The Golem Mage

718: Inter Academy Arc Ending 2.

718: Inter Academy Arc Ending 2.

Azgoth’s gaze forced Alec to look at the ground, too intimidated to meet his eyes, from Alec’s trembling shoulders, Azgoth could tell that no one was helping him mitigate the pressure of his aura.

But despite this, Alec’s determination revealed a hidden defiance behind his words.

“No problem then,” Azgoth said with a hint of boredom.

“I’ve grown tired of fighting the same old fogey over and over, I would appreciate it if you came to fight me when you reach the high ranks, don’t worry, I’ll restrain my realm to make it fair, now, I bid you farewell.” With that, Azgoth began to ascend into the air.

“Where do you think you’re going?

You’re going to die here!” the Dragonmir patriarch declared, advancing forward and leaving an afterimage in his wake, as he appeared before Azgoth and thrust his hand forward, a slight smile crept onto Azgoth’s face.

“I already told you, you can’t keep me here, I just don’t understand why you must act so stubborn” Azgoth replied just as the Dragonmir patriarch’s hand pierced through his chest.

Bang!

A loud explosion rang out, as if space itself were shattering, revealing a black hole behind Azgoth’s back, showing the extent of damage the Dragonmir’s patriarch move had caused, but the body before the patriarch flickered and then vanished, shocking the three patriarch around.

They quickly looked up, only to see Azgoth exiting through a space gate, realizing that what the Dragonmir patriarch had attacked was merely an afterimage.

It made them contemplate how incredibly fast Azgoth must be for the patriarch not to notice he was targeting an illusion.

“He has stepped into the low Monarch realm,” the Dragonmir patriarch said, while the other two beside him gasped in astonishment, silently thanking their stars that Azgoth did not seem to have any intentions whatsoever to attack; as they doubted any of them could truly oppose him.

Alec watched in confusion, unable to comprehend what was happening, that was when his entire team converged around him as a center point, joined by the Dean, Selene, and Instructor Jasper, who was the only one left standing, having survived while his colleague perished in battle.

Despite the casualty incurred, the War God Mage Academy remained one of the few factions to sustain fewer losses compared to others.

Many Mid-Tier mages had lost their lives in the battle against the Demonkin, never to see another day, tragically, most of them had come only to witness the final clash of the inter-academy competition, and none of them had expected to be thrust into a life-and-death struggle right after watching the tournament’s last battle.

With Azgoth gone, an uneasy silence settled over the Grand Royal Arena, for the patriarchs, the weight of their failure was palpable.

They had lost face before thousands of spectators, unable to subdue Azgoth even though he had been alone and there were three of them.

Worse still, Azgoth had left behind a staggering toll of hundreds of Mid Tier mages slain, considering that most of those who fell were residents of the capital, the kingdom’s military strength had been significantly weakened.

“Your Majesty,” the Dragonmir clan patriarch began, turning to the King of the Northern Kingdom.

With a polite bow, he continued,

“I must take my leave to support my clan in defending the kingdom against the Second Race invaders.”

Without waiting for the king’s response, the Dragonmir patriarch took to the air, signalling his clansmen to follow as they all headed toward the southern gates.

The king clenched his jaw in frustration, his teeth grinding audibly as he watched the patriarch leave without so much as acknowledging his authority or waiting for his command on the matters on hand.

The Dragonmir patriarch had never been a loyal supporter of the king during his ascent to the throne, he had chosen to stay a neutral party like the other ancient clans, and this made the king displeased with the ancient clans patriarchs, however, given the patriarchs strength and influence, the king had no choice but to maintain a semblance of peaceful coexistence.

But now, it was clear that the Dragonmir’s patriarch had grown wary of the king’s intentions, especially regarding the summons for all patriarchs to be present.

He had long resented being treated as a mere guard for the royal clan during the blood moon battles, with Azgoth’s appearance and the chaos that followed, he seized the opportunity to break away, hurrying to go support his clan members defending the southern gates.

Seeing the Dragonmir patriarch’s bold departure, the Blaze Clan patriarch quickly followed suit, taking advantage of the moment to ask for a leave as well.

“Your Majesty, I too would like to check on my clansmen,” said the Blaze Clan patriarch before swiftly taking his leave, as he moved, Alec couldn’t help but watch him intently.

The image of an elderly man brimming with vitality beyond his years lingered in Alec’s mind, the patriarch glanced back at Alec briefly before disappearing into the distance.

Alec’s firm rejection of his father during the confrontation with Azgoth had sent a loud and clear message to some of the Blaze Clansmen that felt he could still be brought back, he just showed them that any hope of reconciliation or goodwill from him was futile.

The hatred Alec harboured when associated with his father was so palpable that even Azgoth, a detached observer, had picked up on it.

Following the actions of the Blaze and Dragonmir patriarchs, the remaining two ancient clans wasted no time in requesting leave.

As they, too, vanished into the skies, heading toward the space gates their clans were tasked with protecting.

The King of the Northern Kingdom clenched his teeth in frustration at the way events had unfolded, while the ancient clans had shown blatant disregard for his authority, the other High-Tier clan patriarchs present dared not display such confidence.

They waited silently, looking to the king for the next course of action.

“Let’s proceed with crowning the inter-academy champions and distributing their rewards so we can move past this disastrous event,” the king announced, his voice laced with weariness as he settled back into his chair.

Though the actions of the ancient clans had been disrespectful, but sill yet the king was unbothered, as none of his royal army had been lost, and that was a victory in itself.

In fact, he would be more than happy if the ancient clans’ strength diminished before their patriarchs came to their rescue.

He didn’t want them growing too powerful, as it would upset the delicate balance of power the Royal family were trying so hard to maintain.

However, he also didn’t want them to deteriorate into mediocrity, because as long as they remained strong enough they would continue to defend against the Blood Moon waves for the Royal clans and keep each other in check, which would cause the royal family’s position to remain secure, for the king, that balance was all that mattered.