“Fuck, what rotten luck! Those statues are golems!” Jared cursed in frustration.

  “This isn’t going to be easy; there are so many of them.” Dorian muttered, frowning as he prepared to cast a spell.

  “Uh-oh,” Elara said worriedly. “I hope there’s no more of them…”

  On the flip side, Graviel snorted at their comments as he stared at his magic tool, seemingly having anticipated something like this. “Just a bunch of golems. The only ones we have to worry about are those gargoyle golems.”

  As the statues—now revealed as golems—began encroaching on them, the group came to their senses. The mercenaries, who had been momentarily frozen in surprise, quickly unsheathed their weapons to face these foes. They were surrounded on all sides, the gargoyle golems looming before them, while the stony collection of more than a dozen golems closed in from behind.

  Rowan, the large, bearded man, immediately barked out orders, rallying his companions into a defensive formation. “Form up! These stony bastards aren’t goin’ down without a fight!” His voice cut through the air as he drew his weapon, bracing for the imminent clash.

  Victor, amidst the chaos, was instead assessing the situation from behind. Despite his primary mission of vengeance, the immediate threat had to be resolved while maintaining the guise of Felix. This meant that he couldn’t use his magic. Unfortunately, Victor was not a Ki-Warrior, but the sword produced by the Mask of Impersonation was no different than a real sword, so he should be able to play his part just fine. Luckily, he’d once practiced basic swordsmanship back home in order to have some familiarity when fighting Ki-Warriors, though his skill level was still amateur.

  Soon enough, the confrontation escalated into a cacophony of metal and magic as the group engaged the golems. Spells and blades struck against stone skin, sparks flying with each impact. The myriad of golems, for their part, retaliated by swinging their weapons and swiping with their massive claws. Meanwhile, the gargoyle golems shot beams of destructive energy from their mouths, leaving large holes in the hard ground wherever they struck.

  Based on this alone, Victor deduced that the gargoyle golems surpassed the strength of average third-stage Initiate Attunement acolytes and were closing in to the power of the queen spider. Perhaps their destructive powers were even higher.

  Even though they were a group of elites, it was apparent that maintaining this defensive formation was impossible. Some of the mercenaries were already injured or even killed in the clash after getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of golems. Furthermore, Rowan and the four acolytes were preoccupied with fending off the stronger gargoyle golems and were unable to support them.

  As Victor played his part by fending off a nearby knight golem and trying his best to avoid drawing undue attention, a lightning bolt struck one of the gargoyles. Yet, not even a scratch was left on its surface. It appeared that they were resistant to magic attacks.

  “Crap. These things are tough, and there are too many of them! What’s our plan, Sir Graviel?” The caster of the spell, Jared, was finally unable to hold it when he discovered that his spell did not work at all.

  In response, Graviel issued a decisive order. “Eight of you hold them off and cover our backs. The rest follow us inside!”

  What a surprise… Victor thought sarcastically. Of course, it was clear that Graviel was trying to sacrifice the mercenaries here and escape.

  Whatever the case, Victor took that chance to move closer, expressing his intention to join those heading inside. Despite the desperation etched on their faces, the remaining mercenaries nodded in grim determination, turning to face their daunting opponents. This was actually good for Victor, as there were now fewer mercenaries that he would have to worry about.

  Regrettably, Rowan—the Ki Master—chose to go inside as well. This meant that making any covert maneuvers would still be quite difficult. Nevertheless, before they could get inside, they still had to deal with the gargoyle golems who were standing in their way.

  “Sir, let me break open a path,” Rowan declared, his grip tightening around his axes. With a determined glare, he squared his shoulders, unleashing a powerful surge of Ki energy through his weapons. Crackling energy formed a protective barrier as he charged headlong into one of the gargoyle golems with a fierce battle cry.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Bang!

  The golem was caught off guard by Rowan’s sudden onslaught and staggered backward under the force of his assault. Rowan’s strength was indeed superior compared to the gargoyle, and cracks began to form where his weapons struck. With a few more blows, he might have been able to disable it. Alas, the two gargoyle golems didn’t let that happen as they shot beams of destructive energy at him.

  Victor observed all of this from behind. He actually had little information about strong Ki Masters and their innate abilities. When it came to it, knowing what he was truly capable of up close was important, especially for their inevitable confrontation.

  “What are you doing? Help us!” a mercenary yelled at Victor, snapping him back to the present.

  “Mm,” Victor grunted in acknowledgment. With a quick nod, he jumped into the fray, swinging his sword against the other gargoyle golem alongside two other mercenaries. Even with the three of them, it would be impossible to hold this golem back for long.

  Still, as the two gargoyle golems were preoccupied, Graviel and the others swiftly approached the massive metallic door and tried to open it. However, they found it firmly sealed shut. Victor noticed that the door was enchanted with a powerful magic seal to prevent easy entry.

  “Damn it, it’s sealed with magic!” Graviel exclaimed with a frustrated growl.

  “Let me try—{Rock Bullets}!” Dorian chanted. Several fist-sized rocks materialized and slammed into the door, causing dust to swirl as they collided against each other. Yet, when the dust settled, the door didn’t budge an inch.

  Seeing their futile attempt, Victor couldn’t help but internally scoff. Did they truly believe that a mere Aleph-tier spell could shatter this heavily fortified door? It would take far more than that to breach its magic defense.

  Even the spell {Warpblade} might not be powerful enough to break the magic seal placed on the door. This meant that similar Bet-tier spells had to be cast several times just to make a dent. Of course, Graviel was not aware of that, and he retrieved a magic scroll from his interspatial ring in a desperate attempt to bypass the seal. With determination etched on his face, he unfurled the scroll and imbued it with his infused mana to activate its spell.

  A human-sized green fireball was launched from the scroll and blasted against the door, sending searing hot air toward the nearby mercenaries and golems.

  “That’s a Bet-tier spell.” As Victor murmured to himself, ripples appeared from around the door. Alas, the spell didn’t do much more than that—the door remained tightly shut.

  Shock and disappointment washed over the group, particularly Graviel. Though one thing was for sure, this guy truly had a lot of treasures hidden in his interspatial ring, which made an Elemental Adept Magus like Victor green in envy.

  “Sir Graviel, how about using the artifact fragment? Maybe that’s the key to opening the magic seal,” suggested Elara.

  “Hmph, I was about to do that.” Calmness returned to Graviel’s face as he took out a gear-shaped object that had to be the artifact fragment. Upon seeing it, Victor’s eyes widened in realization, though he had to keep his attention on the gargoyle golem for now. It was shaped like a gear—a fact Victor didn’t realize until this moment.

  Interesting. I may know what the inheritance of this pocket dimension is all about. It may be much, much “better” than I expected, Victor gleefully thought in his heart. If his conjecture was correct, then it would be very beneficial for the development of the academy. It could perhaps even completely revolutionize how things worked!

  Focusing his attention back on the metallic door, it finally reacted once Graviel presented the artifact fragment. The magic seal that was unaffected by the earlier Bet-tier spell dissolved as if it had never existed, and the four acolytes quickly pushed the door open like their lives depended on it.

  “Quickly, inside!” someone shouted, prompting Graviel, Jared, Dorian, and Elara to dash into the tower without hesitation. Rowan, unleashing a burst of ki energy to blast away the gargoyle golem he faced, followed close behind.

  Already positioned to make a swift entrance, Victor wasted no time in bolting into the tower. With each step, he left the other mercenaries behind to their demise. After all, fewer enemies meant fewer obstacles to his own objectives.

  True to expectations, the instant he entered the tower, the heavy door sealed shut behind him, cutting off the stranded mercenaries to fend for themselves. Subsequently, the door shook as something powerful collided with it—likely the attacks of the gargoyle golems.

  Finding that the door showed no signs of breaking open, the group breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure had been mounting on their shoulders, and a bit of respite was all they needed.

  “How many are left?” Graviel asked.

  “It’s only the four of us, Rowan,” Dorian pointed to each member before settling on Victor’s impersonation of Felix, “and him.”

  “And who is he?” Graviel squinted at him. Well, it was understandable to be a bit suspicious seeing that he was the only mercenary who managed to escape. If even Rowan could barely escape, then how did he, a much weaker individual, manage to pull it off?

  “His name is Felix, sir,” Rowan interjected. “He’s a Ki Guard and is quite dependable.”

  While maintaining his impersonation, Victor inclined his head slightly. “I await your orders,” he stated.

  “This guy’s so damn lucky.” Jared frowned before quickly proposing a vicious idea. “We should let him lead the way. Maybe we’ll find fewer troubles that way.”

  Graviel considered the suggestion and pointed at Victor. “You, lead the way.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Victor had no intention to refuse the order since he didn’t want to arouse any more suspicion. Besides, as an Elemental Adept Magus, he could see hidden mechanisms and traps that others couldn’t, so he could use that to his advantage. In fact, he was inwardly laughing at them for trusting him so much.