Chapter 186 - Battle Against a Soul Golem

  These assassin mages... they aren't ordinary foes.

  I weighed my options carefully, assessing the situation with caution.

  Should I summon my Soul Golem as well?

  The thought crossed my mind, but I dismissed it quickly.

  Better not… I still ’t trol os. If that thing is released, it’ll just be another enemy I’ll have to deal with.

  The samander spat fire into the air, casting a threatening glow across the area.

  If I were fully human, I could bier and wind to create ice… what a pity.

  Thousands of strategies raced through my mind, each more desperate tha. The reality was clear: I was at a disadvantage against the Soul Golem, and every seade the pressure mount. Before I could decide on a pn, the heavy sound of approag footsteps echoed through the devastated forest around me.

  The colossal samander appeared, its massive body radiating unbearable heat. On top of it, Eliza stood firm, her cold and calg gaze locked on me. She seemed to be assessing my every move, waiting for the right moment to strike.

  “I’m usually in a support role and only act as a st resort. You’ve forced me to use my precious Soul Golem, so feel honored,” she decred, her voice dripping with defiance.

  Her taunt wasn’t without merit. The Soul Golem owerful on, a creature meant to be the final recourse of a summe. The samander glowed menagly, its red skin covered ihat shifted between red and gold, like a living inferno.

  I stepped toward the creature.

  “Twi: Yellow Inferno,” Eliza ted with precision. Instantly, the samander opes bzing mouth, unleashing a massive stream of yellow fire. Before I could react, Eliza amplified the attack, spewing a red jet of fire from her own mouth, merging with the creature’s devastating force.

  The yellow and red fmes fused into a single, furious firestorm, a whirlwind of destru hurtling toward me with relentless fury.

  I raised my palms quickly, trying to create a wind barrier. Bdes of air spun violently, f a wind wall, but the force of the attack was overwhelming.

  “Shit…” I muttered, realizing I couldn’t tain the destructive power.

  The explosion came with crushing impact.

  BOOM!

  The deafening sound engulfed everything, and the surrounding forest was ed in a wave of destru. The fire roared loudly, spreading like a ravenous beast. The heat was so intehat I felt my body being pushed back, even behind the wind barrier.

  I knew I’d be ed by the fmes, so I focused all my wind mana forward, creating a cutting edge and enveloping myself in a wind armor. The impact was brutal, and I felt my body being flung through the air like a leaf in a storm.

  The world around me became a maelstrom of fmes and pain.

  I crashed into the forest, rolling untrolbly across the ground as the trees arouuro ashes. The samander's roar echoed like a demon’s bellow, and soon after, hundreds of fireballs began raining down from the sky, exploding on impact with the ground.

  Each explosio closer tha, and I barely had time to rise before being hit by waves of heat and debris.

  The fire tio spread, ing everything in its path.

  “Fuck…” I muttered as I stood up, feeling the sharp pain of a burn on my leg. The heat still radiated from the wound, but I quickly jured a stream of water, dousing the area to relieve the pain and prevent further damage.

  At least I won’t have to cauterize the wound...

  I tore the fabric around the burn, removing the charred cloth along with the remains of my shoe. The sensation of the cold air on the injured skin brought a momentary relief, but the situation was far from under trol.

  I looked around, seeing the chaos caused by the samander’s attack. The forest was abze, a scar of fire cutting across the earth like a mark left by hell itself. My Demeter’s Forest had beeated, the trees partially ed by fmes, and the smell of burning wood filled the air.

  “That’s the power of a damn summohe power of an army,” I whispered, feeling the weight of the situation. The monstrous roar of the samander echoed again, growing louder as it approached.

  “I have ten seds to figure out how to defeat this Soul Golem, or I’ll die,” I murmured, f my body to move. I began running toward the creature as fireballs rained down in my path. Eae desded like a meteor, exploding upon impad spreadi aru.

  “Water Art: Flood of Destru!” I ted, pg both hands on the ground. A massive surge of water erupted around me, f a swirling whirlpool that expanded into a devastating wave.

  The samander roared furiously, its deep voice resonating through the scorched forest. Its heavy footsteps shook the ground as it prepared to unleash a beam of fire in my dire. The pressure was crushing, and the heat radiating from the monster was unbearable.

  “ROOOOAR!” The creature’s roar was deafening, and I khe impact was immi.

  “Thunder Dash!” I shouted, lettiricity surge through my body, increasing my speed in a fsh. I felt the wind intensify around me, as if it too was being drawn into the battle.

  The giant samander charged, its entire body engulfed in fmes, while I focused the electricity in my palm, preparing for the attack.

  “Now!” I bellowed, as the waves of water verged from all dires. The impact was colossal, and the force of the waves collided with the samander in a swirl of water and fire.

  The csh was explosive – the water evaporated into a dense cloud of steam, while the fire beam was swallowed by the flood. The waves enveloped the samander, suffog its fmes and creating a chaoti of water aricity.

  The energies collided in absolute chaos.

  “Whirlpool of the Waves!” I ted, p all my strength into the spell. Tsunamis of water crashed with a deafening roar, the creature’s holifying the symphony of destru. The spiraling water engulfed us, spinning in a powerful vortex as both the samander and I were swept by the impact.

  The force of the water tossed me around as I struggled desperately to swim to the surface. I used wind to propel myself upward, esg the swirling current. Suddenly, a bright red glow filled the water, and I could see the creature glowih the surface.

  “Fire Art: Evaporative Bze!” Eliza yelled, leaping into the air with fmes.

  The heat rose instantly, causing the water to start boiling. I was running out of time; my spell had ed a massive amount of mana, and I couldn’t afford to waste it.

  I plunged bato the water, diving deeper despite the seari.

  The water bubbled violently as the Soul Golem intensified the temperature. Steam enveloped everything, creating a thick, suffog curtain that obscured visibility. The mixture of fire and water burst into bubbles, releasing waves of heat that scorched my skin.

  Pnt Art: Cemetery of Roots!

  I invoked, diving further as I held my breath and used wind to propel myself downward. My hands reached the muddy ground at the bottom of the whirlpool, and immediately, thousands of roots sprouted, abs the surrounding water. The roots iwined into a dework, transf the ground into a field of submerged thorns.

  Amid the murky water, the samander shoensely, a core of red fury within the aquatic chaos. A sudden explosion rocked the whirlpool’s bottom, sending me spiraling away in a mix of water a.

  The impact was brutal, even in water, and I felt my spell dissipate, its energy unraveling as the ring of tsunamis crumbled. The water began to spread across the forest, losing trol as it blended into the surroundings.

  "I ’t give up now!" I murmured as I fell, clutg my sword.

  Without hesitation, I pushed myself up and dashed toward the creature, the burn’s pain and fatigue being sedary. My only ce was now.

  “Fire Art: Crimson Burst!” Eliza shouted from atop the creature. The samander spewed a new wave of red, intense fmes.

  I sprioward the fire, my body driven purely by adrenaline. I used wind to propel myself, leaping into the air to evade the asding burst of fmes that tried to reach me. The fire was relentless, snaking behind me like a wild, hungry beast.

  “Now let’s py!” I yelled, ing my body in a yer of electricity, each spark radiating pure energy.

  “Spark Rain!” I ted the spell, and in a swift motion, pointed both hands upward. A of lightning was unleashed, with hundreds of bolts ripping through the air, desding like ari. Each bolt was ducted by the water-soaked ground, amplifying the impact of the shocks.

  “AAAAARRRGH!” The creature roared in pain, its fire burst interrupted. Its body vulsed uhe impact of the lightning, and I saw Eliza getting struck by the attack, thrown away in an untrolble arc. She vanished into the trees, and I seized the moment to push harder.

  I hit the ground with a thud, but I didn’t lose momentum, eling more energy into the ground.

  I unched more lightning toward the mohe electricity rag across the soaked ground like a lightning serpent toward the Soul Golem. The trees around us began to catch fire, struck by stray sparks.

  The entire soaked enviro had turned into a ductor of electricity—from the leaves to the muddy ground and the water still flooding the area.

  “I o take out the Earth Mage. If he recovers, I’ll be in eveer trouble!” I muttered to myself, running through the devastated forest, my breathing ragged and my muscles ag. My only ce was to strike with everything I had while the enemy was still destabilized.

  Each step echoed against the wet ground, and the suffog mix of burning sts aricity filled the air.