Universal Power System
Chapter 375: Battling the Golems

Chapter 375: Battling the Golems

The crater shook as the remaining two Rock Golems joined the fray, their massive forms crashing down with a massive force that shook the ground. Mako, Erin, and Alexi were already struggling against the first golem, and now they had to face three high-tier beasts.

Normally this wouldn’t have been such a big deal for a group like theirs as they had all faced and easily defeated high-tier beasts before; however, there was a crucial detail that none of them had realized.

Exactly how they were struggling to move and adapt on a different planet with completely different conditions and gravity, the beasts that they had fought against back on Earth were also affected by the Earth’s gravity and conditions which had made them struggle to move and fight freely as they would’ve on their native planet.

For humans, it was the norm for them as they were native to earth and had gone through millions of years of evolution to completely adapt to Earth’s environment which gave them a massive edge in every fight they had taken against beasts on their planet.

Mako quickly scanned the battlefield, his mind racing.

’So this is the power of an actual high-tier beast...’ Mako said to himself as he analyzed the current situation while trying to figure out a way to defeat the golems who were now slowly charging towards them.

The oppressive gravity of Infernis made every movement taxing and sapped their stamina.

The lack of natural resources such as water and metal also added to the challenge as both Erin and Alexi had limited materials at their disposal to use their most powerful abilities.

Erin had only brought a small thermal water bottle containing a liter of water to use in battle and Alexi only had a few chunks of metal that he could use his magnetism ability on.

"I figured it out!" Erin shouted, "The crystal embedded in their chest is their weak spot! Concentrate your attacks on the crystal!"

The final arrows that Erin had shot at the Golem as they rushed towards Alexi had finally provoked a reaction. One particularly well-aimed shot had struck the crystal embedded in the Golem’s chest and though it only left a small dent before bouncing off, the impact was enough to cause the Golem to stagger and the glowing fissures along its body to flare brightly for a moment.

This reaction seemed to resonate with the other golems who had been motionless on the ridge, prompting them to activate and lumber into the fray.

The group quickly moved into a defensive formation, with Erin hanging back to provide ranged support while Mako and Alexi worked to engage the golems up close and follow Erin’s advice, and aim for the crystals embedded in their chests.

[Flame Katana has been activated]

[Dash has been activated]

Mako activated his Fire ability, channeling red flames through his katana to counteract the cold and deal additional damage. He lunged at the first golem, aiming for the glowing fissures that Erin had targeted earlier. His blade struck true, sending a spray of sparks as it clashed against the beast’s rocky exterior. The golem roared, its movements becoming more erratic as Mako’s fire forced it to stagger.

Erin, meanwhile, uncapped her water bottle and carefully drew a small stream of water which instantly froze as it made contact with the air. She quickly activated her mutant gene with her eyes glowing icy white for a couple of moments as she shaped the ice into tens of tiny sharp icicles that she reinforced with her Ice ability before accurately launching at the Golem that was approaching Mako from the left.

The icicles struck with precision, chipping at the Golem’s crystal but failing to pierce deeply. The Golem staggered backward, emitting a guttural groan as glowing fissures flared up and down, pulsing in sync with the waves of pain coursing through its massive, stony frame before it collapsed to the ground with a resounding crash.

"I’m running low on water already," she called out as even though she had momentarily stopped one of the golems, she knew that her attacks weren’t enough to defeat it completely. "We’ll need another plan if this drags on!"

At the same time, Alexi gritted his teeth and used his Magnetism ability to manipulate one of the small metal chunks he carried. He shaped it into a small makeshift spear, inducing it with purple lightning before launching it at the golem to Mako’s left with all of his strength.

The weapon struck the beast’s chest, embedding itself on the surface of the crystal and releasing arcs of purple lightning that quickly enveloped the Golem’s body, shocking it for two seconds before fading and causing enough amount to make it growl in pain and fall down to its knees.

Mako continued to engage in close combat with the first golem. His teammates had bought him some time by stopping the other two golems so that he could isolate his fights and try to overpower and defeat them one by one.

The system had informed Mako that Fire was one of the weaknesses of this beast and he used this information to his advantage by constantly slashing his firey katana on the crystal, chipping more and more of it off with every slash.

[Fire Sword Style: Fiery Surface Slash]

[Fire Sword Style: Flame Claw]

The golem had naturally great fortitude and on top of that, it was concentrating all of its hardening ability onto its crystal. Combine that with the fact that Mako was struggling to output his attacks at their strongest level due to the increased gravity of the planet making it exceptionally hard to break as even with a dozen of Mako’s powerful successful fiery slashes, the first golem, although weakened, was far from defeated.

[Lightning Katana has been activated]

Mako leaped forward once again, this time channeling his Lightning ability into the katana as it was also one of its weaknesses, and used it to enhance his speed to overpower the golem even more. He delivered a flurry of slashes, each strike charged with electricity that caused the beast to convulse as it struck the crystal.

Since the golem wasn’t very agile, Mako had no problem delivering constant strikes to its crystal but he had to make sure to carefully assess and predict the golem’s next attack as even a single successful attack could deal massive damage.

By now the other two golems had recovered from Erin and Alexi’s initial attacks and had now shifted their focus onto them.

Erin and Alexi tried to slow them down again using the same attacks but the golems had learned as they periodically raised earth pillars from deep within the ground to block the incoming attacks as they continued moving forward.

The two golems advanced methodically, their glowing eyes fixed on Erin and Alexi. They quickly closed the distance and one of them swung their massive arm toward Erin, who managed to dodge by the narrowest of margins, using a gust of wind to propel herself backward. She retaliated with an arrow, aiming for one of the creature’s joints. The arrow caused chunks of stone to break off, but the golem barely slowed down.

The other golem focused on Alexi. It raised a rocky fist high above its head, bringing it down with devastating force. Alexi quickly rolled out of the way, the impact creating a tiny crater in the ice. He retaliated with his twin blades, channeling Lightning through the weapons to amplify their cutting power. Purple arcs covered the blades as he struck the creature’s legs, managing to destabilize it momentarily.

They both had one advantage and that was their speed. Using their wind abilities to propel themselves, they continued to dodge and chip away at the beasts while leading them around in circles.

The beasts were getting frustrated as they kept smashing the ground with attacks only for all of them to miss their target.

With a nod of understanding, both Erin and Alexi started leading the golems toward each other while continuing to dodge the attacks, slowing down a bit after their every strike to make it appear as if they had tired themselves out and wouldn’t be able to dodge their attacks for much longer, incentivizing the golems to strike harder.

And with the final strike that looked like it would finally connect and squash the tiny humans, both golems swung down their fists with maximum amount of force.

However, just then Erin and Alexi activated their wind ability once again and quickly propelled themselves out of the range of the golems’ attacks.

The golems, consumed by their single-minded aggression, failed to notice each other’s position in the heat of battle. Each swung its massive fist, intending to crush its target, but instead found its counterpart directly in the line of fire.

For a fleeting second, the glowing fissures on their rocky forms flared brilliantly, as if realizing the impending collision, but it was too late. Their tremendous momentum carried them forward, and the two golems slammed into each other with an earth-shattering impact.

The force of the collision was catastrophic. A deafening crack echoed across the icy crater as shards of their rocky exteriors flew in every direction. The glowing crystals embedded in their bodies shattered, releasing a burst of energy that lit up the battlefield in a blinding flash. When the light faded, nothing remained of the two golems but scattered fragments of their bodies.

The shockwave from the explosion distracted Mako for just a second as he looked over to see Alexi and Erin cleverly defeat the two golems; however, that was all the time the golem he was still fighting needed to finally land a blow on Mako as a swipe from its massive arm sent him flying back in Alexi and Erin’s direction.

[-50 HP]

Alexi quickly activated his wind ability, creating an updraft that propelled him into the air. He caught Mako mid-air stopping him from crashing straight into the rough and hard surface of the crater, steadying them both before using a controlled gust to guide their landing safely on the ground next to Erin.

They both landed on the ground and Erin quickly shot a couple of healing arrows by converting her bow to green mode.

It took a couple of seconds for Mako to breathe again after absorbing such a powerful blow to his body. His vision quickly returned to normal and he could see the golem charging towards them once again, staggering with every step from all the damage it had sustained from Mako’s constant assaults.

Mako let out a small cough as he got back on his feet with Alexi and Erin right behind him.

"Let’s finish this.." He said as he reactivated the flames on his katana and nodded towards Erin and Alexi who quickly understood Mako’s intention.

[Flame Katana has been activated]

With the golem visibly weakened, Mako saw this as the perfect opportunity to use one of the new collaborative skills that he had created with the help of Erin and Alexi’s combined Wind abilities.

He leaped into the air, revealing Alexi and Erin positioned behind him, each harnessing a swirling vortex of wind in their hands. The currents intensified, spiraling faster with every moment, gathering strength. As Mako began his descent, both of them unleashed the concentrated wind toward his feet, propelling him forward with explosive speed and momentum.

[Piercing Stream has been activated]

Mako held out his katana in front of his head like a bullet, focusing all of his speed and momentum on the tip of the fiery katana, and with a final, decisive strike, Mako drove his katana straight into the core of the golem before it could even react.

The golem let out a mighty, resonating growl as the fissures across its body flared with an intense, blinding light. Moments later, its massive form crumbled, collapsing into a heap of rubble.

The group had successfully defeated the three golems and the cold silence once again fell upon the the icy crater.