As they got closer to the towering constructs, Kellen's eyes began to glow with a hazy purple hue. He stood still for a long moment, his gaze sweeping over the massive silver frames of the guardians.
"We are in luck," Kellen said, his voice low as he turned to Luceran. "From the current state of these things, they can only use less than five percent of their original strength. I would put them around the mid-stage of Blood Refinement. They are in rough shape."
Luceran looked up. Even from a distance, he could see the deep cracks running along the silver stone bodies. The runes etched into their chests and heads were faded and dimmed, flickering like dying candles.
"Alright. Borrin, tell everyone except the mages to stand behind. This is not their fight," Luceran commanded. He knew the physical warriors were mostly at the Flesh Strengthening stage; sending them against silver constructs would be a waste of lives. "Mages, get in position. Rhody and Josh, I need the tankiest elementals you can summon."
The mages tasked with the heavy damage, Cassandra, Vena, and Prar, moved to the flanks, their staves ready.
In the center of the line, Rhody and Josh slammed their hands toward the ground. The earth groaned and cracked. Slowly, two four-meter-tall creatures rose from the dirt. One was a massive golem of solid, jagged stone. The other was a shifting, terrifying mass of molten rocks and hissing steam. As the summons took their full form, both Rhody and Josh slumped slightly, their faces turning pale from the sudden drain on their mana cores.
The stone and magma golems began to charge, their heavy footsteps shaking the valley floor.
The response from the ruins was immediate. The obsidian statues trembled, shaking off centuries of dust as their eyes ignited with a sharp, light blue light. One construct reached out and gripped a long spear made of the same silver stone. The other raised a massive hammer and a heavy shield.
The guardians began to walk forward, their joints grinding with a sound like tectonic plates shifting.
Kellen didn't wait for the collision. A silver staff materialized in the air in front of him, hovering steadily. He reached out and began to draw a complex rune in the air. A line of bluish light followed his finger, hanging in the void. As he finished the final stroke, the rune shattered into thousands of tiny, glowing particles that flew toward the two golems.
Suddenly, the summons grew, their frames expanding by at least ten percent. Sharp, crystalline spikes erupted from the shoulders of the stone golem. On the lava golem, the magma began to churn and bubble with violent energy. Both creatures let out a silent roar of power, moving faster now, driven into a magical frenzy.
"Now!" Luceran shouted.
With the signal given, Cassandra, Vena, and Prar unleashed their power. A barrage of wind blades, bolts of lightning, and raw force began to bombard the silver constructs, lighting up the grey mist with flashes of chaotic color.
A deafening boom echoed through the valley as the summoned golems struck their fists toward the silver constructs. Despite the heavy impact, the golems were visibly pushed back by the sheer mass of the ancient guardians. It looked as though the summons were about to be taken down under the relentless pressure.
Luckily, before that could happen, the spells shot by the mages struck the constructs with another explosive boom. The silver guardians staggered, their rigid stances breaking for a fraction of a second. This opening allowed the stone and lava golems to land a combined punch directly onto the chests of their targets.
The silver plating on their chests cracked further under the powerful impact. However, the constructs managed to stabilize themselves quickly. The guardian with the shield slammed its massive metal edge toward the stone golem, blasting the creature away with such force that it nearly crashed into the gathered army. Meanwhile, the second construct thrust its spear forward, piercing a gaping hole through the chest of the magma golem.
Suddenly, with blinding speed, Luceran appeared behind the shield-bearing construct. He swung his sword, which was imbued with a sharp bluish hue, directly at its head. CRACK. Despite the power of the swing, the blade only fractured the silver stone. However, it was clear that the runes etched into the construct's head were getting dimmer.
The guardian responded by swinging its massive hammer in a wide arc to reach Luceran. Despite its gargantuan size, the construct possessed a striking speed that was dangerously quick. Luceran ducked, the swish of the heavy weapon passing just above his head, and jumped backward an instant before a heavy stomp landed on the spot where he had been standing.
While the shield-bearing construct was busy with Luceran, the golems rose from the dirt again and started charging back toward the fight. Kellen swung his staff, and two purplish orbs began to form in the thin air. With a sharp command and a point of his staff, the orbs flew with blinding speed toward the guardians. BOOM.
The constructs were pushed back so far they almost fell. That was when the charge of the summoned golems reached them. CRASH. The silver guardians finally fell to the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that obscured everyone's view.
Rhody and Josh, who were visibly tired from the strain of maintaining their summons, could not help but ask, "Did we win?"
Luceran kept silent, his eyes fixed on the settling dust where the constructs lay.
"No, not yet," Kellen suddenly said.
As the dust started to recede, they saw the constructs rise from the ground once more. The runes on their heads, which had been dimmed, suddenly started to glow with a blinding, violent light.
"Alright, they are in berserk state. Be careful; we don't need to destroy them, as the consumption of energy is three times in a berserk state. Not to mention that these constructs must be in a low energy state since tens of thousands of years have passed." Kellen said.
"We only need to stall until they run out of energy," Luceran said.
The constructs lunged forward with renewed, frantic energy. The spear-bearer was a blur of silver, its strikes coming faster than the eye could follow. Cassandra stepped forward, her wind magic swirling into a protective gale. She diverted the spear thrusts with focused bursts of air, forcing the guardian to fight against a localized storm. Beside her, Vena unleashed a dual bombardment. She cast arcs of purple lightning that danced across the constructs' joints while simultaneously raining down fireballs to heat the metal to its breaking point.
Prar acted as the anchor. He pointed his iron wand at the ground, and a wave of force slammed into the guardians, increasing the local gravity. The ground beneath the constructs' feet cracked as they struggled to lift their limbs against the invisible weight.
The fight lasted for a long time. The silver guardians were relentless, their berserk movements fueled by their final reserves. Eventually, the strain became too much for the summons. The stone golem crumbled into dust under a hammer strike, and the magma golem dissipated into cold ash. Rhody and Prar, having pushed their mana cores to the absolute limit, fell to the ground from overconsumption. The mages were all exhausted, except for Luceran, Kellen, and Cassandra, who had massive mana reserves, for they were in the Mana Engraving stage.
With the mages and summoners exhausted, Luceran had to step in to tank the remaining aggression. He moved to the center, drawing the attention of both constructs. Kellen didn't miss a beat. He swung his staff, casting a series of rapid-fire buffs that enveloped Luceran in a shimmering violet light, strengthening his physical defense and boosting his reflexes. Occasionally, Cassandra would shoot out a wind cannon to stagger the constructs, halting their movement.
Luceran became the bait, dancing on the edge of the guardians' reach. He blocked the spear with his bluish-hued sword, and Kellen cast a force wall to parry. Every time a construct tried to turn toward the weakened mages, Luceran would strike a sensitive rune to bring its focus back to him.
His breathing was heavy, and sweat dripped into his eyes, but he held his ground. Kellen's buffs were the only thing keeping him from being crushed by the sheer weight of the silver stone.
Suddenly, the light in the spear-bearer's eyes flickered and died. It froze mid-lunge, its energy completely spent. A second later, the shield-bearer followed. Its massive hammer fell from its hand, and the construct tipped backward, crashing into the obsidian floor with a final, hollow thud.
The runes went dark. The silence of the valley returned, broken only by the heavy breathing of the survivors. They had won.
"Cassandra, distribute the potions to the mages," Luceran commanded.
"Yes, Your Highness," Cassandra replied.
"Borrin, tell the army to gather. Ask Ian and Liz to stay at the core of the formation. The inside of the ruins is far more dangerous than these constructs. We don't know whether there are any traps or defensive formations that are still working in the ruins."