The Battle Begins (2)

Just as Matthew's mind was racing, Herbert, who had successfully dodged the fatal blow, had already launched his counterattack.

His gaze was as sharp as an icicle, locking onto the joint on the right side of the giant golem's torso—made of heavy rock blocks—which was slightly exposed as it swung its fist.

Without chanting any lengthy incantations, he simply raised his right hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together like a sword, and jabbed rapidly in midair.

“Sst—!”

The shrill whistle of moisture in the air being rapidly extracted, condensed, and frozen suddenly rang out.

Three 【Icicle Spells】, each about a foot long, crystal clear throughout, and swirling with bone-chilling cold around their edges, formed in an instant. Tearing through the air in a triangular formation, they shot with speed and penetrative power far exceeding the previous water bullets, precisely targeting the rock joints of the giant golem's torso!

This time, the attribute of the spell was completely different. The extreme cold of the ice-attribute mana clashed violently with the giant golem's earth-attribute energy, which was naturally heavy and steady.

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

Three muffled thuds rang out almost simultaneously. The pale yellow protective halo on the giant golem's surface emerged once more, but under the strike of the sharp, condensed, and opposing-attribute icicles, the halo fluctuated violently, letting out an overburdened “crack” as it flickered erratically.

The first and second icicles depleted their mana after penetrating most of the halo, shattering into ice shards. However, through the gap they tore open, the third icicle successfully broke through, driving itself deep into the rock joint with a loud “clang”!

Though it failed to penetrate deeply, the extreme cold within the icicle erupted instantly. Visible frost spread rapidly from the point of impact, dyeing an area about the size of a washbasin stark white. The rock surface let out faint “crackle” sounds as it fractured, and the solidifying gel at the joint visibly became stiff and brittle.

The giant golem's movements stiffened ever so slightly as a result. The glow in its deep red crystal eyes seemed to flicker, as if it were “processing” this sudden, highly disruptive, and destructive energy intrusion.

But immediately after, just as the cracking sound of spreading frost echoed across the golem's massive rock body—before the joints could be completely sealed—a denser and heavier earthy-yellow glow suddenly erupted from deep within its torso.

Its deep red crystal eyes flashed violently. Accompanied by a dull rumble that sounded like grinding rocks, the ice layer covering its body shattered piece by piece, raining down as fine ice crystals. The entire process lasted less than a single breath.

That brief pause seemed as though the giant golem had merely stretched its virtually nonexistent rock “muscles.” In the next instant, with a swiftness that belied its massive frame, it swung its battering-ram-like giant fist once more. Shrouded in an even fiercer gust of wind, it smashed viciously toward Herbert, who had just finished casting his spell and had yet to recover his optimal stance!

In that split second, Matthew, who was waiting for his chance and observing from the side, had his thoughts racing like lightning.

‘An ice-attribute spell...’ Seeing Herbert cast the icicles instantly, he was not particularly surprised.

After all, even a self-taught wizard apprentice like him could master and utilize energy of two different attributes—non-attributed and fire—using his panel.

As a deeply experienced Third-Grade Apprentice from the academy, it was only natural for Herbert to possess another elemental affinity besides his primary water attribute, or to have mastered corresponding spell models as a trump card.

In fact, this was highly unlikely to be the full extent of his capabilities.

What truly made Matthew's eyes narrow and his heart turn cold was something else.

‘Furthermore... judging by the mana fluctuations and concentration of those three icicles just now, although they far exceeded my 【Fireball spell】, their energy peak didn't reach a saturated sensation of going “all out.”’

Relying on the sharp perception granted by his “solid as steel” Spirit, Matthew caught that fleeting detail.

When Herbert cast the icicles, his breathing rhythm remained steady. Although the mana circulating around him was active, it showed no violent surges or any sense of being instantly drained.

This meant that he might still have had plenty of strength left after that attack, and was far from needing to deplete all his mana to stake everything on a single throw.

‘He didn't use his full strength...’

This judgment caused Matthew to upwardly revise his assessment of Herbert's true strength once again. At the same time, it gave him a clearer realization that the mana reserves and exquisite spell control of a Third-Grade Apprentice—especially one from an orthodox academy—indeed far exceeded his current level.

While Matthew was lost in thought,

“Roar—!”

It was not a real sound, but a deafening, chest-rattling rumble produced by mana violently vibrating the air!

The giant golem's right arm, composed of a solid block of hard black rock and comparable to a giant battering ram, suddenly lifted. It was not slow or clumsy; instead, with an explosive speed packed with power that was completely disproportionate to its size, it whipped up a violent, air-rending wind and smashed straight down toward Herbert's head!

This strike was entirely without flourish, a brutal outpouring of pure mass and strength, as if intending to crush this greatest threat along with the very ground he stood upon deep into the earth!

Facing this unavoidable, thunderous blow, Herbert's face remained as calm as water.

He did not chant, yet the instant before the fist reached him, his figure strangely slid backward and to the left. He moved so quickly that he left a near-solid afterimage in his wake.

The giant rock fist crashed down with a deafening “Boom!” The hard ground where he had just stood instantly shattered, the stone slabs reduced to powder. A shallow crater nearly two meters in diameter appeared in an instant, sending stone fragments shooting outward in all directions like crossbow bolts!

Now!

Almost at the exact moment the giant golem's attack missed, its arm sinking into the shallow crater and its movements suffering an unavoidable split-second delay—

“Strike!” Sutton's sharp cry rang out like a battle horn.

Beside him, the two Silver Rank adventurers reacted the fastest!

Rex, the silent, burly giant, let out a low, suppressed growl from his throat. His muscles instantly tensed, and a bronze-colored combat qi light flared from his body like tangible flames. Stomping hard, he left a web of fine cracks on the ground beneath his feet.

Gripping his heavy steel warhammer with both hands, he used the momentum of his charge to pour all his strength and combat qi into the hammerhead. Transforming into a bronze hurricane, he charged fiercely from the flank, crashing toward the knee joint of the giant golem's right leg, which had not yet been fully retracted!

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