The Golem Mage

He knew very well that the moment one Tier 8 mage escaped, it would trigger a chain reaction, and many of the Tier 7 mages would follow suit and abandon the battlefield, the situation was already bleak for his side, and if that collapse began, he had no doubt that everything would fall apart completely.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” the City Lord shouted as he drew his blade, however before he could advance any further, the Gordons Patriarch was already before him, twisting and turning in midair while swinging both his katana and his wakizashi, in skillful motions.

Around the Patriarch, small stone pebbles floated in the air, each coated in a transparent, bubble-like layer of Qi. At intervals, they shot forward like bullets, despite being nothing more than tiny stones, they carried terrifying power, after being amplified by George’s Qi.

One of those pebbles had already struck him earlier, knocking him unconscious and giving the Patriarch the opening to cast a spell that nearly ended the fight.

Because of that, the City Lord now had to divide his attention, not only did he have to focus on the Patriarch’s blades, but he also had to keep his eyes on the pebbles, constantly deflecting and blocking them.

As he felt he couldn’t afford to let even one more hit him again, as he realised that even his scales couldn’t fully protect him from their impact, they seemed to have a power to bypass normal defense and inflict internal pains.

Seeing the City Lord completely locked in battle and unable to come for him, the Tier 8 mage from the Dark Guild sneered and replied,

“You want me to leave my life here for your sake? Dream on, when I return to safety, we can talk properly. You don’t even need to pay me the other half of my fee again. In fact, I’ll even return the initial payment.”

Of course, he had no intention of doing that, those were just empty words to justify abandoning the contract, he knew very well that the moment he left, the City Lord was as good as dead, with no remaining support.

Hearing those words, the City Lord’s anger flared, and it caused his focus to waver for just a split second, and that was all the Gordons Patriarch had been waiting for.

As three pebbles shot out at once, tearing through the air and heading straight for him, one struck his right hand which was holding the sword but he refused to let go, the second slammed straight into his neck, stealing his breath for a few seconds.

The third smashed into his knee, forcing his body to tilt forward toward the Gordons Patriarch, and that was all it took, a perfectly arranged plan.

As he lost balance and began to fall, the Patriarch swung his blade, aiming to decapitate him mid-drop.

_ _ _

On the Tier 8 mage’s side, he felt he had successfully obstructed the opponents meant to face him. Relaxed, he prepared to escape. Unfortunately for him, he had used the wrong method against the wrong enemies.

Both Midnight and Oni were shadow-affinity soul beast and golem, in their own rights being placed in a shadow type of jail was ineffective.

And from within the dark curtain, shadow chains shot out toward the hired Tier 8 mage. Instantly, he thrust both palms forward, and ancient, Chinese-like symbols burst into the air, forming barriers that blocked the chains.

But behind him, a shadow portal opened, as Midnight emerged from it, his jaws snapping shut.

Only at that last moment did the mage sense the danger, which caused him to fail to react in time as a massive chunk of his right shoulder was bitten into as Midnight fangs sinked in, just a few inches away from dragging the whole part out .

In panic, the Tier 8 mage tried to pierce Midnight through the brow, but Midnight activated his Light Phase ability, and before the strike could land, Midnight released his bite and shifted into an intangible state.

The mage’s hand passed straight through his body, grasping nothing, though the mage wanted to observe how long Midnight could maintain that state so he could have his revenge, but he had no time to waste.

Because Oni was already approaching, dragging his long reaper scythe behind him.

_ _ _

At the same time, Titan and Legion struck.

A sharp bang echoed from behind as a bullet drilled straight into the Dragonmir elder’s head. Almost simultaneously, Titan’s fist arrived from the front, ice spikes erupting from his knuckles and piercing straight through the mage’s skull.

No matter how much faith the Dragonmir elder had in his scaled cranium, it was meaningless, as he was killed in a single exchange.

Legion calmly twisted his firearm with one finger, holstered it back into the space at his side, and didn’t even bother to look again.

Meanwhile, Titan withdrew his hand as the mage’s body began to fall, the two golems glanced at each other, both clearly unhappy and unsatisfied at their target.

Bang!

The corpse crashed into the midst of the City Lord’s army, crushing several mages and leaving others gruesomely injured, the weight of a transformed Dragonmir falling from such a height was more than enough to kill anyone unfortunate enough to be beneath it.

Those who failed to notice in time had no chance to move.

Yet, in a twisted way, the mid rank mages surviving, still couldn’t be called a “fortunate” event, because after surviving that brutal impact, they were immediately pierced through by the blades of the Gordons’ mages and Alec’s golems that had been waiting for their chance to strike.

_ _

Back in the skies, with their opponent dead and without having even tested the full extent of their strength, Titan and Legion turned their attention elsewhere, they were already searching for their next opponent, someone who could finally push them to their limits.

Then their eyes found the City Lord.

Somehow, he had managed to tense his neck and shift at the last instant of the blade cutting in, preventing the Gordons Patriarch’s blade from cutting deeper, as he slapped his palm against the sword, forcing the Patriarch back a step, buying himself just enough time to breathe and reposition.

If he hadn’t done that, he would already be dead, the only reason he was still alive was because his bonded bloodline was that of a plant-type dragon with exceptional regenerative abilities.

Even with the deep gash across his neck, he had managed to hold on and avoid entering a truly critical state, not that his condition wasn’t dire.

But with him rapidly draining his dragon’s power, a faint green glow had already spread across his neck as the healing effect struggled to keep up, and put him out of a critical state.

“Don’t you know it’s a crime to kill the City Lord of a city?” he said, fear now evident in his voice.

“I can’t believe you would dare try to kill me, do you want the wrath of the Capital Army to descend upon your entire clan?” By now, even the City Lord understood it.

This battle... had already been lost, so he was trying to use fear to survive.

“So what if you’re a City Lord, protected by the kingdom law?” George Gordons said coldly. “The person I decide to kill will still be killed by me.”

“What were you expecting when you came all the way here?” he continued, his voice rising with fury.

“That we would bow our heads and bare our necks for you? That you would slaughter us without resistance? Spare me that nonsense. Today, I will use your blood to wash away the pain of all my clansmen your army has sent to the afterlife.”

For the first time, his face fully revealed the rage he had been suppressing all along, the City Lord’s expression darkened.

“It seems you have already made your choice, then I can only fight you with everything I have.”

[> Open Domain High-Rank Spell – Worldroot Descent