Supreme Magus novel Chapter 1498

Chapter 1498 Old but Gold Part 2

"If everything is going south, why are you laughing?" Raagu asked.

"I’m not laughing." Inxialot looked at her as if she was insane.

"I’ve been sitting here the whole time and he never laughed." Zolgrish put his right hand where once his bladder was in a sign of sincerity.

"Never mind." She sighed. "Activate the Gargoyles, but make it look believable. We don’t want the disciples to discover that this is just a test. They are here to learn a lesson and if they don’t, I’ll put you in charge of the next test as well. Raagu out."

The idea of spending even one more minute out of his lab, of leaving so many ground-breaking experiments unattended, made Inxialot focus on the screens with unwavering determination.

Then, after a few minutes, he got bored and pressed the button that activated the Gargoyles’ energy core to speed things up.

***

After searching the ceiling for hidden entrances, Estor the Treant had climbed atop one of the tallest buildings of Urgamakka. He wanted to study the city’s layout from above and guide his teammates where Life Vision revealed to him the position of huge sacks of mana.

"Did you find anything?" He asked via the communication earpiece.

"No. Just lots of crap and security systems." Pyra the Redcap replied. "You?"

"Nothing as well. Be careful while flying near the roofs. This place is filled to the brim with Gargoyles." Estor kept his distance from the creepy stone statues that were covered in engraved runes that shone in the dark.

"They are the weakest and oldest kind of golems known to mage, but there’s something odd about those things. They all share the same energy signature."

"You mean they were all made by the same mage?" She asked.

"I wish it was that simple. They are both fueled and controlled by the same source which means that if you activate one, you activate them all." He replied.

"Well, thank the gods we sent our resident bookworm as a scout. I wouldn’t have even recognized that old junk. Mistaking them for a surveillance device might-" Pyra’s scream interrupted the communication.

"Pyra? What’s going on?" Only a small cracking betrayed the nearby statues coming to life as they encircled the hapless Treant. "This is impossible! I’m alone up here and I’m damn sure I didn’t touch them."

***

Soon the air above Urgamakka’s buildings was filled by a black swarm of creatures that attacked anyone on sight. Gargoyles were small statues, barely one meter (3 feet) tall that resembled a demonic humanoid with short wings, horns, and a jagged tail.

Unlike modern golems, their diminutive stature made it impossible for the mage to imbue many spells inside their bodies. Their main mean of offense were their claws and talons that were great against regular humans but pointless against a good enchanted armor.

It was the reason why they had become obsolete and why none of the Awakened apprentices felt threatened by their appearance. Small bodies meant a limited resistance to direct hits and being fueled by old magic, the Gargoyles could only have a few pseudo cores aside from those necessary to move.

A hail of darkness and earth based spells hit the swarm from all sides, breaking them into a bunch of rubble.

"Those damn leaves for brains!" Quya the Naga said while butchering several Gargoyles at the same time with his six arms. "How could the Fae be so stupid? Those damned statues brimmed with mana since our arrival!"

"This is not our fault!" Pyra pointed her polearm at Quya, ready to resume fighting. "It must have been one of your feathered friends. Who knows, maybe they took a dump while flying around, without any care for the rest of us."