After searching through the castle for a while, Aiden and Leon finally spotted a door that looked similar to the one where they had found the golem before.
Leon pointed at it. "This one. It might have a golem inside."
Aren followed his gaze to the door. Without hesitation, he walked forward and pushed it open. The double doors swung apart, and just as Leon and Aiden had said, a magical circle was engraved at the center of the hall beyond.
They stood at the entrance, staring at it.
"So what do we do now?" Kira asked.
"We stepped on it last time and it triggered," Aiden replied. "So we probably have to do the same."
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Aren walked forward. His footsteps echoed through the empty hall. It felt as though the space had been cleared out deliberately, like it had been made for a fight.
The moment Aren stepped onto the center of the formation, it lit up.
He immediately retreated several steps as rock began forming in the middle of the hall. It grew rapidly, shaping itself into a massive, hulk-like humanoid figure made entirely of stone. Its eyes glowed red as it finished forming.
Roarrrrrrrrrr! The golem roared.
Inside its mouth was a red glow as the sound shook the air itself. The ground trembled beneath their feet. It stood over eight feet tall, broad and heavy, looking like it could bring down a house with a single punch.
"That’s the golem," Leon said from the entrance.
"Yeah, I figured," Aren replied, his eyes never leaving the construct.
"So what now?" Kira asked. "Do we have to fight it?"
"If there’s a fight, let me assist," the boy in white said calmly.
"No," Aren said. "All of you stay back. I’ll handle it."
He glanced around the hall. "This space is cramped. If we all rush in, it’ll be bad for everyone."
"Still," Leon muttered, "that thing’s terrifying."
"It took both Leon and me to bring it down last time," Aiden added. "And it just got back up afterward."
"You don’t have to worry about that," Aren said. "Let me see what I can do."
The golem slammed its fists into the ground a few times before charging straight at him.
Aren bolted immediately, sprinting toward the opposite side of the hall. The golem swung a massive arm, but Aren slid beneath it, rolled, and sprang back to his feet, continuing his run.
Reaching the far end of the room, Aren unleashed a claw strike straight at the golem. It raised its arm to block, the attack digging into the stone, but it wasn’t deep enough, barely carving halfway through.
Enraged, the golem slammed its hand into the floor. Cracks surged outward in a violent wave toward Aren.
He leaped into the air just in time, narrowly avoiding it. The moment he landed, the golem was already charging again, throwing a fully powered punch.
Aren dodged to the side. The punch smashed into the wall, leaving a massive hole behind. The golem pulled back and swung again, but Aren evaded once more.
"If I want to take this down, I need heavy hits," Aren muttered.
This wasn’t something he could finesse his way through.
The golem continued its assault, each punch shaking the ground and shattering stone. Aren dodged like a nimble cat, every strike missing him by inches.
When the timing felt right, Aren summoned his lightning shadow wolf. The moment it appeared, it unleashed a devastating bolt of lightning that slammed into the golem’s chest, pushing it back several feet.
The golem staggered but remained standing. The lightning had only cracked its chest, revealing a faint glow from within.
It roared again and charged forward, each step shaking the hall.
Aren sprinted in another direction as his shadow wolf lunged at the golem. The golem grabbed it by the neck, grappling with it before lifting it and throwing it aside. The wolf slammed into the ground, skidded into a wall, then rose again immediately.
This time, the golem charged directly at Aren.
He was ready.
Just as it closed the distance, Aren summoned his merged wolf. It rushed forward, crashing into the golem and knocking it back as the lightning shadow wolf fired another blast, causing more damage to the golem.
Aren charged.
He leaped onto the back of his merged wolf, then sprang onto the golem as it struggled to rise. Locking his arms around its neck, he swung onto its back.
Realizing Aren was there, the golem thrashed violently. Unable to reach him, it charged backward at full speed toward a wall.
At the last second, Aren flipped off.
The golem slammed into the wall with tremendous force. Stone shattered along its back, and the impact drove it down to one knee.
Aren didn’t hesitate.
He lunged forward, his hands crackling with pure black lightning. His punch slammed into the golem’s head, cracking the stone and sending fragments flying. The golem roared and tried to turn, but another punch followed, then another.
Its head began chipping away rapidly.
In rage, it swung both hands together, trying to crush Aren between them. Aren dodged instantly, slipping out and creating distance.
The golem rose again and slammed both hands into the ground. A violent shockwave tore through the earth toward Aren at bullet speed.
He barely avoided it.
The wave continued onward, crashing into the far wall and splitting it all the way up to the ceiling. Aren glanced at the damage. If that had hit him, his leg would’ve been torn clean off.
He turned.
The golem was already attacking again.
Aren smiled. "You really should learn when to give up."
He lunged forward.
The golem swung at full speed. Aren dodged to the side and drove a punch straight into its knee. The impact twisted the leg outward, forcing the golem down, only for it to be struck by a powerful lightning blast from the shadow wolf straight to the head.
Its head snapped back, stone cracking further.
Aren went in for the finish.
The golem’s head was already a ruined mess, its eyes barely glowing. He locked his fingers together and brought them down in a hammer strike directly onto its skull.
The stone shattered.
Aren stepped back a few paces, breathing steadily.
But before he could go any farther, the broken pieces began pulling themselves together.
The golem started reassembling, repairing itself as if nothing had happened.