Chapter 3091 He Comes (Part 1)
The magical constructs felt no surprise at the sudden turn of events nor outrage for the destruction of their fellow golem.
The two Rock Golems on the recharging pods raised their arms, triggering the first response to a red alert: a Warp Steps.
"Iron wall." Kysha the Ghoul said and the constructs obeyed.
They lined up in pairs in front and behind their master, ready to protect him from any threat.
"Focused Strikes." Kysha moved forward and the golems fell into step, following him.
"G.o.ds if I hate smart enemies." Lith grumbled.
Golems were powerful but dumb enemies. Their lack of intelligence also meant a lack of adaptability. One only had to understand what kind of protocol a construct was following to exploit its predictability and win.
If one had the means and strength to destroy a golem, of course.
The Warp Steps had summoned someone who would think for the constructs and give them timely instructions, overcoming their only natural weakness.
"There"s still five of them and only four of us." Strider said. "We need to take the enemies out quickly before reinforcements arrive."
"Agreed. The only problem is that we don"t know what kind of undead-" Ryka had yet to finish the sentence when the Zouwu bolted forward.
He ran from the ground to along the walls and from there up to the ceiling in a circular pattern.
Strider pa.s.sed over the golems" heads and ignored their defenses, drawing his blades at the last moment possible and performing an X-shaped cut as he walked above the undead.
The curved blades cut the Ghoul"s neck from the left and right side at the same time, decapitating him even from that awkward position and cutting Kysha"s head in six pieces before the Zouwu landed on the other side of the corridor.
"Hold formation!" Alas, the head wasn"t a Ghoul"s weak point.
That species of undead would die only if their heart was destroyed and they could freely move it along their bodies.
Kysha picked up his head which was already regenerating and kept yelling orders out of his severed neck like nothing happened.
The golems in the front raised a stone wall infused with darkness magic while those in the back attacked the Zouwu with clockwork coordination. The first one turned every surface of the cave into mud with earth magic while the other unleashed a volley of air blades and a dense fog of darkness.
"s.h.i.+t!" Strider was still fast enough to dodge the air blades but his attack options were limited now. Hitting solid stone with his blades would just make them lose their edge while the darkness element now blinded Life Vision.
He couldn"t see his enemies and allies anymore. The s.p.a.ce between them was an energy haze that made it impossible for him to distinguish between an enemy spell to avoid and a friendly one with which to coordinate.
To make matters worse, a second incursion would bring him right into the black fog and eat at his vitality.
"Focused strikes means that the golems attack in pairs to cover for each other." He said via the still-active mind link. "Two of them are already on me."
On his signal, Ryka tore apart the rock wall with her own earth magic, strong of the elemental affinity typical of her kind. A barrage of fire, lightning, and darkness engulfed the t.i.tania as the two golems on the front focused on her.
"Dumb b.i.t.c.h!" Kysha smiled. "I let you cut through the useless rock so that we could break your bone-"
Solus bolted from around the corner, knowing the golems" exact position thanks to the mind link with Ryka. A forehand strike blasted the rock plate in front of the closest construct"s power core open.
Solus adjusted her grip on the Fury so that the following backhand strike had the pick extremity of the hammer pierced through the remaining layers of armor and into the mana crystal.
The Parting Gift enchantment of the Fury released a shockwave from the Davross" pick that shattered the mana crystal, making it explode.
The golem"s body contained the conflagration that released just a deep thud as the stone limbs fell to the sides.
Lith joined her one split second later, after making sure Solus wouldn"t need help. With all the attention on her, he hurled a jet stream of Void Flames that struck the remaining golem like a laser.
The self-defense and attack protocols were now at odds, giving conflicting orders that carried the same priority, paralyzing the golem.
"Closest threat!" Kysha was forced to interrupt the spell he was chanting to break the input stalemate before it was too late.
Alas, it was too late and a quarter.
While the golem aimlessly s.h.i.+fted its attention from Ryka to Solus, and then from Solus to Lith, the Tiamat waited for no orders. He breathed a burst of bright violet Origin Flames that strong of Valtak"s teachings slipped past the stone armor and ignored the enchantments covering it.
The mystical fire saved its energy for when it reached the cavity containing the power core and only then did it start to burn. The Origin Flames lacked the power to destroy the mana crystal in one go, but they temporarily cut it off from the rest of the body.
Without the power core fueling its enchantments, the Rock Golem was now just a stone statue and Lith needed but one punch to break it.
"Code black! I repeat, code…" A second burst of Origin Flames shrouded the Ghoul, their tongues of fire searching for the hidden heart.
When they found Kysha"s weak point, Lith destroyed it with a lunge of Ragnar?k infused to the brim with darkness magic. The Ghoul turned into a pile of ashes and without his orders, the other two Rock Golems posed little threat.
Strider conjured the tier five Spell, Death Grip, to wrap them with the rock from the corridor. Following the Closest Threat order, the constructs focused on him, fighting the earth spell with one of their own.
They completely ignored Solus who patted on their backs and unleashed one Clean Slate after the other. Lith pierced through their chests while they were paralyzed, turning them into rubble.
"Are you alright?" After making sure there was no enemy left or incoming, the Zouwu went to check on the t.i.tania"s condition.
Her Adamant armor was battered and barely a few sprouts remained of her body. Rock Golems were powerful and Ryka had taken the full brunt of their enchantments from point blank.
"I"m fine. I"m just hungry." She said while the sprouts grew and multiplied slowly in a humanoid form. "Whoever lives here, they did a clean job. There is no form of life or nourishment I can feed upon."
"No problem." Strider took the food he always carried on himself out of his dimensional amulet and handed it to her.
"Much better!" The t.i.tania healed at a speed visible to the naked eye and so did her armor recover.
The enchantments only needed mana to boost the self-repair enchantments of the Adamant plates.
"We"d better go before someone comes investigating." The Zouwu said while helping her to get up. "And thanks for trusting me."