The stone guardian ahead of him was not phased by Crudle's earth affinity. When Merrick tried to use the Dust Mephit's abilities to destroy the magical construct, it did not even seem to notice anything other than Merrick. He had come out of the empty wing ready to crush the stone guardian and climb the tower. Now, however, he was back on the defensive.
As soon as Crudle's attack had failed, Merrick had realized why. The stone was imbued with more magical energy than Merrick would feel comfortable shaking a stick at. Crudle's attack had not harmed it, because it could not even reach the core at the center of the construct.
Merrick could feel the presence of the core, it was like a heart beating out a dubstep tune. However, it was encased within a moving stone tomb, like the dubstep was playing too loudly from the trunk of an oncoming car. That oncoming car, the stone guardian, reached out with two oversized hands to seize Merrick.
In the same way that he had blocked DeathX's attack in the last Faction War, Merrick strung together magical energy into a net between them at the last second. He was not able to fully form the protection, but it was enough to stop the stone guardian in its tracks for a moment.
Rather than trying to destroy it directly, this time Merrick ordered Crudle to hit the stone guardian with everything the Dust Mephit could muster. Two pillars of concrete poured from the walls and shot forth like spears. Just like before, the stone guardian was unphased. However this time, it seemed annoyed by Crudle's attack.
Before Merrick could pull back his arcane shield and try something else, the stone guardian hurled a slab of stone at Merrick's companion. It was sailing at a dead pace, rather than let Crudle take the blow that would've crushed him, Merrick released his bond and let the Dust Mephit disappear in a plume just before the stone connected.
He was on his own but that did not mean he was out of tricks. Thinking back to his dungeon delving, Merrick called on the arcane energy inside his body. It surged forth and followed his will to form into three small orbs of water between him and the stone guardian.
When the stone guardian came to seize Merrick a second time, the first of the orbs exploded like a mine. It knocked the stone guardian off balance and that was enough for Merrick to seize the advantage. The second and third orbs flew forward and instead of exploding, they shifted form. The second orb splattered against golem and instantly froze against the stone.
Then the third orb turned boiling hot. When it struck against the frozen stone, it caused large cracks to form. Now that there was the slightest gap, Merrick could now feel the dubstep beat of the stone guardian's heart perfectly. He darted forward and pressed his hand against the cracks in the stone.
As the stone guardian tried to pull its arms in to squeeze the life out of Merrick, Merrick pulled as hard as he could on the threads of arcane energy seeping out of the cracked stone chest. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Merrick could feel the weight of the stone arms crushing into his back. It felt like his lungs were about to burst.
Then suddenly, the pressure vanished and the stone guardian fell to pieces around him. A golden metal core hit the ground and started to roll to the side before it melted like hot wax. Merrick had defeated the magical construct guarding the door to the clock tower. Now he just hoped that more dangerous things were not hidden away behind that door.