The sky cracked open with the force of their descent as Erend and Eccar dove toward the stone giants.
The ring of golems surrounding the temple stirred at the same time when they noticed a threat incoming.
Their massive ten-meter bodies turning with grinding stone joints. Their green eyes ignited like emerald beacons, flaring with awareness.
Forty-five of them still stand now. Towering figures of ancient defense Magic, arms thick as tree trunks and armored in layered granite. But neither Erend nor Eccar hesitated.
Erend landed first, the ground beneath him bursting into molten cracks.
Flames erupted from his feet and coiled around his arms.
The nearest golem turned, raising a boulder-sized fist to attack him but Erend was already in motion.
He dashed forward in a streak of flame and leapt. While in midair his hands came together, conjuring a spear of blazing fire.
With a snarl, he hurled it at the golem's chest. The flaming weapon struck dead center, right where the core pulsed behind layers of rock. It pierce through without trouble.
The explosion was instantaneous. The golem staggered. Its arms flailing as flame gushed from its cracked torso.
Then, with a burst of heat and light, the core shattered, and the giant collapsed into rubble.
Eccar landed not far from him, hitting the ground with a seismic thud.
Cracks spread beneath his feet and stone rose like waves in response to his presence.
He extended one hand and clenched it into a fist.
Pillars of jagged earth filled with earth energy erupted beneath three golems at once, skewering them from below in one strike right at their core location.
One's core exploded on impact. Another was lifted high before Eccar brought both arms down, slamming the creature into the ground so hard the core shattered through its back.
"Don't fall behind," Erend called.
Eccar gave a grunt. "Hah! Alright!"
Erend whirled, dodging a golem's downward punch by inches.
He rolled beneath its legs and sent twin blasts of fire upward.
The first scorched the stone plating off its back, and the second pierced deep, igniting the green core from within.
The golem let out a low, shuddering groan before toppling in two.
Not stopping, Erend sprinted and leapt again. This time he drove his flaming fist directly into the chest of another, punching through rock with a fiery roar.
The core burst like glass under pressure, and flames gushed out through the golem's eye sockets and joints.
Meanwhile, Eccar had ripped an entire boulder from the ground and hurled it into the head of another golem.
As it stumbled, he dashed forward and slammed both fists into its legs, toppling the massive creature in one move.
He jumped and brought his heel down on its chest. Stone cracked, and his fist followed, plunging straight through to the green core and grinding it to dust.
Another golem charged him from the side, arms swinging in a deadly arc.
Eccar raised a wall of stone in a heartbeat, blocking the blow.
Then, with a swift motion he made the wall explode forward like a cannon.
The shards embedded deep into the golem's torso, exposing the core.
Eccar's next punch sent the core shattering, the creature collapsing backward in a shower of debris.
Erend spun, blasting two more golems with waves of concentrated fire. He shaped it like whips and slashing at their limbs, forcing them to kneel.
Then he launched himself between them and slammed his hands into both cores in a twin eruption of fire. The resulting explosion sent molten shards flying.
Across the battlefield, Eccar throws a golem to the ground with brute strength alone, gripping its arm and driving it into the earth.
As it struggled, he jumped and reached into its cracked chest and tore the core out with a roar, crushing it between both hands.
Stone rained like hail around them. The bodies of fallen golems lay shattered in scorched earth and broken rock.
In mere minutes, ten golems each had fallen before them.
Twenty more stood across the clearing.
The forest rang with the echo of Magic and power. Flames still flickered in the air. The ground was marked with craters.
Erend turned to Eccar, wiping dirt from his cheek with the back of his hands.
"Alright," he muttered, his eyes glowing faint red, voice calm and sharp like a blade. "Let's finish the rest.
Inside the temple. The three cultists remained motionless until the sound came.
It was a distant and dull crash at first. Then another came. And another, then become louder and closer.
The sound of stone being shattered and massive bodies falling. It rolled through the ground and the walls like thunder.
The youngest cultist's eyes snapped open. He flinched, staring toward the temple window. "Those are the golems!"
"Impossible," the tattooed one frown.
The eldest raised his head, expression suddenly taut. He stepped away from the ritual circle and placed a hand against the obsidian wall, feeling the vibration.
His voice was cold. "Twenty golems were being torn apart like children's toys."
The youngest cultist swallowed hard. "That shouldn't be possible. Not unless…"
"...Unless Orzhal-Kur failed," the silver-tattooed one finished grimly.
Silence fell between them. Not the deep silence of confidence, but the sharp silence of dread.
The eldest slowly turned to face the others. His brow furrowed, lips pressed in a tight line.
"If Orzhal-Kur is dead, then the only ones who could be doing this are the forces who had closed all thos rifts."
"They're here. They have earth and flame power…" The younger cultist whispered.
The silver-tattooed man slammed his fist into the stone floor, cracking its edge. "Damn it. We underestimated them."
"The King is not ready yet," The eldest said.
He looked down at the ritual.
"They'll reach us before he's fully formed," the silver-tattooed man muttered. "What do we do?"
"We must delay them," the eldest said. "We can't stop them if they able to kill Orzha-Kur, but we can buy time."
The youngest cultist stepped back from the circle in panic.
"They will come," the eldest said, eyes fierce now. "But by then, it must be too late."