The Golem Mage

“I’ll take the one with the shield, handle the other one,” Shun said as he saw the two ice golems charging straight toward them.

Bang!!!

With every step Bulwark took, the ground trembled slightly, and seeing the massive golem charging while clearly building momentum made Shun feel threatened, so he decided to strike first.

He spun and hurled his shield toward Bulwark.

In his mind, the outcome seemed obvious, since the two shields Bulwark carried in his hands were smaller, Shun expected him to be forced into a tight defensive position.

He began imagining Bulwark would raise both of his arms up to block in an high defense, only to be pushed backward by the impact, the rebound would then send his shield flying back to him, giving him the chance to seize the initiative and rush forward himself to close the distance.

But reality rarely unfolds the way one imagines, because the moment Bulwark saw the shield flying toward him at high speed, he suddenly dropped low and slid forward.

The large shield strapped to his back pressed against the ground, acting almost like a sled that transported him.

Because most of the battlefield had already been covered in Titan’s ice domain, Bulwark’s sliding speed actually increased as he glided across the frozen surface, as Shun’s shield passed just right above him.

With that single movement, Bulwark not only avoided the attack but also closed the distance far faster than Shun expected.

And he came to a stop when he got into range of Shun, Bulwark lashed out with his right leg, sweeping it hard into Shun’s right leg.

Whack!

The strike was so sudden that Shun immediately dropped to one knee as his balance collapsed, before he could recover, Bulwark followed up with a brutal uppercut, driving the small shield mounted on his right arm diagonally into Shun’s jaw.

Just moments before the blow landed, Shun had already stretched his hand out, trying to recall his thrown shield after realizing his attack had been completely bypassed.

But now his shield, which had been hanging in midair and returning to him, suddenly lost its power after the uppercut landed and dissipated in the air.

Although the strike had momentarily stunned him, Shun still had a bit of strength left, as he tried to throw a punch downward, but Bulwark simply raised his arm and covered his face while he cast a spell.

In the next moment, a block of ice suddenly formed around Shun’s head, causing him to stagger backward, struggling to breathe as the freezing construct imprisoned his face.

Once the ice block formed, Shun completely abandoned the punch he had intended to deliver, and with Shun effectively neutralized, Bulwark stepped forward and launched another uppercut.

This time the blow was decisive, cursing Shun to lose consciousness instantly, this time he was unable to resist the darkness that overtook him as his body levitated slightly into the air before falling back with a loud thud sound.

On the brighter side, the block of ice encasing his head shattered into fragments as he collapsed.

“Bulwark!”

Just as he finished dealing with his opponent, Bulwark heard his name being called, he didn’t even bother turning to look.

Instead, he simply twisted his body and swung his left arm outward, sending the curved shield with the half-moon cut spinning toward the opposite side.

Clang!

The shield flew straight into a barrage of wind blades that had been rushing toward Glacius, intercepting and dispersing them, with the threat handled, the shield rebounded through the air.

Glacius extended his left hand and caught it effortlessly, as he spun and sent it back towards Bulwark back, Kiri, upon seeing her attack blocked, quickly began casting another spell, but it was already too late.

Glacius had closed the distance, he didn’t just turn to send the shield flying; he had also used that same momentum to swing his ice spear, specifically positioning the shaft sideways.

The blunt strike cracked against Kiri’s head, knocking her unconscious instantly.

Just like that, Hoshino Ren became the only active member left from the Shinsei Academy.

And judging from the way his battle with Alec was unfolding, things weren’t looking promising for him either.

At that moment, Ren was already panting heavily, the prolonged use of his merged state had clearly begun to backfire, and it seemed he had shot himself in the foot by maintaining it for too long.

In truth, Ren had never properly reached the level required to merge with a much higher-ranked spirit. Normally, however, he was able to defeat his opponents before the strain of that limitation began to show.

But against Alec, things were different, he hadn’t been able to get the upper hand against Alec at all. In fact, deep down he could tell that if Alec truly wanted to end the fight, he probably could have done so already.

Yet the battle continued, and Alec kept fighting using only his Changdao which is coated in Blood Killing Intent, that was how Ren’s Crimson Qi continued clashing against Alec’s bloodlust-infused blade.

Now, however, Ren had used far too much Qi and was reaching his limit, and maintaining Akagami’s Crimson equipment manifestation for such a prolonged period had pushed him to the brink.

He wasn’t just in a dire state, he was also completely exhausted, as he knew drawing further power from Akagami to stabilize himself would begin draining his life force, yet as he looked at Alec who seemed increasingly relaxed while casually deflecting his katana—Ren couldn’t shake the feeling that even that sacrifice might not be enough to secure victory.

Alec watched him silently, waiting, but the longer he observed Ren, the more it seemed like he wouldn’t gain much more from this fight again.

Ren believed Alec had been toying with him, but that wasn’t the truth, for the first time since Alec’s blade and sword mastery entered the advanced level, he had encountered someone capable of pushing him to genuinely swing his weapon with full focus.

Alec had been completely locked into the battle, at the same time, he had been receiving real-time notifications that his mastery was improving.

In a way, Ren had unknowingly become a grinding partner for Alec’s mastery progression, and the smile on Alec’s face came from that satisfaction.

But Ren misunderstood it, from the very beginning, Ren had felt that Alec never took them seriously, largely because of Alec’s calm and confident demeanor.

In reality, it wasn’t arrogance, it was simply Alec’s confidence in his own strength.

“Let’s end this. One final move,” Ren said as he raised his glowing crimson katana high into the air.

He poured every last bit of Qi he had left into the blade, as the energy surged violently, and behind him a towering phantom image began to manifest, the figure happened to be Akagami and he mirrored Ren’s movement, amplifying the pressure radiating from him.

Seeing this, Alec smiled, he had heard a great deal about Ren’s power from Agnes before the battle, and out of respect he decided to go all out for this final exchange.

“Alright.” Alec replied calmly.

He spun his sword once through the air before sliding it back into its scabbard, the moment the blade settled inside, the scabbard began to vibrate slightly.

Alec then took his stance, with his legs spread apart, while his right foot slid forward, and his right hand rested firmly on the hilt of the changdao, while his left hand pressed against the middle of the scabbard to stabilize it.

At the same time, both mages prepared their finishing techniques.

[> Mid Tier Skill – Cleave Mid Tier Skill – Iaido