The Golem Mage

Despite knowing exactly what the Ember Citadel Team was trying to do, Shinsei Academy was still finding it hard to contain them.

This was due to certain conditions where they had put themselves on the line for their captain, believing that only with him in the battle would they have a higher chance of winning.

Unfortunately, this had left two of their teammates in a bad position, one was Shun as his Black Iron War Spirit shield had been canceled, and for a spirit mage, during the time when their connection with their spirits broke, they were left vulnerable.

This was because it would take a short while before they would be able to merge again with their Bounded Spirit, almost like some type of cooldown skill, as for Suijin, he was still in a much better situation, as he was able to curb the backlash from having his barriers broken the way they did.

Now, he was going around, trying his best to evade the strikes from the flaming lion and the flaming woodpecker, and honestly, he wasn’t doing that great of a job.

The woodpecker’s each strike seemed like an expert swordmaster-piercing skill.

Even when he retreated, trying to keep a safe distance between them, it could send the pierce like a sword light, only this time, it had a flaming aura coating it.

And that was just the trouble from the flaming woodpecker, the flaming lion was the most troublesome; it had used its claws to tear into his skin at intervals, the funny thing was that it didn’t even attack that much, it just frolicked around while the woodpecker bird attacked.

That way, it was able to not only draw Suijin’s attention by making him lose concentration, but it was also able to take advantage of any slip-up when it showed up.

While Asha was controlling and coordinating her flame spirit beasts, Kwame, Olamide, and Obi confronted Yurei and Kagekiri.

Though the Shinsei team members were good at such team battles, but against three members who seemed to have great synergy, they lost ground and were swiftly thrown out of the battle ring.

It wasn’t long before even Suijin could no longer hold on, as a well perfectly timed, massive paw strike slammed into his back and hurled him clean out of the battle ring.

With his elimination, only Ren and Shun remained.

At that exact moment, Ren finally completed the spirit summoning he had been trying to get settled since, as Akagami materialized in a swirl of crimson light and merged with him instantly.

Beside him, Shun’s cooldown had ended, he called forth his spirit once more, but this time he didn’t summon the defensive Black Iron War Spirit shield, instead, a heavy obsidian spear formed in his grip, as he showed that he was ready to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with his captain.

The Ember Citadel team took one look at them and burst into laughter.

Even though Ren had successfully brought out his high-rank spirit, it had cost him the elimination of three teammates, and the lone ally still standing beside him clearly wouldn’t be enough to stop what was coming.

Babatunde was the first to move.

He exploded forward, his body igniting in roaring flames which burnt his clothes and exposed his flaming totem tattoos, while his aura surged violently, teetering on the edge of breaking into the low Tier 7 realm.

In that instant he truly looked like the living incarnation of fire itself, as his blazing sword slashed down toward Ren.

Ren, who was now clad in ancient, battle-worn Japanese armor that seems to have been conjured from pure Qi, answered with his own blade, the weapon shimmered, with Qi shaping it into a long, gleaming katana.

Clang!

One precise strike from him deflected Babatunde’s sword and sent his hand away, Ren then twisted his wrist, driving the katana forward, as the tip sank deep into the muscle just inches below Babatunde’s shoulder.

With a vicious upward slash, he ripped the blade free from Babatunde’s flesh, as blood went out spraying across the ring, before Babatunde could recover, Ren spun smoothly and delivered a lightning-fast one-two kick straight into his chest, blasting him backward.

Babatunde dropped to one knee when he finally got rid of the kicks momentum, pain flashing across his face, yet when he lifted his head, that same arrogant smile was still plastered on his lips.

Only then did Ren realize the truth.

He was completely surrounded, but he didn’t show any fear.

He simply tilted his katana through the air, flinging the blood from its blade in a crimson arc, then slowly sheathed it back into its scabbard, before spreading his legs wide, as he dropped into a balanced stance.

“You might not think too much of me, since a single peak Tier 6 mage would never amount to a Tier 7 mage, after all, the high rank is another stage entirely, but what about when you add four more peak Tier 6 mages into the fray?” Babatunde said as he stood back up.

The gash on his shoulder ignited with flames, sealing the wound shut, not truly healed, but forcefully cauterized, and despite all that he kept his smile not even groaning with all the pain he was feeling.

“Go!” With a sharp forward thrust of his hand, the other four charged toward Hoshino Ren; at that moment, the crowd finally witnessed Hoshino in his full glory.

Even against four peak Tier 6 mages, he held his ground, he took cuts here and there, but for every minor wound he suffered, he made sure the Ember Citadel mages traded it for a far more critical hit in return, they were trying their best to hurt him since despite his attack and moves having Tier 7 prowess he still had a Tier 6 body.

Even Kwame endured a slash so deep it nearly severed his right arm at the shoulder, but before Ren could finish the cut, Olamide thrust his short sword forward from the side, forcing Ren to abandon the attack and dodge out of the way.

In the midst of evading that strike it freed up space, as Dakarai Obi lunged in and slammed his fist into Ren’s face, the punch’s power was amplified by the gauntlet he wore.

A sharp explosion rang out, however, not from Ren’s face, but from Obi’s gauntlet itself, as the force from the gauntlet rippled through the air.

Obi pressed the assault, dashing forward with a rapid one-two: a straight jab to the nose followed by a cross just a the lower jaw, the barrage kept Hoshino Ren on the defensive, unable to mount a proper counter.

But after about ten flurry blows, Ren finally seized his momentum back, as he blocked the next punch with his blade which he switched to his left hand inversely and retaliated with a palm strike from his right hand to Obi’s chest, shoving him back a step.

Then, in a blur, he unleashed two swift slashes in opposing directions, carving an X-shaped gash across Obi’s entire chest after switching the katana to his right hand.

Blood welled up in its wake.

However; Ren didn’t even wait, as he dashed past the staggering Obi, who spurted blood from his mouth, he continued swinging his blade toward Asha’s spirit lion, this brutal exchange raged on for over Five minutes.

Despite their mounting injuries, the Ember Citadel team pressed relentlessly. In the end, a still mostly unscathed Babatunde awaited an exhausted Ren, who now had precious little mana left to sustain his merge with Akagami after defeating all four mages.

And that was when the real pounding began. Babatunde discarded his greatsword entirely, opting instead to pummel Ren with his bare fists, hoping to beat the living daylights out of him.

His strategy mirrored that of his teammates: trade injury for injury. Fortunately for Babatunde, Ren was already gravely wounded from taking down the other four, so he collapsed even before his mana fully depleted.

That was how Ember Citadel emerged victorious, the entire southern stands erupted in a standing ovation, mages cheering wildly as the sole representing academy from their kingdom had finally qualified.

While fans from the Eastern Kingdom accused them of tricks and foul play, supporters from the Southern Kingdom insisted they had won through superior tactics and endurance.

And thus, the first three teams to advance to the next stage were determined:

School of Silent Night

Bloodline Academy

Ember Citadel

The next day would feature the loser’s bracket battles to decide which team would join the other three and compete for the fourth spot, this was literally the last loser’s bracket match that would allow an academy to advance; the losers of the next round would merely fight to determine third and fourth place.