The Golem Mage

The battle against the Ghouls was reaching its climax, as ever since Knight and Agnes unleashed their spirit equipment, they have increased their killing speed to an astonishing level.

With Knight's improve ability to move through shadows allowed him to swiftly dispatch the Ghouls by slicing their throats with ease.

And Agnes, on the other hand, displayed mastery over earth magic, effortlessly conjuring a relentless barrage of earth spears, Earth bullets, and Earth spikes without the need for verbal incantations, it was almost like she could cast it instantly like her innate spell.

She also took on the crucial role of defending the entire group, utilizing her expanded awareness of the battlefield to protect those in danger even before threats emerged.

With numerous water shields being conjured by to the various mages in the group, they were afforded precious moments to respond to sneak attacks that could have otherwise put them in perilous situations.

In addition to Knight and Agnes, another formidable presence on the battlefield was Lucas Blade, who expertly navigated the chaos with his glaive in hand.

His unique utilization of the weapon's long reach allowed him to swiftly take down multiple Ghouls, showcasing a lethal skillset that left any opposition reeling.

Lucas' every movement was imbued with potent Qi, making each attack a deadly force to be reckoned with for those unfortunate enough to face him.

As for the last four Tier 3 Ghouls, they have silently retreated into the shadows, using the crowd of Ghouls as a disguise to hide again, after realizing the futility of facing Lucas head-on, after witnessing his prowess in dispatching their fellow comrades that was in the same realm as them, and how fast he had come back to assist.

So they plotted to overwhelm him by sending a horde of Ghouls to drain his stamina, the group braced themselves for the impending onslaught, knowing that the battle was far from over.

"Here they come!" Agnes alerted the group as a massive Tier 3 Ghoul sprang from the crowd, hurtling toward Lucas from his blind spot, but still yet he remained focused.

As he tightened his grip on his weapon.

[> Low Tier Skill – Reverse Sweep <]

With a swift motion, he swung his glaive, the curved blade traced a sweeping arc behind him, as the Tier 3 Ghoul was caught off guard by Lucas fast reaction and was struck across its ribcage, sending it hurtling back into the throng of Ghouls.

After Spotting another Tier 3 Ghoul, Lucas was determined not to let it slip away, after learning the hard way that their mastery of disguise in dark spots made them elusive foes.

So he Chased after the Ghoul he had just sent flying, Lucas dashed into the mass of Ghouls.

To his surprise, instead of attacking him, they formed a solid barrier, blocking his retreat, and Lucas realized he had walked into a trap, but the immediate concern was not the danger the Ghouls posed to him, but the time it would take to escape.

As he assessed the situation, he noticed the Tier 3 Ghoul he had engaged with was smiling, a sign that it never even meant to fight him it only wanted to lure him so the other three could be free to attack the rest of his group.

With their incredible speed, they went after the rest of Lucas' team, It was evident that the Tier 3 Ghoul acting as bait, and was banking that one of them would be able to consume mages flesh enough to achieve a breakthrough to the next realm.

This ominous plan was intended to bolster their strength, enabling them to confront Lucas with a newfound advantage.

"Damn it, I despise intelligent beasts. Why can't they all be simple-minded brutes!" Lucas cursed, spinning his glaive in an attempt to unleash a whirlwind Qi attack to repel the encircling Ghouls.

Despite his efforts, the creatures sacrificed themselves to disrupt his attack, rendering it difficult to fully utilize the glaive's lethal reach in the cramped space.

"Don't fret, I've got this, your group isn't a bunch of weaklings that need your constant rescue," Agnes reassured, her voice unwavering.

Lucas turned to see that the Tier 3 Ghouls had set their sights on her.

While they had considered him a threat due to his immense strength, they viewed Agnes as a more formidable adversary.

Recognizing that she possessed the authority to keep the team organized and cohesive, the Ghouls sought to eliminate her, who had been dictating the flow of battle since its onset.

As the Ghouls closed in on Agnes, she smiled knowingly.

"I have been expecting you as well, while you beasts may have developed intelligence and organized your horde of lesser monsters, I had hoped your arrogance would lead you into my trap instead, and it seems you have." Agnes proclaimed confidently.

With a swift transformation of her wand into its staff form, she drove it into the ground, channelling her power alongside four members of the Gordon clan in the team who mirrored her actions from different angles as they slammed there feet's deep into the ground using there body as a connection.

Their combined mana wove a complex rune pattern on the ground, with Agnes at its center.

"Bind," Agnes commanded, activating the rune's power.

As the rune formations concluded their convergence and the group united, elongated hands made of earth element were dispatched towards the three Tier 3 Ghouls in an attempt to restrain and bind them.

But the Ghouls slashed at the hands made from earth element with there claws, destroying them, in the process, but despite the Ghouls aggressively slashing with their razor-sharp claws, each earth hand that was destroyed swiftly regenerated with double the number and increased durability.

The Ghouls' resistance only fueled the strength of the earth formation, culminating in their eventual immobilization after a minute of relentless struggle.

The Ghouls found themselves ensnared by massive hands constructed of earth element, completely locked within a formidable earth confinement.

"Now, Knight, Kate, these are free points," Agnes remarked, her brow already glistening with sweat as she spoke.

It was at that moment that Kate and Knight made their presence known.

Kate delivered a powerful fiery punch directly at the skull of one immobilized Ghoul, relentlessly striking the same spot until its demise, as she cast a glance at Knight, she couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Knight didn't face the same struggle as Kate, equipped with Tier 3 spirit equipment, he possessed the natural advantage of effectively combating Tier 3 lifeforms even while being in the Tier 2 realm, making it a straightforward kill as the Ghouls were in a restrained state with no means to retaliate.

Following the Ghouls' defeat, Agnes released her grip on the formation, accompanied by a sigh of relief.

The exertion of maintaining the Ghouls' bindings had taken its toll on her and the other Gordons clansmen, including Kelvin and the twins, draining them almost entirely of their mana.

The resulting strain left them with the usual mana headache from overexertion.