The Golem Mage-Chapter 531: Happy Birthday To Me.

"Ugh!" Albert exclaimed, his hand mere inches from Beatrice's neck, yet unable to bridge the gap.

In that instant, Beatrice turned to face him, and he noticed her hand movements, with a subtle tug, he realized that his right hand was ensnared by mana threads, expertly manipulated by her.

[> Mid Tier Spell – Puppetry's Severance <]

Beatrice intoned as she extricated herself from the head of the puppet spider, Albert stood frozen in shock, watching as his right hand was severed cleanly from the rest of his arm.

His blood, hot and scarlet, spurted onto his face as he gazed in stunned disbelief, unable to accept that his recklessness had cost him his right hand.

—

The VIP section buzzed with conversation, while the crowd of spectators fell into a hushed silence.

They were still unable to comprehend how the War God Academy had cornered the Royal Mage Academy so effectively and swiftly.

The events had unfolded too quickly for them to fully grasp what had happened, but they recognized that the tide of morale was turning.

This dark horse, upon whom they had placed little hope, was delivering a more thrilling performance than any they had witnessed all week, previous matches had been lopsided affairs, with overpowering teams dominating weaker ones.

The last bout to offer such excitement was the clash between the Bandit Academy and the War God Academy, the exchange of blows, rather than a one-sided display, offered a rare kind of exhilaration they normally wouldn't anticipate until the second round.

The spectators couldn't get enough of the War God Academy's confrontations, in the VIP section, the clans observing Beatrice's restraint of Albert finally recognized her lineage.

The Marionette Clan, one of the Five Ancient Clans of the Northern Kingdom, was known as one of the most enigmatic, it was said that to offend any of the other ancient clans was ill-advised, but the implications of crossing the Marionette Clan was a sure fire ticket to destruction.

They were notorious for relentlessly pursuing anyone who dared challenge their authority, but what truly made them feared was their refusal to allow their enemies to rest in peace.

The Marionette clan went to extreme lengths, refining the bodies of those they killed into living puppets, these puppets of dead genius possessed greater potential than mere wooden constructs, giving birth to the secret art of the Marionette clan's living puppet rituals.

If they deemed their defeated foes unworthy of their level, they might pass the bodies on to younger clan members or transfer ownership of their weaker puppets to the next generation as they grew stronger.

They were a clan that denied their enemies even the solace of death, with each passing generation, their mastery of living puppets continued to flourish, although not all younger members could properly harness this skill, resulting in limitations.

But once Beatrice unleashed the seal, confirmed her to be a prodigy of the Ancient Marionette Clan, as there was no doubt, only the Core members of the Marionette Clan was permitted to practice the puppetry seals.

While Beatrice engaged in her contest with the vice-captain of the Royal Mage Academy team, the attention of the crowd were slowly shifted towards the upcoming battle between Endrick, Pale, and Magnito as they arrived at the castle of the Royal Mage Academy without facing any resistance.

—

Endrick, Pale, and Magnito were taken aback when they caught sight of the Royal Mage Academy's castle.

They had not anticipated reaching the location without encountering any opposition, as they made their way there, they had heard numerous explosions and felt shockwaves reverberating through the area, signalling that battles were already underway elsewhere.

However, Alec's instructions had been clear – stick to the plan unless he sent a message through Magnito, and since no message had been relayed to them, they continued on their course.

"And who the hell are you guys?" Liam's voice suddenly echoed from behind them.

Startled, they quickly moved away from their previous locations, but when they turned to face the source of the voice, he was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm not the only one who heard that, right?" Endrick remarked.

"Brace yourself!" Pale warned as he finally spotted Liam standing atop the roof of the Royal Mage Academy castle, beside his team white flag, Liam seemed to be looking down upon them with an air of superiority, resembling a royal observing his subjects.

However, both Endrick and Pale's gazes were fixated on the flag behind him.

"I'll distract him, try to grab the flag!" Pale instructed, swiftly dashing towards Liam.

Seeing such a move, Liam smiled and leaped off the roof, kicking off the ground to sprint towards Pale as well.

[> Low Tier Spell – Ice Spread <]

Pale immediately cast a low-tier ice spell, causing the area beneath his feet to freeze and the ice to spread.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

However, when he got close to Liam, he changed direction, swiftly maneuvering around him, it was as if he was gracefully skating on the icy ground, leaving Liam surprised that Pale didn't confront him head-on.

Unsure of Pale's intentions with a low-tier spell, Liam remained confident in the defensive clothes he wore, as he knew that such a spell wouldn't pose much of a threat, when Pale saw that the ice had spread around them, he halted and locked eyes with Liam.

"You should have stopped me when you had the chance," Pale spoke up.

"But I predicted you wouldn't, as I used to act just like you."

"No one has the same charisma as me." Liam scoffed.

"Well, no problem, all I need to do is keep you occupied," Pale declared with a determined look on his face, as he made a hand sign.

[> Mid Tier Spell – Glacial Chains <]

Countless chains, formed from ice, emerged from the ground, rushing towards Liam who was surrounded by the icy terrain Pale had created.

No matter how he tried to dodge, he couldn't evade all of the chains, before he knew it, he found himself completely bound from various angles, yet, he maintained a relaxed expression as he tugged on one of the chains.

"How long can you afford to keep this up, though?" Liam taunted.

"Long enough to win the battle," Pale replied, determination in his voice.

[> Mid Tier Spell – Ice Coffin <]

Suddenly, an ice coffin emerged from below, covering Liam completely.

Pale, now panting heavily, realized that the spells he had just cast were more exhausting than anticipated, he had been experimenting with combining spells, trying to amplify their power.

This was something Alec had advised him to research, and he had finally developed a combination he called the "Chained Coffin."

Turning towards Endrick, Pale noticed that he stood rooted in place, unable to move despite being just a short distance away from the flag.

"Endrick!" Pale yelled, concern lacing his voice.

"Stay there. Don't come closer, there's a time trap surrounding the flag, the moment you enter this circle, you'll be trapped in a time pause, and i can't control anything within it, except for my voice using mana," Endrick explained, his words causing Pale to remain frozen in place.

"You all tried a lot, at least those idiotic teams in the loser bracket couldn't even trap the spell , let alone gain a chance to reach my time zone," Liam's voice resounded again, this time, Pale's gaze shifted towards a nearby tree branch, where Liam was sitting nonchalantly.

"But... But I just trapped you!" Pale stammered, ice shards forming behind him, his hands turning pale white.

"Oh, yeah, that was just a time clone, it only has about fifteen minutes to live anyways, so no big deal sacrificing a chunk of mana to see that trapping spell of yours, i can assure you, I won't be falling for it, nor will I be entering any ice zones you try to create, i already know an ice element guy, Kylian, and he doesn't seem to have sick moves like this."

Pale stared at Liam as he casually chatted, a smile adorning his face.

The fact that he had wasted his mana on a clone infuriated Pale, but what made him even angrier was the realization that he had lost one of his trump cards that could have immobilized someone like Liam.

Liam had astutely analysed Pale's spell, understanding that as long as he didn't get caught in the center of the spell, there was nothing to worry about.