd hero could dispel any mana using his body by utilizing his passive to be void of all mana. His body wasn't simply built to stop mana from entering, but to repel any mana from his body. Therefore, when he put his hand against the protection spells, the magic melted away like butter on a pan.
"Reginn, it's a surprise to see you here"
Reginn turned around to see and to his amazement, it was Elem, one of the fingers of the Goddess.
"Elem! Is that you?"
The average size man stood with modest but modern clothes, various giant vegetation and fungi slung around his shoulder. However, not a single particle of dirt could be found on him.
"Well, who else could it be?"
Reginn was quite close with the fingers, being fellow servants of the Goddess. He was especially close to Elem, who was in charge of safekeeping the life of Avalon, protecting endangered species as well as taking care of the World Beasts.
"What are you doing here?"
"I could say the same to you, Reginn"
"I'm here as part of Goddess's plan"
"...Well, I trust you. I'm not sure what she'd need this for though"
"Something wrong?"
"I'll explain"
With a wave of his hand, the spells immediately broke under Elem's command.
"I could've done that too you know"
"Yeah, yeah, I know"
Within the room awaited a golden egg with intricate designs etched on its sides for extra protection. The egg was held up by a tall pillar, the egg positioned above both of their heads.
"What is this?"
"It's a seal. Right now, it contains a heroic spirit"
"What is it doing here in this cave?"
"Well, the Goddess herself ordered me to lock this one up. This spirit is not one ripped from a physical body, it was always a spiritual being. It's not the type to possess others though, rather, it gives them incredible strength. The reason it's a heroic spirit is because it enabled the 22nd, 27th and 31st heroes to be heroes. It's a bit like talent personified"
"I still don't get why it's here if it can't even possess others. Without control of a physical body, what could it possibly do on its own?"
"That's the thing. I have no idea why it's here. All I is know that after the 31st hero's demise, it was sealed here to be forgotten forever"
"I see..."
Reginn took the egg off its stand and held it in his hands. It weighed heavy as if it was made of pure gold. Suddenly, he struck the object with his knee and unable to crunch under the pressure in time, the gold shattered, white vapour pouring out.
"What?! Why would you do that?!"
"Look, it's all part of Goddess's plan. If she intended to leave it here to rot forever, she would've just destroyed the spirit instead. The fact that it's waiting for me here, it means that she wants me to free it"
"...I suppose that makes a bit of sense. But aren't you worried about what the spirit might do? One thing I know for sure was that the imprisonment of this spirit wasn't just to protect Avangarden, it was to punish it. I know for sure that something happened to the 31st that should not have happened"
"If it comes to shove, I can take care of it. But I disagree with you there. If this spirit was indeed three different heroes, I can't help but trust it, because if you are a hero, you're a hero forever"
"I'm not going to argue with you..." said Elem "Well, I have to get going"
"Wait!" said Reginn "Before you go, I have a question for you"
"Anything for you"
"Do you know if the Goddess was involved with the resurrection of the heroes?"
"...Involved? Maybe. But I know for sure the Goddess is not the one who resurrected the heroes and the demon lords"
"Huh... I was sure you might've known something"
"If you get a chance to, you might want to visit the other fingers of the Goddess. They definitely know more than me, I'm just a gardener!"
"Well it was great seeing you"
"I have a feeling we might see each other very soon. See you then"
Elem disintegrated into the dirt, which quickly collapsed into the ground. The soil soon disappeared as it dissolved into mana.
"What a strange way to leave..."
"Umm... Could you let me down?" asked Har-Meggidos
"Yeah, I've got something to say to you too"
"...Look I get it. I'm not even sure if I'm a World Beast anymore after that loss"
"Did you ever train?"
"What?"
"I said, did you ever train?"
"What is that?"
"You don't know what training is? Really? No wonder you're so weak. If you rely on your natural born strength for everything, you won't ever get stronger"
"...Well, how do I train"
"Damn, you really are a disgrace to the World Beasts of Avangarden. I'll help you train so you don't tarnish the name of the Goddess again"
And so, Reginn spent the rest of his day training Har-Meggido to become a proper World Beast befitting the land of Avangarden, quickly forgetting about the spirit and its whereabouts. Soon enough, the spirit was heading towards Cadra, the capital city.