The Golem Mage Chapter 1084: Less Brawns More Brains 2.

Alec caught the voices as the final sound before a mid-sized Earth Dome, just a bit taller than himself, enveloped his form, yet despite his sight being utterly obscured by the dome, his allies didn't cease their shielding efforts.

Over the Earth Dome, the second and third spells stacked to bolster its strength.

The Glacier Guard spell called forth numerous hovering ice fragments etched with runic patterns, which started circling the dome in a safeguarding array. At the same time, the Ironwood Barrier appeared as a sturdy wall of petrified timber.

Robust roots erupted from the earth, coiling tightly to create a fortified shield ahead of the dome.

Nevertheless, all these defensive spells shared a single trait—they were cast in frantic urgency.

At last, the pulverizing wind force came crashing down.

Boom!

The collision boomed reverberantly over the battlefield.

The Glacier Guard array crumbled first, with its circling ice shards exploding under the onslaught, while the Ironwood Barrier endured a touch longer, serving mainly as a hindrance that stopped Damien from striking Alec in flawless tandem with Dragov.

Once the Glacier Guard fell, the Earth Dome stood as the ultimate barrier against the leftover might of the Wind Slam, though it too failed swiftly.

Fissures rapidly webbed over the dome under the immense strain, and in mere moments, the gale power pierced through, rushing at Alec within.

Yet Alec was primed for precisely that instant.

Owing to his comrades' swift aid, he'd bought sufficient moments to ready his getaway; the very second the dome fractured, infernos blazed under his soles, propelling him rearward with astonishing velocity.

Boom!

The leftover wind force pounded the terrain, and the ensuing shockwave clipped Alec anyway, whipping a fierce blast over the battlefield.

“Spread out!” Alec barked without delay.

He'd already discerned that Damien had redirected his aim to the core rune, aiming to disrupt the seizure and claim it for the Blue Team, while overhead, the projection array kept refreshing every second.

Red Team 76 – 44 Blue Team

Alec swiftly looked to the projection array, noting the solid lead the teams held, yet he realized that Damien's plan succeeding would let Bloodline Academy erase that lead in no time.

“Lucas, Brandon! Take that guy down no matter what—and ensure you retake the rune!” Alec yelled.

He grasped the system's mechanics perfectly: five seconds to nullify the foe's rune hold, plus ten more to claim it oneself, so Damien required roughly fifteen unmolested seconds within the rune ring to wrest it for the Blue Team.

Alec was determined not to permit that.

Still, he knew full well that the central rune could slip to them anyhow, so he refused to fixate on it alone.

As he bellowed commands to Lucas and Brandon—making sure Damien and Dragov overheard—he'd covertly tasked Endrick and Pale with another duty.

A key factor in picking them for this fight was Alec's conviction they'd shine in this mode.

He directed the pair to head jointly to the closest rune under Bloodline Academy's hold; right then, it was the western quadrant one.

Upon getting his directive, they wheeled about and darted past Alec's spot, veering left across the battlefield; they planned to sneak via hidden terrain features, exploiting ditches and ruined edifices to approach unseen.

Alec had foreseen Damien's probable instructions to his squad, outlining two possibilities, the first involving Damien summoning all allies to the center to boost odds of retaking the central rune.

Alec imagined himself new to this setup, concluding that rallying the team to battle for the early-lost central rune made perfect sense.

He further anticipated Damien might station one mage per captured rune as sentinel, dispatching another to the center for central strife; that formed his second possibility.

This exact reasoning led Alec to dispatch Endrick and Pale as a duo rather than alone, trusting that against a lone defender, they'd overpower him jointly, hold and claim the rune, then withdraw unscathed.

Should Bloodline Academy recapture it later, War God team would still rack up points while it was theirs.

Such were the dual contingencies Alec had mapped mentally.

Under the first, with Bloodline Academy clustering centrally, Alec figured he'd withdraw his group to defend their runes, as clashing full-force against the enemy spelled trouble.

But while Bloodline Academy retook the center and narrowed the score, Alec calculated Endrick and Pale would seize the western rune, nearest the enemy's start zone.

For the second case, with one guard posted, Endrick and Pale would best him together and claim the rune anyway.

No matter which played out, Alec saw War God team staying ahead, essential for victory by holding the edge to the match's end.

By then, Lucas and Brandon had leaped onto the central rune, facing Damien head-on, their intrusion instantly freezing capture advancement, as any enemy meddling in the ring rebooted the sequence.

The rune underfoot reverted promptly to neutral white.

“Ahhh!” Damien roared in rage.

His flare-up stunned observers familiar with the poised Blood Prince, yet now he sensed the War God team foreseeing his every action.

Casting aside composure at last, Damien yanked the gin flask from his pocket and hurled it ahead.

Its liquid poured forth, birthing a vast blood pond hovering midair like a levitated lagoon, a spectacle that awed first-time viewers.

Simultaneously, Alec soared skyward, sword unsheathed and sheathed in black flames laced with scarlet blaze, as Dragov countered at once.

With a finger snap, he whirled his enormous greatsword then smashed it down against Alec’s edge in a head-on collision.

A resounding clang echoed as blades met, air thickening with tension from the duel of mighty mages.

Encircling Alec's frame blazed intense flames, opposed by razor wind blades whirling behind Dragov, keening softly as they carved the atmosphere.

“This won’t be like last time,” Dragov uttered icily; abruptly, he thrust his forehead into Alec’s for a savage headbutt, catching him off-guard and shoving him back a pace.

That split-second gap handed Dragov his opening.

His frame coiled, building fiercer impetus for a ruinous blow.

[ Mid-Tier Spell + Skill – Tempest Execution ]