The Golem Mage

The Bat beast soul was dragged out, its hue shifting between black and red, it thrashed in resistance, but like the others before it, the struggle was futile, as the pull from Alec’s mouth consumed it whole, and he devoured the soul.

The instant Alec swallowed the soul of the Lesser Sangurion, his eyes shut, and his head snapped back as the raw energy derived from the soul surged violently through him, even with clenched lips, a low groan slipped out.

The infernal blaze mantle, which usually clung simply to cover his body in the beast forest, faltered under the interference of the energy that was being consumed by his body.

Causing his upper garments to dissolve into nothing, leaving him bare-chested as streaks of red and black soul energies pulsed visibly through his veins, the energy concentrated heavily on his back.

And on his left hand dense black fog coiled around, staining the skin there in darkness, at his lower back, the tattoo of the Golden-Horned Drake seems to be in an awakened state, its form curled like a sleeping lesser dragon.

Its golden scales gleamed brilliantly, reflecting the sunlight of the amulet world that shone it, while its spiked tail wrapped protectively around its body just above his waist.

The surging energy continued to gather where the Shadow Wolf had once resided, across the upper half of Alec’s back.

Slowly, an image began to manifest, stretching toward his shoulders, though incomplete, however even Legion who was levitating in the air could already discern its shape, it was forming into a wing.

But just as Legion and the other two golems were observing their master’s transformation, something unforeseen jolted fear into them.

Alec was still in a deep state of comprehension when five Lesser Sangurion demonic beasts emerged, surrounding them from every direction, drawn by the earlier gunshot, the creatures had finally tracked the intruder to their domain.

The moment they saw the shrivelled corpse of one of their kin, the Lesser Sangurions burned with rage, they longed to tear Alec and his golems apart, to feast on Alec’s blood until nothing remained.

Yet that wasn’t what made Legion’s core tremble, it was the appearance of a sixth bat.

Unlike the others, this one’s wingspan was far greater, its presence far more oppressive, when it landed, its body began to twist violently, in less than two seconds, the monstrous form vanished, replaced by a pale, dark-haired man whose aura carried an ancient weight despite his youthful appearance.

This humanoid transformation was unlike anything Legion had ever witnessed, it was near perfect—streamlined, natural, and unsettlingly human, only faint Beastial traits betrayed its true nature, subtle enough that, should it enter the human realm, infiltrating would be effortless.

Unlike the crude transformations of other demonic beasts that were riddled with grotesque mutations like multiple eyes or protruding fangs, this being’s human form radiated elegance and menace in equal measure.

“Well, well... what do we have here?” the Sangurion in humanoid form rasped, his voice low and coarse.

A cloak of brown beast-fur draped his frame as his smirk deepened, his gaze swept over Legion, Hive Queen, and Oni with a predator’s curiosity. But when his eyes fell on Alec, his expression froze in shock.

––

Meanwhile, Alec remained lost within his microcosmic universe, oblivious to the threat outside, he was immersed in watching the reconstruction of the Sangurion’s body, as each fragment knitted together with terrifying speed.

The flow of energy fuelling the process was far beyond what he anticipated, accelerating its restoration, even so, the pace granted him enough time to turn his attention toward the Shadow Wolf at his side, who was undergoing his own evolution toward the higher ranks in a black cocoon.

It was going to be Alec’s first high-rank demonic beast soul, and even though he had already read the description and knew Midnight would become a hybrid, he couldn’t contain his excitement.

The thought alone made his heart race, since everything seemed to be progressing smoothly, he decided to glance over some of his earlier system notifications.

[ Ding! Congratulations on finally breaching the limit of your Bloodline at the Low Rank. ]

[ New Skill Awakened: Mutation ]

[ New Skill Awakened: Partial Transformation ]

Seeing this confirmed Alec’s suspicion that by completing the required number of beast souls at the low rank, he wouldn’t just unlock new skills and something much bigger awaited him.

He couldn’t wait to test them out, but just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly felt his consciousness being wrenched away from his microcosmic space.

This wasn’t the natural withdrawal he was used to.

No—something was forcefully dragging him back, in the next instant, his awareness snapped into his body.

––

When Alec’s eyes opened, shock gripped him, his neck was bound tightly by the grasp of a strange man with glowing red eyes, in that instant, Alec’s sharp gaze took in every detail, feathers draped over the figure like a robe, faint Beastial traits that mirrored the Sangurions behind him, and the suffocating aura that erased any doubt, this was the humanoid form of a Sangurion demonic beast.

“You finally decided to join the party,” the creature rasped, its tone dripping with mockery.

“I was beginning to pity your magical constructs, they tried so hard to save you, only for their master to be a dead weight, that was what I thought, however it seems I was wrong—you did wake up after all.”

His smirk widened, eyes narrowing as he studied Alec.

“I know for certain you killed one of my kin, what I can’t understand yet is why you now carry the same aura we do, stranger still, you bear the aura of other beasts as well, and one I cannot even recognize, how many secrets do you hide, little human? I want to tear them open. After all, it has been a long time since one of your kind dared to step foot here. Let’s see what makes you so special.”

The humanoid Sangurion kept talking without sparing Alec much thought, after hearing its words, Alec turned his gaze toward Legion and Oni, both within his line of sight.

They were destroyed beyond recognition, the sight alone made it clear that the demonic beast before him was on a level far beyond anything he could handle if it could dismantle his golems so completely.

He couldn’t even tell where the Hive Queen had been thrown, his first instinct was to check the status of the humanoid beast.

[ Status Tab ]

Name: Lesser Sangurion

Type: Beast

Realm: Tier 8 (Mid)

Affinity: Blood (High), Sound (Peak)

Special Abilities: Regeneration (High), Stun (Peak)

Current Form: Crimson Thrall (Humanoid)

The moment Alec saw the beast’s details, he didn’t hesitate, he raised his right hand, now engulfed in black flames, and drove it straight into his own chest, choosing death over waiting to see what a Tier 8 Sangurion planned for him.

As his vision dimmed into darkness, he caught the flicker of shock on the Sangurion’s face.

Clearly, it hadn’t expected this.

To it, humans were creatures who clung desperately to life, they who would beg or crawl rather than choosing such an end, yet Alec had killed himself without hesitation, leaving it baffled.

Only Alec understood his choice, though he would not truly die, as his consciousness would awaken back in his body within the Earth Realm, still the pain of tearing his own life away was still excruciating.