FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE SOWING OF THE EARTH-SUTURING SEEDS…
The roots of the Earth-Suturing Seeds continued to extend deep beneath the earth in Gaeia. At the same time, the forests of Gaeia to a large extent had been restored.
DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH…
The roots of the Earth-Suturing Seeds had finally reached the animosity called Gargolem. Souryu's sixth general stirred and awakened from his slumber.
"I have been slumbering for close to five months now. I wonder what the humans in Gaeia are up to now. Five months ago, I sensed Apollo's defeat. If the Seven Masters of Jo-lan and the phoenix brats were behind Apollo's demise, they should be heading here by now. Apollo's defeat to a large extent cooled the climate but if the phoenix brats and the Seven Masters have begun to move here, I might be in trouble but this might be the best time to crush them along with the people of Gaeia" Gargolem growled.
He stretched his hands and held the earth.
"Apollo was defeated a while back but there should still be enough heat in the atmosphere for me to agitate the minerals in the earth and cause another earth-shattering quake" Gargolem said.
He let his power flow through the earth and began to agitate the minerals in the earth. However, he noticed something strange.
"What's this? The Earth isn't trembling as much as I expected. It also feels much cooler than it was five months ago so I cannot agitate the minerals in the earth as much as I intended to. However that doesn't seem to be the only problem…I sense…resistance" Gargolem thought with a very serious look.
All of Gargolem's observations were right. With the defeat of Apollo, the climate was already much cooler. Coupled with that, Jo-lan had aided the people of Vung with the efforts to restore their forest life further cooling the climate. When you add that to the fact that Gaiea's forest life was also rapidly being restored, the climate there was already significantly cooler. That simple fact had taken away Gargolem's ability to agitate the minerals in the earth and trigger a cataclysmic earthquake. However, the greatest threat to Gargolem's ability now were the roots of the powerful Earth-Suturing Trees that held the particles of soil firmly together in their mesh like weave.
Jo-lan, the Masters and Students with the help of Jason and the efforts of the three intercontinental kingdoms had completely sealed away Gargolem's ability and all that while he was in slumber. He had only just realized it when the roots of the Earth-Suturing Trees reached him.
"This is most certainly the work of Jo-lan! We've confronted the Masters before and each of them fought us in one on one combat so this is beyond anything they would have schemed on their own. The phoenix brats are certainly a threat to Souryu but they lack the experience to even confront us and I doubt they have any knowledge of the connection that exists amongst us seven generals. The Masters certainly must be aware of this connection since I imagine they would have talked to one another concerning our abilities however…to use that connection to formulate a plan on how to take us down…only that old man would scheme something of this level!" Gargolem roared in a rage and attempted again to agitate the minerals in the earth but there was simply not enough heat for him to do that.
Even when he agitated the barest minimum amount of earth, the Earth-Suturing Trees completely shut down his tremors.
"I suppose I cannot crush them through an earthquake but soon, those phoenix brats and their Masters will wish I had given them a quick death. They are about to discover why amongst Souryu's Generals, I am the general referred to as War itself!" Gargolem roared.
A WEEK LATER…
The Masters stood at the outskirts of Gaeia's city staring in the distance. Master Pheisl frowned.
"Fencer, look over there in the distance at that huge cloud of dust" he pointed.
"That's no sandstorm" Fencer said seriously. "It's not moving as rapidly as one would expect and I can sense movement within the clouds of dust" Fencer said.
Master Andrea raised her sword.
"God-Weapon Rai…human form" she called.
Her sword slowly transformed into the man with sparkling silver hair.
"Scout ahead and inform us of everything you see" Master Andrea said.
"In the meantime, let's spread out and see how far this cloud of dust extends" Master Ayumi said.
The Masters spread out and scouted the entire perimeter of the city. As they suspected, the dust covered the entire perimeter of the city and was slowly closing inwards. A day later, Rai's report came to the Masters.
"It's not simply clouds of dust. It's an entire army of golems and they're marching right for the city" Rai explained.
"So Gargolem is finally making his move is he?" Master Fencer said with a smirk.
The Masters informed the Students of this recent development.
"We cannot allow those golems to make it here or the carnage will be most severe" Master Kyem said.
"Unfortunately, we have no choice but to split up in this case and try to destroy as many golems as we can. We'll take them on from different general directions" Master Andrea said.
"Buern, you should be able to deal significant damage with your abilities. You should team up with Pheisl since in his own words, he doesn't like to 'interfere' in our affairs" Fencer said.
"It's not that I don't like to interfere but at the moment I can't interfere. I'm not allowed to take away your choice to act" Master Pheisl said. "However, if you do choose to act, I can enforce that ability" he added.
"Harry, your ability and mine are similar so you're with me. Colette, you're not a combat type so sync with the rest of us like you did in our battle with Apollo and keep us advised on how to act. Jason, you're also not a combat type. You've done all you can. Stay in the city and keep everyone calm" Fencer said.
"What about me?" Josec asked.
"You are of the Class Of Defender. Do I really need to tell you what it is you need to be doing?" Fencer said with a smile.
Josec nodded with a smile and stretched his arms. He sighed and took in a deep breath. A powerful dome appeared around the entire perimeter of the city.
"None of the golems are getting past me!" he declared with firm resolve.
"That certainly looks powerful. At the very least we don't need to worry about the golems that make it past us…though I doubt that will be happening anytime soon" Master Fencer said and the Masters along with Harry and Buern flew towards the battlefield.
A moment before the battle began.
"Rai, we're going to turn the terrain further to our advantage. I want you to generate a thunderstorm" Master Andrea advised.
Rai flew into the sky and disappeared. Over time, storm clouds began to gather.
"It's much easier to do now that the climate here is much cooler" Master Andrea said.
It began to rain heavily. The clouds of dust were moistened and dissipated exposing the army of golems. The golems were made of earth and with the torrential rain, they slowly began to weather. The wetness of the ground coupled with their weight caused a number of them to start falling apart.
"Nice one Andrea! This will make it much easier to take them apart" Master Fencer said.
He and Harry overwhelmed the golems with their tremendous speed and power. Master Kyem also used the rain to Psychorage Improv. into his water chameleon state along with Estelle.
The battle began with the Masters and students claiming a huge advantage. Yes indeed, they were outnumbered but using Andrea's storm to turn the terrain to their advantage, they were superior in terms of affinity. The golems could barely maintain their form and began to crumble. With the Masters' abilities and the abilities of the Students, the golems were at a disadvantage until…
"Hmm, this is strange…I could swear I saw a huge number of golems disintegrate and I have taken down a huge number of them myself however…" Master Fencer thought with a frown.
The other Masters noticed it as well.
"It's almost as though their numbers are not diminishing or rather…they are increasing in number!" they declared.
Master Colette frowned and communicated with the rest of the Masters.
"I just accessed Fencer's library focused around Earth-Style Abilities. It appears to me that some force is generating all these golems. Obviously that would be Gargolem. The main issue here is how he is controlling all these golems. It is possibly through the use of a puppet master technique of sorts. We need to find a way to sever his ability to control these golems. One way possibly is to take out Gargolem himself however…" Master Colette frowned seriously.
"With an entire army of golems, it's not so easy to pinpoint the one that is transmitting directives" Master Fencer thought.
Through Master Colette's ability, all the Masters could communicate telepathically with one another and share experiences.
"We might as well tear the entire army apart!" Master Fencer cracked his knuckles by squeezing them and charged wildly through the army shattering them with powerful blows.
"One possibility is as you've guessed Fencer, that Gargolem is hidden amongst the numerous golems and is transmitting directives however….there is a second possibility" Master Colette thought.
"You think the real Gargolem might not even be on the battlefield?" Master Andrea thought.
"It's a possibility. Josec's Eye Of Heart might have been our best bet at locating the real Gargolem however…" Master Colette thought.
"He can't leave the city. He has to remain there to defend it with his dome. It's starting to feel like Gargolem really planned this out" Master Luna said.
"There is something else that troubles me. In fact compared to that issue, finding Gargolem might not be so much of a priority. If Gargolem's ability to create an army of Golems isn't limited by space…" Master Colette thought.
The full weight of her words dawned on them.
Meanwhile, a distance away from the city, a lone Golem stood watching the domed city.
"Even after defeating us once before, you Masters of Jo-lan remain rather naïve. You fail to comprehend the forces with which you contend. Souryu is a force that has been battling mankind for millennia. In fact, it can be said that Souryu is the inventor of the art of warfare and none of his generals retain his battle experience as well as I do" the lone Golem thought to itself.
A moment later, the earth within the dome began to take form and golems arose within the dome. Josec stared around him in horror. He could sense it that there were golems within the dome.
"What do I do? If I drop my hands, the dome will fall allowing the golem army outside to invade the city but if I do nothing, the golems within the city will slaughter everyone!" Josec thought in fright.
"DAMN! WE UNDERESTIMATED GARGOLEM!!!" Fencer roared in anger.