Chapter 185 - A Powerful Enemy

  The forest lunged into utter chaos, overwhelmed by the untrolble fury of nature. Roots and tree trunks had twisted grotesquely, creating a wild o of wood ah, a se of sheer devastation and disorder. Each step I took crushed broken branches beh my feet, their sinister cracks eg through the dark surroundings. The air was dense, shrouded in an opaque mist mixed with dust from the battle, turning the forest into a desote and custrophobic setting, where even the ground seemed to groan uhe weight of the flict.

  I moved forward slowly, my eyes as sharp as bdes, sing for any trace of the earth mage. My instincts were on high alert, whispering that he was still nearby, lurking like a wounded beast. But I knew I couldn’t activate the Soul Aspect; disabling the elemental power of my special eyes at such a critical moment would leave me far too vulnerable amidst the ongoing battle.

  Suddenly, a noise broke the oppressive silehe muffled sound of shifting stones. I quickly turned, fog my senses in that dire. Amid the debris, still soaked from the ret devastation, I saw the mage slowly emerge. His stone armor, which had once seemed like an iructible fortress, was now reduced to scattered fragments on the ground, exposing deep gashes and gaps that revealed the extent of his injuries.

  His body was covered in deep cuts, some so wide that bone was visible through the torn flesh. One of his arms was nearly destroyed, with stones hanging precariously, while the other trembled violently, barely able to support its ow. Blood oozed from multiple wounds, staining the ground around him with dark red, mixed with dust and shattered stone. His face was marred by bruises and cuts, his left eye nearly swollen shut from the brutal impacts of the battle.

  Every breath came with a painful wheeze, his lungs clearly struggling, aumbled with each step, his legs barely able to support his ravaged body. Fragments of his stone armor still g to him, but most had shattered, exposing raw flesh, splintered bones, and bloody muscles.

  A, his eyes still held a stubblimmer of determination—a final spark of defiahat burned even in the fami defeat. His breathing was bored, each breath heavy and ragged, as blood and dust coated his skin. He was standing on the edge between life ah.

  “Well, is this the man hired to kill me?” I asked, settling on a high branch to assess the situation.

  He stepped back, keeping his distance. In one swift motion, he pulled out a vial with red liquid from his ste bracelet.

  “A healing potion…” I murmured, standing up to get a better look.

  So, the healing potion story was true...

  "Only a noble buy a healing potion. It requires a special lise. These things need so much paperwork that even the bck market has no access to them. Even I ’t freely buy a potion without signing dots, and I'm a high-ranking noble," I tinued, jumping to the ground as he finished drinking the liquid.

  “A hired assassin and now a healing potion… Someone from the nobility wants me dead…” I analyzed, p the possibilities.

  Could it be someorying to steal my special eyes? If the tractor wao kill me personally, perhaps it was to keep the existence of the eyes a secret, hidden even from the assassins themselves.

  He threw the gss vial to the ground, sighing in relief.

  The existence of these eyes is known only to my family... and to Director Victoria... there’s also the Elven Majesty. Would they try something like this? Hard to believe, after all, Adrihna is almost like an aunt to me and has known about my powers since I was 11 years old.

  “You almost killed me, boy,” he said, now walking slowly in my dire. “At the st moment, I had to bury myself, but the impact pressure still mao hurt me.”

  He kept approag.

  “Why did you wait for me to drink the potion?” he asked, still surprised.

  “Because you altered the ground around you. If I approached, I’d be caught in your trap. If I attacked from a distance, you’d dodge it, and attag would’ve achieved nothing,” I answered calmly.

  He ughed, surprised by my response.

  “Not to mention you could’ve drunk the potion while underground. Someone of your level would never lower their guard without reason.”

  He cpped his hands in aowledgment, still ughing.

  “You’re clever,” he admitted, and then fell backward. The remnants of his stone armor crumbled away, breaking into pieces.

  I took a step toward him, assessing his dition.

  “Your mana is depleted, and you’re practically half-dead. You survived by a miracle. sider yourself lucky,” I said, f a yellow sword in my hands, merging it with lightning until it glowed a vibrant blue.

  “Time to die,” I decred.

  Suddenly, a sharp sound echoed through the area.

  'GZZZZZZ!' Fmes begaing violently from beh me. More fire geysers burst across the terrain, rapidly exploding throughout the area.

  "Looks like I’m not the only oh tricks up my sleeve..." I observed, stepping back as I reassessed the new situation.

  Meysers erupted around me, and I started running, dodging the ns of fire rising from the ground. As I moved, my mind raced through the possible options. I looked up at the sky, which was clear and bright.

  Should I use that? No… it’s not the right mome.

  I g the Earth Mage, still lying on the ground. He seemed defeated, his body utterly exhausted.

  Sustaining that armor must have drained almost all his mana. Even I don’t dare to use the Thunder Mantle for more than a few seds. He’s a talented mage. This guy really used everything he had to try to kill me.

  Then, a deep roar rumbled through the arena, eg across the battlefield.

  ‘ROOOOOOAAARR!’

  The sound was so powerful that the ground shook beh my feet.

  The mage, still on the ground, lifted his head with a dark smile. "Hahahaha, good luck."

  What was that? I thought, feeling a rising tension in the air.

  At the ter of the arena, a rge cloud of smoke began to rise. The sound of heavy footsteps mixed with the smoke, which slowly revealed the massive figure behind it. The heat in the air increased, and it wasn’t long before I uood what y behind the smoke.

  “You've got to be kidding me…” I muttered as the creature formed before me.

  A massive, fming red samander, at least 15 meters tall, stared at me with eyes full e. The heat radiating from it was suffog, and the realization of what I was fag hit me like a hammer.

  A Soul Golem…

  A Summoner’s mana was alive, allowing them to create elemental golems as servants. Powerful Summoners could go beyond that, creatiient golems—beings that not oed but also thought, reasoned, a emotions. These se golems were not mere puppets; they were living beings with a sciousness of their own.

  However, there were Soul Golems, sidered the pinnacle of a Summoner’s mastery. When a Summoner reached this level, they could personify their Mahrough a Soul Golem. This golem was far more than a simple servant; it acted as the guardian of its master, carrying the full power of the Summoner's Mana Gem. A true monstrosity, the Soul Golem was the embodiment of its creator's very soul.

  Every Summoner had a dormant Soul Golem within them. Awakening this creature required a rare and ualent, a skill that only a few could achieve. Training a Soul Golem was simir to training the bestial form of a demi-human; the dormant creature ihe Summoner had a will of its own, and the Summoner had to learn to trol and guide it.

  Chloe, for example, only resorted to her Soul Golem as a st resort due to the level of destru that creature could unleash. The release of a Soul Golem was not something to be taken lightly.

  Now it made sense why Eliza had disappeared during the battle.

  She was summoning this monstrosity.

  'ROOOOOAR!' The samander roared again, its sound vibrating through the arena, nearly shaking the grouh me.

  "And now, boy. Shall we finish our little enter?" Eliza's voice rang out as she appeared, sitting atop the massive red samander, a malicious grin on her lips.