The Golem Mage

Thud!

A light shockwave rippled outward the instant the Water Takeda dropped from atop the wooden spider puppet, which was still completely frozen in place.

Now it was effectively two main bodies against Beatrice, who had only one active puppet left, the Wind Takeda hadn’t moved since his last exchange, and neither had Patches.

The puppet simply stood there, motionless, almost as if it were patiently waiting for them to make the first move.

“Remember when I gently asked you to surrender earlier? I’ll give you the same option again, so are you surrendering, or do we have to make things difficult for you? Because believe me, as strong as that puppet of yours may be, you should know there’s no way it can take both of us at once,” the Wind Takeda said, settling into a combat stance.

Beside him, the Water Takeda casually twirled his weapon, with his left hand holding one end while his right twisted the chain attached to the sickle blade.

“Unfortunately, I know a certain stubborn guy who would do the exact opposite,” Beatrice replied.

“And honestly, I hate that all these responsibilities suddenly fall on me whenever he isn’t around. But what choice do I have?”

“I just happen to be his vice-captain, and he always seems to have this ridiculous amount of faith in me, so even if I wanted to back out now, my conscience wouldn’t let me rest. If you want this win, you’ll have to earn it properly, as I’m not giving you an easy way out.”

“I understand what you’re doing,” she continued calmly.

“You’re hesitating because you think pushing this further might expose more than you intended. Unfortunately for you, things won’t go your way today, because even if I lose... I’ll make sure I go down fighting.”

At first when she started talking, The Wind Takeda had thought she was actually considering his offer, and he had been trying to search inside of his mind for the right words say in order to completely cajole her into letting everything go, but by the time she finished speaking, his brows were already deeply furrowed.

It was now clear to him, she wasn’t going to budge, he could tell that surrendering had never been an option for her.

Then Beatrice finally moved, as her hands dragged through the air as if pulling invisible strings, seeing that motion made the Water Takeda instinctively step back; as he knew from experience that whenever she did that, an attack usually followed.

The Wind Takeda, however, didn’t think much of it at first — until, in the next instant, Patches vanished from his sight, immediately confusion flickered across his face as he quickly attempted to retreat.

Wind wings had already begun forming around his legs, the beginnings of a movement spell, but before it could fully activate, Patches reappeared right in front of him.

The puppet swung its sword diagonally downward from right to left. Reacting instantly, the Wind Takeda raised his conjured wind katana upward, as the two blades merged as he attempted to block while already planning to use the impact to propel himself further back.

But just before the blades were meant to clash, Patches abruptly withdrew its sword, and from below, one of the extra arms (the orc arm), shot forward in a brutal punch.

Because of his upward swing, a small opening had been left in his guard... and it was exploited perfectly by the puppet.

Bang!

The punch landed squarely on his stomach, and for a split second, time seemed to freeze as his body lifted slightly off the ground, then a visible shockwave burst out from his back, and he was violently hurled away in the direction the force travelled a second later.

Meanwhile, Patches twisted on its heel and immediately dashed toward the Water Takeda.

“So I was your real target all along, huh?” The Water Takeda said with a faint smile as he began circling the stage at speed, though it looked as if he had just been running aimlessly earlier, there was far more intention behind his movements.

Now that Patches twisted unnaturally and dashed straight for him, he swung his weapon, causing the chain to coil rapidly around his body until it wrapped tightly across his chest like a belt.

But he wasn’t finished as he did that to free his hands, and immediately he started forming hand seals quickly, and just before he completed them, Patches was already in front of him with his right hand stretched forward.

[> Mid Ninjutsu Spell — Water Seal Prison