The reason the Infernal Tyrant was able to rapidly create a home-field advantage for itself was due to this rapidly exhausting fire energy.
Greem had only been focused on one thing as he controlled the Tyrant during this period of time!
Greem had locked onto the Golem Knight's right knee joint and was focusing the Blazing Light gathered in his hand right at that joint. He intended to use the fearsome and pure Blazing Light to melt the metal at the Golem Knight's knee joint, causing the metal to distort under the heat and the stress of the weight it had to bear. This would severely weaken its mobility.
It seemed that Golem Master Rouneau had used a humanoid design in the creation of the Golem Knight. This gave it swift limb movements and made it convenient for the golem to launch some of its more powerful knight battle-techniques. While this gave the Golem Knight agility far beyond the means of other ordinary metallic golems, it also inherited the flaws of a human construction.
Its joints were its greatest weakness!
Both the energy reactors and the control cores were hidden beneath its thick armor. This was where its defense was the strongest. Ordinary attacks could not break through its tower shield and knight's sword to crack that shell. As such, Greem went for the second best option and tried his best to damage the opponent's lower joints.
Mansordar Alloy was also used to create that part, and it had the same defensive capabilities as the magic-resistant tower shield. However, even the toughest of metals had their limits! The Infernal Tyrant was a top-grade golem casting the fearsome Blazing Light. Even if the Golem Knight intended to protect its joints, it was no match for Greem's mad resolve to melt it with overwhelming heat!
The two temporarily separated from each other after fifteen minutes of arduous fighting. Both of them were already badly damaged and could hardly continue fighting.
The Infernal Tyrant had lost 46% of its energy reserves and certain parts of its body had already been destroyed over ten times. With the help of the chip's detailed sensors and guidance, the Tyrant was wounded, but not dead. The golem core was still untouched.
The Infernal Tyrant, despite its miserable appearance, was quickly able to return to peak condition after consuming 7% of its energy reserves. The Golem Knight on the other side of the arena also seemed to be in decent condition. After stepping out of the lava pool, it quickly brandished its sword and charged at the Infernal Tyrant.
Just like that, the second round broke out in a new battlefield outside of the lava pool!
The audience of adepts and apprentices silently watched. Their expressions were somber and serious. For the first time since the fight started, they had lost their confidence in the outcome of the battle. That was because they saw very clearly what was happening. The Golem Knight's knee was no longer as flexible as before, when it had initiated its second charge at the imposing flame golem.
Rouneau, who watched from a distance, was completely shocked at the situation. This wasn't how the fight was supposed to go!
As a golem master himself, Rouneau knew very well the strengths and weaknesses of metallic golems.
Ordinary metallic golems were made of magical alloys with exceptional physical defense and acceptable magic resistance. This ensured that they had a perfect defense against piercing and slashing weapons, such as swords and spears. However, such golems were vulnerable to blunt, heavy weapons. They couldn't endure the ferocious blows of maces, axes, and flails for long periods of time. The impact of such heavy blows could easily damage and displace the magical arrays and runic circuits within the golem's body.
This was why most ordinary magical puppets and animated statues were made to be as round and large as possible. They used their thick metallic bodies and heavy weight to bear the brunt of heavy blows and to reduce the impact on their fragile inner makings.
Rouneau had fused a high-grade knight's soul into the Golem Knight in order to maximize the benefits from using a precious Mansordar tower shield and a magical sword. The Golem Knight had been created with the slim figure of an agile fighter to bring out the soul’s combat abilities.
The weakened defense could be compensated for by the tough tower shield. This Golem Knight had both the offensive abilities of an agile fighter and the defensive abilities of a shieldbearer.
It was because of the knight soul’s exceptional defenses, offense, and battle techniques that the Golem Knight had the powerful combat strength to crush the golem constructs of two shops in a row.
Still, he never expected his Golem Knight to face an enemy as powerful as the Infernal Tyrant at this time and place.
The enemy's elementium golem demonstrated unimaginable prowess in melee combat under the precise control of its golem master. One golem was a metallic puppet made of steel and iron, while the other was an elementium golem shrouded in flames. Yet the Golem Knight was unable to gain the upper hand in a melee fight!
Rouneau saw what had transpired earlier. The flame-being had dodged every single one of the Golem Knight's powerful battle techniques, even before they were launched. The flame golem had even used parts of its body to minimize the damage from the attacks it couldn't dodge. None of the attacks could exhibit their true might.
The Tyrant's attack, on the other hand, was firm and stubborn. It continued to damage the Golem Knight's joints and weaken its mobility.
Rouneau couldn't help but feel his heart burn with anxiousness as the two massive creatures continued to wreak havoc on the stage.
Initially, he was still able to remain silent and uninvolved in the fight between the two. After all, the knight's soul inside the puppet was far more proficient at combat than he was!
However, Rouneau went into a rage when he witnessed an infuriating scene. The fearsome flame golem had traded a massive wound on its body for more minor damage to the knee joint.
Dammit! This enemy even knew how to trick the Golem Knight's battle instincts!
The Golem Knight would always be faced with choices in battle; whether to strike and inflict more damage on the opponent, or to defend and prevent the enemy from continuing to wound its leg.
But the flame humanoid was always exposing its own weaknesses to the Golem Knight and tricking the Knight into attacking it. While the Knight was preoccupied with dealing damage, the flame golem would slowly dole out damage to the knee joint, little by little.
The Golem Knight only possessed a rigid soul that was the product of a forced fusion. It would recklessly continue to attack as long as it judged that the damage it caused greatly exceeded the damage it received. This particular trait was being exploited by the accursed flame golem.
The opponent exhausted large amounts of its energy reserves to trade for some insignificant damage on his golem. However, the damaged location was extremely unique. It was the Golem Knight's right knee joint.
Rouneau didn't dare leave the Golem Knight to its own devices once he understood what was happening. He forcefully gave a new command and made the Knight prioritize defending or dodging when its legs were attacked
Unfortunately, the Infernal Tyrant was already counter-attacking at this point!
…………
The image before Greem’s eyes shook intensely.
Multiple beeps rang out in his mind as the chip continued to issue alarms and warnings.
"Beep. Warning. Warning. 78% of energy reserves exhausted. Estimated combat time remaining: 25 minutes, 17 seconds."
Greem had let the Infernal Tyrant suffer tremendously in order to try and cripple a single leg. Sadly, even after exhausting most of the Tyrant's energies, the opponent remained wounded but not crippled. It still retained powerful mobility and offense.
The Golem Knight had also become increasingly careful under Rouneau’s instructions. There were fewer chances for the Infernal Tyrant to attack.
At this rate, the opponent only needed to defend and counter-attack, and they would be able to exhaust all of the energy remaining in the Infernal Tyrant.
Greem gritted
his teeth and decided on a gamble! A risky gamble to turn the tides!
Chapter 288
Wuuu.
The knight's sword slashed at the Infernal Tyrant, causing violent winds to blow in every direction.
The blade missed by fifty centimeters, but the ferocious air pressure still sliced apart the protective layer of fire on the Tyrant's chest. A white mark was left behind on its chest.
The sword had just swept by, and already the tower shield slammed into its face. Again, even before the shield had arrived, the powerful wind pressure had already put out the flames on the Tyrant's body.
Even the insignificant air appeared to have turned solid at this moment!
The energy reserve bar in Greem's mind instantly fell by 2%. He had no choice but to give up on enduring the shield slam and quickly retreated. He frantically threw out Explosive Fireballs as he backed away, preventing the enemy from following up on its previous attack. Two Solar Rays shot out from the Tyrant's eyes and sliced horizontally towards the Golem Knight's neck.
Explosive Fireballs continuously exploded between the two golems. The concussive flame shockwaves caused the two giants to stall in place, like tiny rafts rowing against the tide. It was hard for them to take a single step in the elementium storm.
An Explosive Fireball could deal over 70 points of damage and was no small threat, even to an official adept. However, neither of the magic golems were damaged by the multiple explosions.
One was a metallic golem made of steel and iron. It could completely ignore all damage under 80 points. Any damage above 80 points would also be mitigated and reduced by the magical alloy’s magical resistance. An attack had to deal at least 100 points of damage to have any hope of leaving behind a visible wound.
The Infernal Tyrant, on the other hand, was completely immune to weak fire damage. Only swift and fierce physical attacks, like those from the Golem Knight, could cause lasting energy loss.
Greem hadn't fired the Explosive Fireballs in hopes of dealing damage to the enemy. Rather, he was counting on the shockwaves from the explosives to break the Golem Knight's combo chain. Otherwise, there was a real possibility that the Tyrant could just be chained to death.
This was the truly fearsome skill of high-grade knights!
You were never sent flying with a slam of a shield or the slash of a blade when you engaged in a melee. Once they landed the first battle technique on your body, you would lose all control over the fight. The only option left would be to slowly retreat backward as they continued to overwhelm you with their lightning-quick slashes until you were sliced to ribbons.
Greem's Tyrant hadn't managed to dodge this string of attacks in the last bout. It was chained several times by the Golem Knight and instantly lost 17% of its energy reserves. Thus, Greem was now always primed to fire some Explosive Fireballs to interrupt the Golem Knight's chain skills.
Greem was now able to predict the Golem Knight's actions to a certain extent. He used his elementium sight's ability to see the flow of energy within its body as well as the chip’s analysis.
Every time the energy in the Golem Knight's body started to gather at the right wrist, the shoulder, and the waist, it meant that it was about to launch a Spinning Slash. Every time energy gathered at its feet and back, it meant that it was about to Charge. And when energy gathered at the legs and the right wrist, it was very likely to be a Forward Stab.
After such a long time in combat, the chip had perfectly captured and analyzed all of the tricks and techniques the opponent possessed. The price the Tyrant had to pay for this knowledge was the loss of 85% of its energy!
The Infernal Tyrant had never been hit by any of the enemy's attacks once the chip completed its analysis. In fact, every time the opponent was about to launch an attack, the Infernal Tyrant would be able to predict the direction of the attack and instantly reposition itself. It would then take the small window of opportunity where the Golem Knight was stuck in its attack motion to repeatedly attack the Knight's right knee joint.
There was originally a knee guard on that spot. However, that piece of armor had been completely melted and destroyed by Greem's constant effort. The Golem Knight's ball-shaped knee joint was completely exposed.
Perhaps because of Rouneau's command, or the battle instincts of the Golem Knight itself, it quickly took up its massive tower shield and started protecting its lower limbs the moment it realized its knee joint was exposed.
Though in doing so it lost its mobility. Both its movement and attack speed had been reduced by over 40%.
Greem took this opportunity to control the Tyrant and put some distance between the two golems. He then started to bombard the Golem Knight at a distance. One after another the Magma Fireballs and Fire Core Explosions sailed through the air and ravaged the slow, immobile Knight.
Pure elementium spells weren't that effective against metal cans like the Golem Knight. Single-target spells that had both physical and elementium damage, like the Magma Fireball, had far more condensed and concentrated energy. Of course, Blazing Light was also very effective in dealing damage!
However, Blazing Light was comparatively harder to form and required constant channeling. This made it easier for the Golem Knight to catch up and attack the Tyrant. Greem tried to cast Blazing Light several times, but he had to give up the idea in the end. Instead, he ravaged the opponent with streams of Magma Fireballs.
Greem had even turned off his favorite Ring of Fire to reduce the energy consumption rate. The only two spells he was using were Fire Teleportation and Magma Fireball. Even if only two or three out of every ten attacks hit the opponent, it was more than enough to wear away at the Golem Knight.
The lava splash from the Magma Fireball was extremely thick. It would cling to the Golem Knight's body and continuously inflict small amounts of damage to the armor. The fragments of rock that formed after the magma cooled were also the greatest enemies of mechanical gears. They would easily get stuck in the turning gears and cause them to twist and deform.
At this point in the battle, almost everyone with a pair of eyes could see that the Golem Knight's past glory had faded. Even though it still had the initiative on the battlefield, it was dealing minimal damage to the Infernal Tyrant. Most of the time it was only chasing behind the flame golem's ass.
On the other hand, the Infernal Tyrant had complete control over the pace of battle after finally getting over that difficult start. It nimbly moved across the stage and continuously wore away at the Golem Knight's body bit by bit with an unending assault of Magma Fireballs.
Only the outer layer of the armor appeared to be melting, but that didn't mean the Knight was winning. When it failed to destroy the elementium golem's core in a melee fight, it had lost its control over the entire fight.
Its injured right leg was also a major cause for concern!
The tower shield might allow the Golem Knight to protect this point of weakness, but it was also a burden on the Knight’s speed. The Knight could no longer catch up to the Tyrant. It might have been able to do so if it tossed aside the shield, but then the joint…
For a moment, even Golem Master Rouneau fell into a daze. He hesitated and no longer barked commands at his golem.
Just then, Greem decided to launch an attack of his own initiative.
There was no choice. The Infernal Tyrant had exhausted over 89% of its energy. There was no possibility of wearing down the enemy with a marathon. He had to conclude the battle soon.
The Fire Lord’s Scepter suddenly appeared in the Tyrant's hand. A massive pillar instantly exploded in front of it, and the equally massive body of the Fire Deity appeared on stage.
Everyone was shocked for a moment.
After all, the ten-meter-tall body of the Fire Deity was far too intimidating and deceptive.
However, all the adepts let out a sigh and shook their heads in disappointment once they used their Spiritual senses to get a feel for the Fire Deity's true power level.
What use
was a pseudo-adept level elementium being in a golem fight of this level?
The Fire Deity bent its body and charged towards the Golem Knight before the audience could lament any more.
A distraction? Self-destruction? Or just…
The Fire Deity self-destructed before Rouneau even had the time to give another command to the Golem Knight.
A flame halo ravaged outward with the sudden explosion, instantly enveloping the Golem Knight in all its wrath and fury. Even the earth and skies turned into a chaotic sea of flames. A cage made of pure elementium fire materialized out of nowhere as the violent fires and the fearsome streams of flame coursed all over the stage. The Golem Knight had been trapped within.
The next second the Infernal Tyrant's domineering body, shrouded in flames, appeared beside the flame cage. A mysterious smile appeared on its black and red face and an odd black grimoire flew into its hands.
The Scroll of Voodoo!
As a piece of Soul Equipment, the Infernal Tyrant was able to use the Scroll of Voodoo once Greem had transferred his spiritual consciousness into the Tyrant's core.
A deep and powerful roar rang out in the air. The Infernal Tyrant quickly channeled the powerful spells contained within the Scroll and several Fire Core Explosions detonated against the Golem Knight’s body.
The Fire Core Explosions each dealt up to 191 points of damage. Every single one of them could send an unprepared adept to their grave. Six unbelievably powerful Fire Core Explosions had burst within the flame cage. The accumulated magic effect was enough to send chills down the spines of every adept present.
The center of the explosion had reached a terrifying ten thousand degrees. The damage to the Golem Knight was enough to destroy it.
The Golem Knight could tell it was at a disadvantage. It frantically shielded its body with the tower shield and gathered all of its energy to charge through the flame cage. Unfortunately, the damage to its leg limited the speed at which it could move. The jets of flame quickly caught up after it barely broke out of the cage.
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