Epic Battle (1)

The obsidian armor around the Golem was no joke. His famous Eclipse blade did nothing except produce a loud sound.

Heizen quickly used the Ghost step to distance himself. Since the skill duration was only 1 minute, he must get out of the way. He needed rest before using the skill again. 

At this time, Bowen suddenly fired an arrow that penetrated the joint of the Golem accurately. 

"Explode!"

"Boom!"

A small explosion made the Golem's movement sluggish. However, it was still not enough to penetrate its armor. 

"Flame Strike," Sophie was also trying to injure the golem with a spell. 

"Roar," though the Golem was an experimental product, it had its own consciousness. Seeing ants attacking its body again and again, he ran with rage and slammed hard. 

"Arcane barrier," Sarah chanted a large barrier while retreating. However, the barrier disappeared only after a moment. But it still delayed it enough to get out of the attack range. 

"Heizen," Bernard yelled while preparing his skill. Heizen nodded and quickly took out his staff and began to chant. 

"Elderwood's Wrath," 

With the completion of the spell, the vines that were semi-conscious began to bind the leg of the Obsidian Golem. He was trying to hinder the movement of other Golems while helping his friends. 

"Explode," Bowen's shout along with his exploding arrows echoed in the chamber. 

Golem was using "Crushing Blow" from time to time in their direction. So, Sarah could only apply the Arcane barrier throughout the fight. 

Heizen was making sure other Golem wouldn't use Seismic Stomp with his vines. 

Just when Bowen's arrow dealt heavy damage to the Golem, Bernard ran straight and slammed his sword, 

"Power Strike."

With his heavy blow, the leg separated from its joint and the Golem dropped to the ground. 

The "Power strike," was the new skill Bowen learned which can apply mana in his sword. Though he didn't need to chant like others, the name itself was a command for the skill. Just like Bowen't exploding arrows. 

Sophia had been preparing for this moment. The moment Bernard left the area, she fired her spell, "Inferno Blast."

This was the larger version of the fireball spell. It had massive attack power on a single target. However, chanting time was longer.

With the damage power of Inferno Blast, the Golem was destroyed. Since they were constructed rather than alive, the idea was to make them immovable before killing. 

So, though the fight was harder than Wailing Vault, the team was able to cope easily. Moreover, with an archer around, it was easier to find their weak spot. 

"Elderwood's wrath,"

"Flame Strike," 

"Taunt," 

"Arcane barrier," 

"Explode,"

One after another spell was fired at the Golems. Many were only in level 13 while few were at 14 but their defense was tough. It took them hard work to even kill one. 

Also, Sarah's Arcane barrier was a lifesaver. 

Furthermore, the Golem were divided according to their base. They were not like monsters who would swarm from all over like in Wailing Vault. 

So, their team continued to kill Golem and collect the Obsidian fragments from their hearts. It seemed to act as their core. 

While they were killing the monsters, they were also leveling up. Of course, except Heizen.

Bernard and Bowen both were already at level 14 while the girls had surpassed him and were at 15th level. However, he was still at 14th. He didn't why his speed slowed down. 

After their team cleared the three camps, they stopped to take a rest. The Obsidian Bastion was huge and not all camp had Golem entrenched. Besides, the regeneration speed of this ruin was slow so their expectations weren't large. 

"The defense of these golems is off the charts. They are so hard to kill." Bernard said while taking care of his sword. 

"Yeah, my Eclipse blade didn't put a dent."

"Tch, you were trying to show off like before, but met your opponent." Sarah cut his words mercilessly. 

"Then again, why is your level not increasing? We have already caught up with you." Sophie said from the side. She seemed to be observing his level. Maybe, she wanted to compete. 

Others also paid attention. His level was above all when they first met but now they had already caught up with him while he was still in the 14th. 

Heizen was also unsure. He didn't know why but his experience was increasing at a very slow rate in this catacomb. He had killed multiple monsters along the way, but the experience was only at 58%. 

"I don't know either. I am gaining very little experience after entering the catacomb." He told them in confusion. 

"This shouldn't happen. Did you hit your level cap? But that shouldn't happen until you reach 20." Everyone was confused. If that happened to everyone, then they could attribute it to catacomb. However, only Heizen was having such an issue. 

"Ok, don't worry about me. There must be some issue with my use of the Tier 1 monster core. I leveled too fast at that time." Heizen could only attribute to that situation. 

Just when everyone was talking, the ground suddenly began to tremble, 

"Roar," a huge roar echoed through the chamber followed by the rapid footsteps of running Golems. 

The air around the whole chamber began to heat up at an alarming speed. The heavy thud on the ground silenced every other noise around the chamber. Something seemed to be walking in their direction. 

The face of everyone became solemn. Whatever that was, they knew they would be hard-pressed if they fought. 

"Let's leave this ruin for now. We don't know what is happening here." Bernard quickly made a decision. Everyone also nodded and returned the way they came. 

The sound of heavy footsteps was getting faster. They could already see the huge giant covered with Obsidian from head to toe at their back. 

Just then, Heizen heard a cold robotic sound in his mind,

[Ding!]

[Good Luck favors you.]

[Kill the subordinate of Vulkarion to get an Obsidian Heart.]

"I knew it." Heizen cursed.