The Golem Mage

With perfectly timed precision, Lucas bent his neck slightly just before the katana came down, the spot where the blade was meant to land was instantly covered by a Tier-5 spirit equipment set which he summoned in a hurry.

Under normal circumstances, such equipment wouldn’t be able to stop Takeda’s blade, Lucas knew that well, so he had made sure to reinforce the area with his Qi, but even with those preparations, when the katana finally descended it still cut into his shoulder, with the blood spurting out and cover his cheeks.

That, however, was exactly what Lucas had been betting on as he drove through the pain, before the katana could drive any deeper, his glaive which had been a little bit slower finally slammed into the Wind Takeda’s ribcage.

A violent shockwave erupted as Wind Takeda was sent flying after he had been hit, even as he was thrown back, he didnt get the chance to retrieve his weapon, as the katana was buried deep in Lucas’s shoulder.

“What the hell?!” Wind Takeda cursed as he tumbled, his body twisting painfully against the hard stone tiles for a few seconds before he finally was able to manipulate the wind surrounding him to cushion himself.

His form was forcefully halted in midair as he tried to regain control.

At that moment, Earth Takeda surged past him, dashing forward like he was surfing on the charging earth pillar he was manipulating, closing the distance, he leapt from the rising earth pillar and swung his weapon with his right hand in a back hand motion at Lucas, who answered back by bringing up his glaive to meet his attack.

Their weapons clashed as they circled one another, exchanging strikes, punches and kicks mixed in as the ringing of steel echoed across the arena, all the while, Lucas continued to fight with the katana still lodged in his left shoulder.

He didn’t dare pull it out, as he knew the instant he did, he’d lose far too much blood, and since he intended to keep fighting till he couldn’t anymore he decided to leave the blade embedded where it was.

As Lucas traded blows with Earth Takeda, the Wind Takeda finally moved back in, launching punches of his own, each fist wrapped in a spherical shell of compressed wind.

Lucas made sure to avoid the hits, after sensing the dangerous aura wrapped around each punch, every strike Wind Takeda threw detonated in the air with a sharp sonic boom, sending shockwaves that made even the mages watching from the stands feel a tremor in their chests.

By now, the entire arena had fallen into stunned silence, they were watching a single mage hold his own against two Tier-6 Takedas, though Lucas was clearly being pressured, but he clearly was refusing to give ground.

As his Qi cloaked his body while faint lightning currents flickered around him, subtly amplifying his attacks as if lending him extra support, it was a shocking sight for many who had expected an easy, one-sided battle.

Instead, Lucas stood firm.

Then, out of nowhere, a blur shot forward, as Katie rushed in to support him, inserting herself between the two Takedas, but the moment she arrived, Wind Takeda reacted instantly, unleashing a rapid combo of kicks.

The first one slammed into her stomach to push her backwards, while the next one snapped upward toward her chin, each kick glowed with a green hue.

He had fought against her before and understood about her spirit equipment set and he was well aware that casual strikes wouldn’t be enough to put her down.

And with Lucas proving troublesome, he had no intention of dragging things out, so his first kick drove her backward, the force alone had been enough to send her skidding backwards as the wind that coated his legs allowed for his hit to affect internally.

Pain exploded through her body immediately, as Katie bent slightly, coughing up blood, but Wind Takeda didn’t stop, as he followed with another vicious kick to her chin, the impact from it lifting her partially off the ground from sheer power.

Seeing this, Lucas tried to break away to help her, but Earth Takeda stepped in immediately, taking a firm stance, he traced a small semicircle with his right foot.

Instantly, five dark, marble-like stones tore free from the arena floor and floated upward, hanging in the air between them, ready to strike.

Then he began kicking them, the first four stones were launched one after another with him alternating from his left and right legs before he twisted his body and slammed his right leg in the final kick of the last floating orb like stone, sending it hurtling toward Lucas.

Lucas was forced to raise his guard and respond to the boulder-like rocks, which were now heavily infused with earth Qi, which made each far denser and heavier than they should have been.

But that was when Wind Takeda finally made his move, as he swiped his right hand downward as if dragging something through the air.

The wind instantly condensed, thought not fully solid, but dense enough that claw-shaped currents became visible, mirroring his motion.

Those wind claws slammed into Katie, striking her hard and sending her flying straight out of the battle ring until her back slammed into the invisible light shield that protected the mages watching in the stands, and now only two mages from the War God Mage Team remained on the battle ring.

Immediately, the crowd supporting the School of Silent Night erupted into loud cheers, as the tension of the battle had worn on them for quite a long time now, and this shift reignited their confidence

With the cheers swelling, Lucas forced himself back using the force from the last attack Earth Takeda sent at him to retreat a few steps, and catch his breath.

He was drenched in his own blood, his body marked by numerous cuts from the wind blades.

Worse still, he could feel serious internal injuries , which had been caused by the Earth Takeda who had had mixed in heavy punches during their clash, his hands were literally reinforced by the refined Stone Fist spell that covered his fist, though they looked like simple gloves on him but they made each and every strike of his brutally heavy.

Yet Lucas still wore that wild smile as he looked toward Wind Takeda, who had turned back to face him alongside Earth Takeda, who was now wielding two earth-forged hammers.

By this point, Lucas could feel his consciousness beginning to fade slightly, he had clearly burned through too much Qi.

Normally, Qi expenditure would only leave a mage exhausted, something recoverable with deep rest, but pushing it this far was dangerously close to draining the life force tied to it.

Using Qi to activate forbidden skills could shorten a mage’s lifespan, but for someone like Lucas, who possessed an enormous reserve of Qi, he had never before reached such a level of exhaustion.

He turned toward Beatrice, who was still locked in battle with the last main Takeda body on the stage , this one had proved to have water-element affinity,

“Sorry for falling short Beatrice...My stop should be happening soon so let me help you get rid of one.”