The Golem Mage

Even from afar, they could already tell who was standing inside the central rune circle.

“Alec Gordons!” Dragov shouted as he pushed himself higher into the air manipulating the wind currents in the air, as he used them as temporary footholds, allowing him to stabilize himself and gather momentum in midair while he reached behind his back to unhook his massive Greatsword strapped there.

He knew he wouldn’t reach Alec in time before Damien, so before Damien could close the distance, Dragov decided to provide support from afar, that way he would be forcing Alec to focus on defending himself and that way preventing him from interfering with Damien’s approach.

Still in midair, Dragov swung his sword, a faint, almost silent swish echoed as the blade cut through the air, the weapon was coated in wind element, and enhanced further with his Qi.

What he unleashed was a massive crescent-shaped wind blade, its form almost solid due to the dense Qi infused within it, the attack sliced through the sky as it rushed toward Alec.

The strike even bypassed Damien, who was closer to the target, and continued directly toward Alec, who remained within the rune circle, seeing the massive attack heading his way, Alec let out a faint smile.

“I guess I can’t hope that you’ll just leave me alone during this battle,” Alec muttered as his right hand moved to the hilt of his Changdao before drawing it in a swift motion.

The moment he swung, a bloody phantom-like aura appeared behind him, mirroring his movement. A crimson wave of energy surged forward, colliding head-on with the incoming wind blade in midair.

Bang!

The instant the two attacks clashed, the entire area seemed to tremble, the friction created by the collision in midair was so intense that even Damien, who had been rushing forward, abruptly stopped and quickly ducked behind a nearby large boulder for cover.

Boom!

The two attacks finally cancelled each other out, exploding into a violent shockwave, for the spectators watching through the massive projection screens, the impact felt almost real.

A powerful gust of wind burst outward from the display, rushing toward the stands, many of the mages watching felt as if they were standing in the middle of a storm, their hair whipping wildly while their clothes and mouths fluttered uncontrollably under the overwhelming pressure of the wind.

But when the shockwave finally settled, the first reaction from the crowd was an explosion of cheers.

This time, there were no divided sides among the spectators, everyone in the stadium shouted at the top of their lungs, the excitement spreading through the entire arena.

Even the mages from the other kingdoms, who had initially remained neutral, couldn’t help becoming invested after witnessing that first exchange, they might not understand the deeper history between the two captains the way the Northern Kingdom Citizens did, many of whom were already on their feet though, but they could clearly feel the intense tension between the leaders of the two academies.

“Yeeeeeeaaaaahhhhh!”

Alec looked toward the two mages who had arrived, one levitating in midair, while the other approached from the ground as if ready to leap onto the floating platform where the central rune was located.

At that moment, Alec could feel danger coming from every direction, without his golems, he couldn’t be completely certain he could defeat both of them at the same time.

Unless... he chose to transform, but that was something he had been trying to keep hidden for as long as possible.

Originally, Alec had planned to leave the central rune immediately after capturing it, but things rarely unfolded exactly as planned.

“Well, well... look who we have here. The prestigious Golem Prince himself,” Damien said with a grin as he dashed forward.

Alec, who had already reached the edge of the platform, pushed himself off and retreated instead of engaging them directly; he had no intention of clashing with both Damien and Dragov simultaneously.

However, before his feet could even touch the ground, his mental senses flared sharply, thanks to his heightened perception, he was able to detect the attacks of Damien before it was even sent forward, though he could already tell he was already gathering his energy .

From the ground, Damien had already conjured a blood spear and hurled it forward, perfectly calculating the spot where Alec was about to land, but that wasn’t the only attack that he had read.

From above, Dragov swung his arm downward, casting Wind Slam, forcing a crushing wave of wind pressure toward Alec from the sky.

“Now that is what you call the perfect example of a pincer attack!” someone from the crowd shouted excitedly while slapping his thigh,

Alec had been forced into a position where every option led into another attack, if he dropped down, he would collide directly with Damien’s blood spear, if he tried to evade upward, he would be crushed by Dragov’s Wind Slam.

And this wasn’t an ordinary Wind Slam either, the spell carried an overwhelming pressure, and within the descending torrent of wind there was the faint image of a translucent, Cyan-scaled dragon claw pressing downward, revealing how Dragov’s bloodline had altered and enhanced the spell itself.

It was clear that his execution of the technique was on an entirely different level, there was also another problem though, and that was that no matter which attack Alec chose to confront first, the second one would inevitably catch him.

The Wind Slam wouldn’t stop until it struck the ground which Alec had been confined to its range, and with Damien’s blood control, redirecting the blood spear in midair wouldn’t be difficult at all.

“I’ll take this first death if I have to... but I’m definitely not going down without a fight,” Alec muttered, he slid his sword back into its sheath and in a fluent manner he began forming hand signs.

[ Mid-Tier Spell – Earth Shield ]

After completing the sequence, he twisted in midair and thrust his hands forward just as he began to descend.

Bang!

The earth shield formed before him, but the blood spear had already been positioned perfectly, waiting for that exact moment.

It pierced through the hastily formed barrier, shattering the shield instantly.

Still, the spell had served its purpose, it had reduced a significant portion of the spear’s power, now Alec had just enough time to brace himself.

He tightened his muscles as the blood spear struck him, forcing him to stagger backward a couple of steps before he managed to stabilize himself, the blood energy from the spear dissipated into the air, leaving him appearing mostly unharmed—but inside, Alec could feel his internal organs screaming from the impact.

And above him, the Wind Slam spell was still descending, just as he prepared himself for the crushing pressure that would follow, voices from his teammates suddenly reached his ears.

[ Mid-Tier Spell – Earth Dome ]

[ Mid-Tier Spell – Glacier Guard ]

[ Mid-Tier Spell – Ironwood Barrier ]