"Identified three Exalts of Middle Elite Exalt realms, powering to match the power of the group." The bronze ape warrior struck the sandy ground with its lightning-charged polearm and slowly cut across to the other end. A burst of crackling heat melted and turned the golden sand into a molten stream.

It twirled its polearm around, spraying the molten sand everywhere in a rain of fire.

Emily stepped forward and spread her Ein, transforming it into a large stone wall arched over them. It blocked their view of the sky. The sounds of raindrops were heard all over the stone protection, followed by the sound of hisses and sizzles as Oscar saw the stones turn red.

He sighed in relief that the fortifications held on, confirming that they could withstand this molten sand.

"Hmmm," The bronze ape let out a low groan, and the cry of thunder resounded, blowing away the sand in rippling waves. The area became enveloped in light so bright Oscar could no longer see his shadow, and the golden sand below was whited out.

"Dodge!" Frederick grabbed Oscar and Emily, surging with fierce winds under his feet, taking them away from the cover of Emily's stone wall. Right after they left, a white bolt of lightning reduced the stone to mere rubble, and the golden sand in the area became a molten pool.

Oscar noticed the bronze ape lift its polearm to the side, and he wrenched his arm from Frederick's grip. With his deer anima, he leaped up with his bulwark against the bronze ape. The next moment, the bronze ape swung its polearm to slice Oscar apart, and the winds blew forward and back in flux from the devastating force coming his way.

'Shattering Wave'

'Silver Sheen'

The crackling polearm clanged against his red bulwark, and a single shockwave exploded from their clash, silencing the winds in an instant back to its dry stagnancy. The sands parted to form a large crater, and Oscar groaned, his silver body forced back and caught by Emily.

He stared at his hand that gripped the bulwark, noticing the trembling in his fingers. The bronze ape was incredibly powerful, similar to Orden, whom he had fought before. This ape was the second opponent in Ashen Grove to make his highly trained physical power and Reis feel slightly inadequate, especially after he had upgraded his Adamasreis.

"This golem is quite strong. Frederick. Emily." Oscar called out, and his friends responded. Frederick took up a stance to his right and Emily to his left. Their Eins resonated in a beautiful array of orange, blue, and green, combating the deadly pressure coming from the bronze ape.

Suddenly, however, Gol-4 levitated in front of them. The golem stared at Oscar and the others with its waning blue glass eyes.

"Please wait. I must try to communicate with it." Gol-4 pleaded.

Confused, Oscar tried to push Gol-4 out of the way and return it to his space pocket, but Gol-4 dodged Oscar's hand and made a strong high-pitched sound. He tried to take Gol-4 again, but the bronze ape had come before them, stabbing its polearm down.

"What is wrong with you?" Oscar said to Gol-4 through the clouds of sand kicked up by the bronze ape's blow.

Infuriated by Gol-4's interference, Emily was ready to smack the head away with her staff, but Frederick quickly calmed her down. However, he, too, stared intently at the battered golem.

"I'm sorry for putting you all in a tight spot, but I need to do this!" Gol-4's mechanical voice increased in volume. "This bronze ape brings up the memories from my artificial core."

"Say that again?" Oscar grabbed Gol-4 this time but did not return him to the space pocket. He and the others dodged another fast strike, though their clothing got singed by the small flakes of lightning. But right now, Gol-4's words were his priority.

"What have you remembered?" Oscar asked while Frederick and Emily put up walls of stone and winds against the falling molten sand.

"I still don't recall the place, but this bronze ape is another golem created by the Divine Stone Clan," Gol-4 said. "Its primary purpose is, as you see now, to be a soldier and a guardian. It's following its functions right now against you three."

As the golem's words rang out, the bronze ape slashed multiple times in quick succession, so fast the entire area filled with lightning strikes, and the sands split into deep crevices filled with molten sand. It did not let up its onslaught, fully intent on destroying Oscar and the others.

"You want to communicate with that?!" Oscar shouted. It was a suicide mission. Even though Gol-4 was an incredibly hard shell to crack, Oscar pictured the head helplessly tossed around by the lightning and winds. "We just need to defeat it."

"If the golem wants to do it, he can go himself." Frederick unleashed several cyclones that twisted and turned their way to the bronze ape's shoulder. But he grew frustrated at how unfazed the enemy was, not much of a scratch on its armor. "Tsk. The fierce winds from its blows keep weakening my cyclones."

"Don't be discouraged, Fred." Emily separated her two staffs, holding the armament in her left and twirling her anima with her right. She readied herself, held the staff anima like a javelin, and threw with all her might with the powers of the spinning rocks of Kinetic Core and the weight boost. After the battle with Oscar and being frustrated with her battle style, she came up with more ways to use her anima effectively, coming up with the same idea as Orden.

The heavy staff anima banged onto the other shoulder of the bronze ape, who, for some reason, did not dodge and took a step back from the weight. The rotating Kinetic Core turned the staff anima into a grinder that sought to tear its way past the armor. However, it stopped and could do no more.

"Damn," Emily called her staff anima back to her side. It flew away from the bronze ape's shoulder and into her hand. Immediately, she put up another stone wall to protect against the molten rain. "It's very sturdy."

"Please, let me try to communicate with it. It is a golem, so perhaps I can link to it and change its purpose to protect us. We're both made by the Divine Stone Clan; it could work." Seeing how much Emily and Frederick were keen on fighting it, Gol-4 pleaded again.

Oscar let loose a shattering star; the scattered explosion did not phase the bronze ape. He sighed and thought about how costly the battle could be if they had to fight here. "Alright, let's give it a try."

"Great!" Gol-4 exclaimed. "How shall we do it?"

"I know just the way," Oscar smiled. "Fred, can you form a Guststream when I throw him?"

"The winds are very chaotic due to this bastard's attacks, but I can do it," Frederick said as they dodged another lightning-charged strike, destroying more of their footing.

"Ok, I think that would be good enough."

"Wait, throw me?" Gol-4 asked.

'Shattering Wave'

Oscar didn't elaborate and immediately went for it. Similar to how he used 'Shattering Wave' with 'Silver Star', he funneled the Reis into Gol-4, rattling the head erratically in place, and threw him with all his power. Gol-4 was too tough for Oscar's 'Shattering Wave' to destroy it by an explosion, so there was no need to worry.

Frederick charged up right around the same time and sent a spiraling tunnel of Guststream forward to carry Gol-4 faster through the air. He poured a good amount of Ein into it. "Hopefully, this works."

Across the strikes of lightning and twisting gales, Gol-4 flew toward the bronze ape. In the next moment, Gol-4 came face to face with his fellow golem; his size was comparable to a small peanut next to the fierce head of the ape. Their glass eyes met and shone as Gol-4 tried to form a communication link.

Unlike Gol-4, this bronze ape was a regular construct, following only its directive, unlike Gol-4, which was more complex and made to serve and listen as the keeper of the treasury. So, Gol-4 invaded its artificial core, but then he shuddered and plopped down, giving himself to the torrential weather surrounding the bronze ape.

Oscar threw his bulwark and wrapped around the small head of Gol-4, tugging the hapless head back to his side. Small statics coursed across Gol-4's metallic surface, which barely tickled Oscar's skin, and he held the head tightly.

"Did it work?" Oscar asked as he saw the bronze ape stay still.

"No…." Gol-4 said.

The bronze ape burst out with more Ein and swung its polearm repeatedly to slice Oscar and the others apart.

"What happened?" Emily asked as she put up more stone walls.

"Please destroy it," Gol-4 pleaded again, but this time for the exact opposite of his request earlier.

"What's wrong?" Oscar knew Gol-4 was not in the right mood. Though it was only a golem and its expressions nonexistent, he could still feel some emotion even through the hardened mechanical voice.

"It is no longer what it once was. Those monsters of the Forest Heart Clan had long since rewritten it. It no longer serves the Divine Stone Clan but is now only a puppet of the enemy." Gol-4 explained.

"The Forest Heart Clan? How pitiful," Oscar shook his head but wasn't shocked. It was to be expected as the Forest Heart Clan had laid claim to this realm, using it as a part of their Ashen Grove trial.

"I cannot overwrite what they had done. Please destroy it so it can be laid to rest, freed from its perpetual servitude to the Forest Heart Clan."

"When you put it that way, it sounds sad." Emily patted Gol-4's head. "But I'm glad we can finally agree on destroying it."

"Should have done this from the start," Frederick slashed his two blades, releasing more cyclones.

Oscar ran up and blocked the fearsome polearm. Lightning crackled over his bulwark, but he remained unyielding as his feet dragged across the sands, not allowing himself to be embarrassed by being flung away like before. "Don't worry, Gol-4. We'll put this sad construct down."