The Golem Mage

Arthur, Brandon, and Alec were pushing themselves to escape through the tunnel as fast as possible, even while fleeing, Alec carefully manipulated his earth element to collapse sections of the tunnel behind them, creating blockages in hopes of masking their escape route.

But the plan didn't hold up for long, as not long after Damien's furious outburst, an attack followed.

After sweeping the entire area with his mental sense, Damien initially believed the intruders had escaped using a teleportation stone, because how else could mid-rank mages sneak in under his nose without him seeing them ?

However, upon closer probing, his senses picked up traces of hastily disturbed earth and faint remnants of the Gordons' aura.

And his fury deepened, with a single punch, he shattered the ground, revealing the hidden tunnel beneath, now fully enraged, Damien began smashing at the earth with reckless fury, aiming to crush Alec, Arthur, and Brandon where they tunnelled.

His obsession with recovering the holy pool was now rivaled by his desire to make an example out of the thieves who dared to rob him of what he was about to rob, fortunately for Alec's group, their tunnel was deep enough underground to avoid direct hits for now.

Damien, still hovering above ground, and didn't even consider entering the tunnel himself; instead, he continued relying on his destructive strikes from above.

He had used his mental sense to probe the tunnel as he tried to locate them, though powerful, his mental sense struggled to penetrate the chaotic web of collapsed tunnels Alec had carefully sealed behind them.

But even with the depth of their escape route, every shockwave from Damien's strikes rattled through the ground violently, the force was so intense that all three of them were now suffering internal injuries, blood seeping from their mouths as they pressed on desperately.

Fortunately, they managed to escape far enough and emerged right behind the spot where they had originally started digging.

"You bastard! You're no treasure magnet—you're still the same trouble magnet I know! You fucker, we're going to get killed!" Arthur hissed, spitting out blood as soon as they surfaced.

"How the hell did we end up getting chased by a Tier 8 mage with Tier 7 minions? What happened to the good old days? Back when all we had to do was run from a Tier 4 Orc Chieftain, that crazy Tier 4 Hyena that wanted to mate with you, and that weird crazy Tier 4 Root—funny-looking though!"

Arthur was already glaring at Alec, clearly waiting for an explanation as they all leaned against the rocks, hiding from the view of the mine entrance.

Before Arthur could continue his rant, something flew towards him from Alec's side.

In a smooth motion, he caught it, and upon opening his palm, saw a pill, without another word, he popped the Tier 6 healing pill into his mouth. Alec had tossed one to both Arthur and Brandon, while he swallowed one himself, and in moments, their expressions eased slightly as the pill worked its magic.

"What are we going to do now? It won't be long before that man realizes we're no longer underground, if we try to run, he'll catch us quickly. If we stay, we'll still eventually be found, this is looking really grim," Brandon said, his voice low and anxious.

But Alec wasn't listening, his gaze had drifted toward the bodies of the slain Tier 7 lion demonic beasts lying on the ground, his eyes practically watered with longing as he imagined how valuable those carcasses would be if he could just get his hands on them, fortunately both Arthur and Brandon couldn't see his mind if not they would tear him another piece of ranting again

Just as Alec and Brandon were watching the cave entrance, they felt a light tap and turned to see Arthur, who had touched them to draw their attention, that's when they noticed a full group of Treant warriors quietly blocking their path of retreat.

Standing at the center of the group was the red tree itself.

"I don't recall having issues with you, so why is the plant race known for being peaceful trying to ruin our only chance of retreat?" Arthur couldn't stop himself from asking, his voice low but frustrated, as he knew that fighting here wasn't an option.

If a battle broke out, they'd easily be discovered by the Young Cardinal of the Evil Sect, and with the Treants cutting off their exit, the only available path left was straight back toward the Tier 8 mage.

It almost felt like the plant race wanted them dead as much as Damien did by blocking their retreat option.

"How can you forget me so easily? You just spoke about me just now—called me a crazy Tier 4 Root! Me! You fucker, you called me crazy! Are you tired of living?" the red tree snapped, its voice loud and bitter.

Alec, Brandon, and Arthur all froze for a moment, blinking as countless question marks filled their minds while they tried to reconcile the annoying little root they once knew with the towering red tree now standing before them.

They started whispering among themselves.

"Damn, you grew…" Brandon said, still wide-eyed.

"There's one thing that hasn't changed though—you're still as damn annoying as ever," Alec muttered.

Alec then straightened up and tried to negotiate because of the situation they were In.

"Let's make this simple, what would it take for you to let us go? Because you know very well, if you expose us now, that crazy man in the golden mask might just come after you too."

"First, you'll hand over all those sacks behind you," the red tree answered coldly.

"Then I'll consider whether I want to let you live or not."

Arthur's face immediately flushed with rage, even before Alec could reply.

"Fuck you! We're even trying to be gentlemen here, and you're acting more like a thug. Where's the peaceful nature of the plant race?" Arthur snapped at the red tree.

" And which set of people did you think taught me that?" The tree said before simply snickering at their misfortune, but before it could continue, a cold and evil aura suddenly swept across them.

Alec immediately recognized that sinister aura—it was the same one that had scanned them back inside the cave.

The red tree's expression twisted in alarm, it had used its nature aura to conceal this area after seeing Alec and his two "brothers" emerge.

It was confident it wouldn't be discovered which was why it was acting that relaxed , it had clearly underestimated the mental strength of the Cardinal as Damien was swift to realise an unnatural phenomenon there which led to him probing that direction for his thieves.

"Found you bastards," Damien's voice echoed as he stepped out of the cave, the five priests behind him, his cold eyes locked onto them, and despite his calm demeanour, his seething anger was impossible to miss.

Alec, his team, and the red tree all froze under Damien's gaze, feeling cornered.

Alec's face was grim as he struggled to decide their next move, quietly, he summoned several random spell cards into his hand, ready to create a massive blast if necessary to buy them a slim chance of escape amidst the chaos.

The red tree, on the other hand, was now regretting its greed entirely.

What had started as a personal hunt for revenge had quickly shifted once it sensed the pure mana energy inside the sacks Alec and his group carried, it had aimed to rob the loot from the robbers but now it found itself trapped alongside its targets under Damien's wrath.

Suddenly—

"Damien!!!"

A thunderous roar, laced with primal energy, exploded through the surroundings like a sonic wave.

Alec winced as his barely healed internal injuries flared up again under the immense pressure of the aura, when he looked up, he saw the target of the primal energy—it was Damien, who remained still, though the force visibly impacted him.

Even so, the pressure radiating outwards was enough to reopen Alec and his team's wounds.

"Formation 1…!" Alec shouted sharply, as Arthur and Brandon's eyes instantly sharpened with a fierce glint as they prepared for what was coming next.