As any decent Forgemaster knew, the Golems' greater weakness was the fact that they were limited to the tactics their maker managed to imbue in their core's array. No matter how talented a mage was, there were only so many situations they could cover without overloading the array.
On the other hand, living beings could learn, could be trained, and most importantly, they could be enslaved. The only problem with Forgemastering living beings had been the mana poisoning that sooner or later would kill them.
Yet by studying the death of countless specimens, the Odi had discovered that when a living being was on the verge of death, their mana would disappear. They had no idea that the phenomenon was due to the cracking and fading of the mana core, nor it had any relevance to their research.
They had gotten the idea from the pseudo-Balor experiment they kept in the Body Enhancement department. Between being dead and almost dead there lied countless applications.
The organic matter of the Flesh Golems was in a constant state of decay, but thanks to the pseudo light fusion the constructs were imbued with, their death was constantly being delayed as their tissue regenerated just as fast as they rotted.
The tubes transported the nutrients straight to their stomachs, allowing them to sustain the perpetual healing process. The whole existence of the Flesh Golems was pure agony, but that was irrelevant in the Odi's eyes.
They just needed to order them not to complain to solve the issue of their annoying wails.
Lith moved his hands, conjuring several small spheres of flames directly inside the Golems' mouths. The detonation made their brains splatter, yet they continued their attack while the flesh regrew at a speed visible to the naked eye.
'Solus, I can see two weak points right off the bat. First, the slave item. If we destroy it, these creatures will help us. Second, being alive they are vulnerable to darkness magic. Do we conscript or destroy them?' Lith asked.
'I'm afraid neither.' Solus replied stopping him in his tracks. 'The slave item is once again forgemastered in their flesh, to remove it you have to kill them. As for darkness magic, the only flesh they have left is that needed to keep them functional.
'Damaging it would only temporarily hinder their battle prowess until it's regenerated, but that's it. I can assure you that they have no vitals.'
While Lith's spheres were still exploding, Professor Yondra unleashed a volley of black arrows that struck the nearest Golems at their heads, hearts, and stomachs. She was a Forgemaster and a Healer as well, so her reasoning was akin to Lith's.
She smiled seeing the tissues turning green and black from the decay, yet it disappeared the moment all the allegedly injured constructs turned to face her with their rocky hands brimming with mana.
'See? At the moment they have no life force, yet they still work. Soon their flesh will heal, making Yondra's spell just a waste of mana.' Solus thought.
Yondra was about to be blasted away by five Golems and Morok wasn't faring any better. The constant stream of lightning kept him in mid-air, screaming while his steaming flesh started to smell like barbeque.
Phloria activated all of her magical rings, trying to buy some time. The constructs simply ignored the spells. Tier three could barely dent their bodies and their orders were clear.
Bring the youths to their masters and kill the rest. The Flesh Golems ran towards their prey with the inhuman speed that their small build and magical bodies bestowed upon them.
Rainer and the rest of the Assistants used their best spells, yet not having a combat specialization, the best they could do was mimic Phloria and obtain her same result.
"Yondra, help me!" Rainer yelled as a Golem grabbed him before using a Warping Array to disappear. Yet the Professor was using all she had and then more just to resist the combined assault of the five Golems she had attacked.
If not for Gaakhu's and Neshal's help she would have been the first one to fall. The Professors combined their efforts and artifacts to block most of the Golems, keeping them away with an energy barrier while racking their brains for a solution.
Lith didn't care about the Assistants, so he weaved his spell while trying to find a way to defeat his opponents or at least free Morok.
Everything changed when he saw that Quylla was among their targets.
Lith joined his open palms conjuring a compressing a tier five Setting Sun until it was no bigger than a tennis ball. The black flames struck at the Golem attacking Quylla, making its stone parts melt and its organic matter evaporate.
Yet what slowed the Golem down wasn't the negligible damage it had sustained, but only the push that the highly compressed flames exerted.
'Solus, please. I need an idea!' Lith thought. He had been casting non-stop, but Golems were the bane of all mages, Awakened or not. In such a confined space, most of his tier five spells were more likely to injure his friends rather than his enemies.
'I'm thinking!' She replied trying to sound reassuring, but she had no clue how to face that many unstoppable constructs.
Lith's spell still bought Phloria enough time to join him and activate her tier five spell, Torment Guard.
As a Mage Knight, she needed earth magic to conjure her tower shields, so she always kept a few kilograms of the hardest rock that money could buy in her dimensional amulet.
That way, no matter if the fight was in the air, underwater, or in a metal room, Phloria always had what she needed to execute her best spells. Torment Guard conjured a small stone tower around Quylla, infused with fire and darkness magic to reinforce Lith's spell.
She had fallen into the Odi's trap as well. Darkness dealt negligible damage against the heavily enchanted inorganic matter and the flesh on the golems was merely a bait. The humans' brains were safely stored inside their power core and the metal parts stored enough meat samples to endlessly regenerate their bodies.
The only variable was the amount of pain they would endure.
Quylla and Solus racked their brains. They weren't fighting, they weren't giving their all to stop a single dreadnought of stone and metal while everyone around them was getting beaten or kidnapped.
'Gods, I'm so stupid! The Odi are just the polar opposites of the undead.' Both girls thought in unison.
'Using darkness to fight light is pointless. Light's magic bane it's light itself!'
"Let me go, sis! I know what to do!" Quylla had no time to explain her plan, she had to execute it herself. Solus, however, used her mind link with Lith to bring him up to speed.
'If you had a body, I might kiss you right now.' Lith thought while conjuring his battle-oriented Body Sculpting spell, Cleaver.
He recalled Final Sunset to his left hand while emitting the mana weapons from his right hand together with a cold wave that would allow him to touch the Golem without being burned to cinders.
His attempt was foiled by a second construct that was hell-bent on capturing him. It attempted to tackle Lith, who was forced to take the construct head-on to prevent it from reaching Quylla.
Lith infused his Skinwalker armor with mana, turning it into quicksilver that covered him from head to toe dispersing most of the kinetic energy of the charge, stopping the Golem on its tracks.
