The Golem Mage
Chapter 889 889: Back To The Grind 3.

The lead wolf was visibly surprised when Alec summoned three more golems to his aid, but it didn't waver, because despite the unexpected turn, his group still held the number advantage, and with a flick of its tongue, it began fantasizing about how much stronger it would become after devouring the human before it. .

That confidence, however, began to crumble slightly the moment the five wolves charged into the defensive circle formed by the golems surrounding Alec, the formation held firm, but it was clear the golems were struggling to hold their own against the beasts. Just then, Alec summoned the rest of his golems into battle.

As they emerged, each golem swiftly picked a target, piercing into the wolves already locked in combat with the first wave.

Without wasting a second, Alec moved toward the wolf fighting Titan, as Titan was the only one without a second golem partner.

Alec attempted to drive his bone katana through the wolf's eye, but the beast quickly retreated, sensing the danger in time.

However, in doing so, it made the mistake of forgetting Titan, who seized the opportunity to conjure a massive ice mace and slammed it down on the wolf's head with a heavy thud.

The strike connected cleanly, leaving the wolf dazed and stumbling as it started to see double.

Still, the beast proved its toughness, as it shook its head violently and managed to snap itself out of the stunned state, however then, it noticed something strange: Titan now stood alone, and Alec was gone.

The wolf tried to shift its gaze to search for Alec before another attack landed, but the pressure bearing down on it made its fur stand on end, as it raised its head slowly, the beast saw Alec above it, shrouded in a fleeting veil of grey fog.

"Even now, you still haven't learned to keep your eyes on your enemy," Alec muttered as he calmly placed his left hand atop the wolf's head.

[> Mid Tier Spell – Infernal Blaze.<]

Alec spoke calmly as pure, dark flames erupted from his palm, latching onto the thick hide of the wolf.

The beast thrashed and wailed in agony, as the black fire consuming it rapidly, its cries echoing through the clearing.

Alec's body, which had mysteriously appeared atop the wolf, vanished again like smoke in the wind, moments later, that same smoke coalesced beside Titan and the rest of his gathered golems that had taken care of their own opponents.

"Please... end its suffering," Alec muttered, unable to bear the haunting screams of the creature as the devouring flames showed no sign of relenting, the remaining wolves, who hadn't yet attacked, began to inch backward—Except for the first one that had spoken. Fear was slowly taking root in their hearts as they watched their comrade being devoured alive, unable to extinguish the black flames even with its mana.

Bang!

Just then, the sound of Legion's rifle rang out, the sharp crack of the headshot echoed across the trees, silencing the wolf's wailing instantly as its lifeless body collapsed to the ground with a thud sound.

Alec thought that might be the end of it—until the lead wolf tilted its head and let out a chilling howl, fury and pain woven into its voice, one by one, the rest of the pack followed, howling into the sky.

At first, Alec assumed they were only calling for reinforcements—until he saw the change, every wolf's eyes shifted into a blood-red hue.

"Uhh… that doesn't look good," Alec muttered, tensing up.

"They killed one of ours in such a cruel way… I won't let them die easily. Flay them alive!" the lead wolf snarled.

The entire pack charged, and to Alec's horror, wolves began appearing from multiple directions—more reinforcements, more madness, all in a berserk frenzy, they were hopelessly outnumbered, as the golems created a circle defence around him and clashed against the beasts.

"Fuck!" Alec hissed as the reality sank in.

With no time to hesitate, he placed his hand on each of his limiter devices in rapid succession, putting them into his space ring, though the ring wasn't on his finger, however his link with it allowed him to summon or withdraw items from his body with ease—especially in moments like this.

There was no room left to fight with limiters, the battlefield had changed.

Shackling sounds echoed through the clearing as each restrictive device on Alec's body detached and vanished into his space ring, thick black smoke began to seep from his pores, a sign that he was shedding his limiters—and revealing his true strength.

Alec didn't particularly like casting spells with his black flames.

He had discovered that they carried more than just destructive power and an extra effect.

His flames, known as Hell Flames, were the same variant his father had awakened—flames infamous for their undying nature and the searing, excruciating pain they inflicted.

They clung to their victims, burning them alive unless the caster willed them away or death claimed the afflicted, or the afflicted was way stronger than Alec to retrain them

Though Alec knew he'd just caused the wolf's death, however guilt never crossed his mind, in the Beast Forest, it was a dog-eat-dog world, the lead wolf's attempt to rally its pack against him, while pretending to act self-righteously offended, only fuelled Alec's irritation.

After all, it had been the wolves who first marked him as prey, now because one of them died in such a way, they acted as if Alec had violated some unwritten rule—as if only they had the right to kill, and he was supposed to offer up his life willingly.

[> Mid Tier Skill – Shuffle Sword <]

Beside Alec, Saint raised his blade and swiped it in reverse, as a shimmering sword qi burst forth, its hue a pale blue edged in white, like frost kissed by dawn. It arced through the battlefield—not toward the front lines of charging wolves, but straight toward the leader at the rear.

The leader's eyes flicked toward the approaching slash, and without panic, it stepped aside with casual grace, letting the blade pass harmlessly by.

The attack sliced clean through the tree behind it, which groaned, tilted, and slowly collapsed in two, and it became clear to Alec that the wolf leader wanted to appear composed, brushing off the strike as if it hadn't just grazed danger.

"Master, what are your orders?" Saint asked calmly.

"The longer we wait, the tighter their encirclement becomes."

Even Legion who had been silent, gave a firm nod of agreement to saints words .

Alec finally snapped out of his thoughts, he had been silently analysing the situation, waiting—no, hoping—for a Tier 7 demonic beast to appear, that was the entire reason he'd held back, and even asked the golems go easy and feign weakness to lure out stronger reinforcements.

He had wanted pressure—real pressure—from facing a true Tier 7 opponent.

"Wait… don't tell me this is it? You mean there's no Tier 7 among you?" Alec stepped forward, his tone dry with disbelief.

The faint look of fear that had previously lingered on his face was gone, replaced by an unwavering killing intent.

Unbeknownst to him, a faint blood mist began to swirl behind him, triggered by his rising aura.

The leading wolf, unable to understand Alec's intent, took his words as mockery.

It snarled in fury, feeling insulted that Alec would dare belittle it for not reaching the Tier 7 realm.

"What are you waiting for?! Kill him!" it barked, still rooted in place and unwilling to make a move itself.

Alec sighed, to him the leading wolf was already sounding like a broken record, and clearly not the threat he had hoped for.

He'd had enough of this farce, and dying in such a pointless entanglement during his first real foray into the third level of the Beast Forest would be an insult—one that would severely shake his mental foundation if he even allowed it.

With a cold, resolute expression, Alec began walked out of the defence circle toward the wave of wolves, to him it was now time to end this.