The mountain collapsed.
Not gradually.
Not slowly.
One moment the ancient cavern still stood around them—
and the next, the entire ceiling shattered apart in a deafening explosion of stone and dust.
"MOVE!" Tamagichi roared.
The group sprinted through the ruins immediately as massive chunks of rock crashed down behind them. Entire pathways disappeared beneath collapsing debris while violent tremors tore through the underground city from every direction.
Hiroto could barely keep his footing.
The wound across his chest burned with every movement, and the strain from wielding the awakened blade was beginning to tear through his body. Yet adrenaline forced him forward as another explosion echoed behind them.
The guardian remained within the collapsing ruins.
Watching.
Its massive golden eyes followed Hiroto silently through the destruction.
Then another section of the mountain caved inward between them.
The creature vanished behind falling stone.
Akari leapt across a widening crack in the floor before turning sharply. "Hiroto!"
He jumped just as the ground beneath him collapsed into darkness.
For a split second, his balance failed—
then someone grabbed his arm violently.
Kenzaku.
"Don't die here," he growled before pulling Hiroto upward.
The moment Hiroto regained footing, another tremor nearly threw them all sideways again.
"This whole place is breaking apart!" Yui shouted.
"No kidding!" Akari snapped back.
Dust filled the air so heavily now that breathing became difficult. Ancient structures collapsed around them one after another as they raced through the dying ruins beneath the mountain.
Ahead of them, Goro smashed through a half-fallen stone barrier blocking the exit tunnel.
"Hurry!"
The path beyond was barely stable.
Cracks spread endlessly along the walls while streams of debris poured from above. Every few seconds, another section of the tunnel collapsed somewhere behind them.
Hiroto pushed himself harder despite the pain tearing through his body.
But his mind still replayed the guardian's final words.
Save the world…
or destroy it.
The thought alone felt unbearable.
He still didn't fully understand the blade.
Didn't understand the gate.
Didn't understand the true scale of the shadows waiting beyond it.
Yet somehow—
that burden had already begun falling onto him.
A violent shockwave suddenly erupted behind the group.
Everyone looked back instinctively.
The guardian had moved.
Even within the collapsing mountain, its colossal form was visible for a brief moment through the destruction, chains dragging behind it as it forced its way upward through the ruins.
Not chasing them.
Leaving.
Its freedom had become real.
Tamagichi's expression darkened immediately.
"That's bad."
Akari stared at him in disbelief. "BAD?! You think?!"
"No," he answered quietly.
"You don't understand."
The seriousness in his voice silenced everyone.
"If that guardian fully enters the outside world before recovering its strength…"
A pause followed.
"…entire nations will move against it."
Kenzaku frowned sharply. "Wouldn't that be justified?"
"Against something like that?" Goro muttered grimly. "No army would survive."
The truth behind those words hung heavily in the air.
Then suddenly—
the tunnel ahead exploded inward.
Everyone skidded to a halt.
A massive slab of stone crashed directly into their path, sealing the exit completely.
Yui's face paled. "You've got to be kidding me—"
Another tremor interrupted her.
The tunnel walls were beginning to collapse entirely now.
"We don't have time," Kenzaku growled.
Tamagichi stepped forward immediately.
"Move back."
The pressure around him shifted.
For the first time since Hiroto met him, Tamagichi fully released his aura without restraint.
The air itself became heavy.
Ancient symbols faintly appeared across his arm as energy surged violently around him.
Hiroto's eyes widened.
"What…?"
Even Akari looked stunned.
"You've been hiding THAT this whole time?!"
Tamagichi ignored them completely.
His hand slowly rose toward the collapsed tunnel.
Then—
he struck forward.
The impact detonated through the mountain.
The entire blockage exploded apart instantly as a massive shockwave tore through the tunnel ahead, carving a path directly toward the outside world.
Everyone froze for half a second.
Even Goro looked impressed.
"…Still absurdly strong."
Tamagichi lowered his arm calmly. "Move."
Nobody argued after that.
The group sprinted through the shattered passage while the mountain continued collapsing behind them.
Then—
they finally saw light.
Moonlight poured through the broken exit ahead as cold night air rushed into the tunnel.
Yui nearly cried in relief.
"We're alive…"
"Not yet," Tamagichi warned sharply.
The moment they emerged from the mountain—
a monstrous roar echoed behind them.
The ground shook violently.
Trees bent from the pressure alone.
And from deep within the collapsing mountain—
two massive golden eyes opened in the darkness.
The guardian had reached the surface.
Far below them, hidden within smoke and falling debris, its colossal silhouette slowly rose beneath the moonlight.
Free at last.
Hiroto stared silently at the scene.
Then, beside him, Tamagichi quietly spoke.
Almost to himself.
"The world is about to change."
End of Volume 4: The Tamagichi Arc