The Golem Mage Chapter 1112: Way Of The Sword 4.

With a groan of agony, Takeda turned to face Alec, who remained crouched low, still clutching the knife. He could see that Alec was already strategizing his next move.

Alec's bone katana lunged towards him like a viper, and in that critical instant, Takeda swung his own blade with every ounce of his remaining strength.

The sheer force of the parry sent both Alec’s weapon and Takeda’s flying astray. Yet, this outcome was precisely what Alec had anticipated.

By disarming them both, he had created the perfect opportunity to strike unhindered.

Flames erupted beneath Alec’s feet, propelling him momentarily above the ground as if gravity held no sway over him.

He then executed a rapid sequence of two kicks with his right leg, one aimed at Takeda's waist and the other higher, toward his arms. His legs were engulfed in searing flame energy.

Takeda managed to deflect the initial pair of strikes with a strong defensive posture, but the third kick was entirely different.

Alec twisted with astonishing agility in mid-air, amplifying his momentum. With the fiery boosters beneath his feet, his speed surged, and he delivered a devastating side kick directly to Takeda's head, launching him backward.

Quickly adjusting his aerial trajectory, Alec thrust both hands forward like a superhero, igniting more flames as he pursued Takeda. The fire on his back flared, resembling a pair of miniature wings.

Just as Takeda regained his footing, bracing himself with both legs firmly planted, Alec materialized directly before him. One of Alec’s hands pressed against Takeda’s chest, the other against his head.

[> Mid Tier Spell - Gravity Blade Whirlpool <]

The instant Alec invoked the spell, Takeda’s eyes widened in alarm, but it was far too late.

Even before Alec's palms made contact, the necessary energy had already been gathered, indicated by the purple luminescence now surrounding his hands.

“Blast,” Alec uttered, his voice resonating like a final decree. The purple aura on his hands twisted and writhed as a miniature vortex of space violently spun into existence, its terrifying speed generating a razor-sharp cutting force.

Despite Takeda’s desperate efforts to evade by accelerating his wind escape spell and using the earth beneath him to generate propulsion and create distance, he could not entirely escape the gravity vortex's impact.

His body was flung away, and he coughed up a stream of blood. While he managed to prevent the vortex from inflicting a fatal blow to his head, a gruesome hole now marred his chest.

“I—!”

[> Mid Tier Skill – Iaido <]

Takeda struggled to utter another word, but before he could complete his sentence, Alec became a blur, streaking past him with impossible speed.

The assembled crowd watched with palpable fear, their Eastern supporters silently imploring fate to spare Takeda.

However, their hopes were tragically dashed. Barely a second later, Takeda's head detached from his body, and the remainder of his form began to disintegrate.

Meanwhile, Alec stood with his hand outstretched, bone katana held steady and pointed towards the crowd, adopting a low, crouched stance.

From the second VIP section, the Kage of Silent Night exhaled a lengthy sigh, relief finally washing over him. While others might not have perceived it, Takeda was his son, and he understood him intimately. Though Takeda's power might have appeared overwhelming to spectators, the Kage recognized it as a burden, one that had hindered his son's true potential for rapid advancement.

At this particular moment, however, his concern lay more with Takeda’s immediate well-being than his innate talent or combat prowess. Although it might have seemed as though Takeda willingly sacrificed his avatars to absorb their essence and grow stronger, the Kage was convinced that Takeda's actions stemmed from a perceived lack of any viable path to victory.

His avatars had confronted Alec’s golems, and each one had ultimately failed. Alec’s teammates, who had remained uninvolved up to that point, had also been a source of constant vigilance for Takeda, who worried about being overwhelmed by a coordinated assault.

This preoccupation explains why he appeared so eager for his avatars’ demise. His true objective was to channel the power within their cores to temporarily augment his own strength, thereby forcing Alec into a one-on-one confrontation.

This was the carefully laid plan. He had counted on Alec’s consistent practice of engaging team captains in duels.

Although it required considerable effort, enduring a prolonged exchange of blows with Alec’s most formidable golems, he had ultimately achieved his goal of a one-on-one battle.

He had to concede, after Alec finally struck him down, that he began to question why Alec hadn't simply ended the duel from the outset. As much as he loathed to admit it, the truth was undeniable: Alec possessed a far greater level of strength than he did—

It wasn't merely in terms of cultivation realm, but also in weapon mastery, his transformed physique, and his battle intelligence that it now felt to him as if he had been subjected to some kind of experimental test.

However, now that he had met his demise, he would have to painstakingly rebuild the bodies of his Avatars once more. He couldn't keep their cores within his own body for extended periods, as doing so inflicted excruciating pain. He stubbornly held onto them, initiating the arduous reconstruction process.

Compounding this agony was the grim reality that with each death of an Avatar, the pain would escalate exponentially.

Considering the complete loss of all his Avatars, his only recourse was to hope for unconsciousness, as enduring such torment was unbearable.

_ _

Meanwhile, the colossal, transparent light shield encasing the entire battlefield began to recede. In the blink of an eye, Alec found himself reunited with his teammates.

The thunderous cheers of the spectators finally drew his attention. Although victorious, he could discern that a significant portion of the audience was displeased. This very dissatisfaction was a primary reason he had ensured his golems didn't engage at their full potential. Furthermore, the fact that he hadn't even deployed all his golems served as a crucial indicator that he was deliberately concealing his true capabilities.

To those observing at this moment, it might have seemed as though they had already grasped the entirety of his abilities. Yet, Alec remained indifferent; should they ever decide to confront him, he was fully prepared to make them rue that decision.

The War God team had just secured victory in the Origin Competition – an accomplishment that even the King of the Northern Kingdom, despite his immense displeasure, could not possibly overturn with all his authority.

As Alec turned, he observed his teammates converging towards him, with Arthur leading the charge, his laughter boisterous. The entire crowd was chanting with such fervent passion that the team couldn't help but wave towards the northern stands. Eventually, they had to depart from the battlefield, as the judges were soon to descend and announce the names comprising the top hundred list.