The starting horn sounded and Pepper watched as Shibito retrieved his samurai sword from his belt. A bright shine came off the blade, but Pepper was even more curious with the fact that Jin-Woo held the blade at a downward angle. As if it was a large dagger that would be used to stab and pull towards him, rather than a sword used to slash or thrust.

  The Shibito then went to take a step forward, but tripped over its own feet and fell. A loud thud rang out and the entire living room filled with a mixture of gasps and laughter. Shibito lifted up its arm and plunged the samurai sword into the earth. It began to stagger upwards and climber back up to its feet.

  The timber wolf didn’t hesitate and launched itself into a running stride. Pepper was amazed to see the speed at which the wolf could immediately utilize. It made the distance between the two golems look short as within mere seconds the wolf went on the attack.

  The timber wolf launched itself through the air with open jowls that aimed right for the Shibito’s arm clinging onto the sword. It was within a few feet when the Shibito reacted with a lightning fast spin off to its right. The swords blade spung along with it and shot sparks out as clanged against the metal hide of the wolf.

  The Shibito ducked down and entered into a roll. It continued a couple of rotations and finally stopped with its back laid out on the ground. The golem brought its knees up into its just, began to tuck and in one motion, kicked itself upwards.

  The timber wolf had not wasted time and had already launched itself forward in another attack. Pepper could see that Jin-Woo had miscalculated the wolf’s speed and now made a quick counter adjustment. Shibito had not even gotten back to its feet but was in midair when Jin-Woo instructed his golem to continue forward and not plant its feet.

  It was another near miss as the timber wolf streaked by its opponent. Shibito planted its fist with its sword still firmly clutched within it upon the ground and performed a one-handed front handspring. Jin-Woo spun his golem around in a fast twist as soon as it got to its feet.

  He back peddled and landed upon one of the large redwood trees. The Shibito let out his eerie laugh and it brought up the hand clasped onto the vase and shook it from side to side as if to say, nice try! There was no time to bask in its’ taunt however, for the timber wolf was already lined up and charging forward.

  Pepper watched as the wolf’s exterior rippled with golden energy. It looked as if lightning was sparking across the exterior metal skin. It took another quick step and then launched the lighting forward in a snap. The electrified bolt shot forward across the ground and kicked up dirt particles as it went.

  The Shibito kicked off the tree with its foot and entered into a turning spin. The golem rotated around and continued its laugh as the lightning bolt blasted onto the tree. Bark fragments pelted onto the ground as the Shibito evaded the damage.

  But that was when Jin-Woo realized the lightning attack was merely a decoy. He finished the spin to bring his golem back forward to face the wolf, but it was too late to evade the real attack. The timber wolf had lowered its head and slammed directly into the Shibito’s chest.

  The golem flew backwards as if it was hit by a massive battering ram. It’s back slammed against a downed redwood tree and its’ body slumped down into a seated position. The bamboo hat of the Shibito had fallen off from the massive impact and laid a few feet forward.

  The zombie golem laughed and swayed from side to side. It’s head rolling down and forward while it clapped its hands together. Shibito then lunged forward and began to walk on its fists and knees as if to mimic the wolf. It crawled its way forward until it arrived at its hat. A quick flick of its wrist and the Shibito tossed the hat upwards, and everyone awed as it landed perfectly on the golem’s head.

  “Okay, that was impressive.” Pepper said.

  “Mathematically speaking, he only had a 10% chance of that move succeeding.” Wilson added.

  Shibito began to plant its foot and started to stand, but that was when the timber wolf launched another lightning attack. The explosive blast hit directly on the leg that Shibito had planted its weight on to stand. Shibito tucked and rolled again as the wolf slashed at the golem with its’ claws.

  Pepper watched as the wolf ripped and tore at the golem, but something seemed off. The attacks, though powerful, didn’t seem like a long-term sustainable strategy. What are they really getting at? He thought. His eyes tuned in to the fact that the orange glow of energy had grown significantly within the wolf.

  The wolf then latched on to the left ankle of the Shibito. The power and strength of the timber wolf on full display as it dragged the golem backwards. Shibito rotated its hips and spun around, a quick slash with its sword. The blade ripped across the wolfs face and sent metallic sparks dancing across the area.

  The timber wolf evaded another strike from the blade by making a quick jump off to the side. It ran to safety and then turned as if it was lining up for another attack. It’s claws dug into the earth as it bound forward.

  Pepper saw the Shibito toss the small container it had been holding towards the wolf. It landed far short of the wolf, but that was when Pepper realized that was the purpose. The container shattered and black liquid coated the area. The timber wolf reared backwards but it was too late. The momentum carried the golem forward and it immediately slipped and rolled in the black liquid.

  “Oh no JD! Jin-Woo was able to pull of his oil trap, and we know that he’ll more than likely follow it up with a fire ball!” Nick exclaimed.

  It wasn’t but a second later that Shibito pulled another two vases that were affixed to the opposite side of its belt. The jars breaking upon the timber wolfs body and coated the metal skin with the dark, thick oil. Just as Nick had warned, Shibito opened its mouth and shot out a small fireball. The magical attack blasted against the wolf and immediately engulfed the golem in flame.

  Shibito spun the samurai blade in front of its body and quickly began to open up and into a trot forward. The Shibito picked up speed as it went and lifted the blade up high. It closed the distance and was about to plunge the blade down into the wolfs body when the wolf launched a force blast.

  The attack launched the Shibito back and caused it to trip again on its own feet. The zombie golem cried out in laughter yet again, but the timber wolf didn’t hesitate to try and escape. The wolf clawed at the earth and ripped up chunks of flaming dirt as it finally broke free of the trap. It fled into the brush and soon the flames faded off its skin.

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  There was a quick shift as the drone worked to keep up with the wolf. It almost appeared as if the drone operator knew something that nobody else did. The camera hovered around which showed the Shibito far in the background with the Timber wolf at the bottom of the screen.

  The wolf stopped near a large chunk of wood that had detached itself from downed tree. It quickly lifted its paw and placed it on the tree, and that was when everybody practically fell out of their seats. The orange glow of energy poured out from the wolfs paw and began to imbue itself into the wood. Hundreds of orange slivers of light sprang around the wood. It all looked like a scientific laser machine that was carving and etching away at the wood as it all soon took shape.

  A perfect replicate copy of the Timberwolf was now formed out of the wood. The orange light then narrowed in and etched a rune directly into the rib cage of the wolf. A flash of light ended the process and the rune glowed to life. It was only a second later that the rune sent a pulsating wave of energy throughout the wooden carving.

  “Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness JD! It… it’s… a duplicate rune in action!” Nick’s voice erupted through the broadcast.

  The camera then shifted quickly over to R.A. and L.M. Both ladies were clearly in control of their golems. Though there was no way to tell who was controlling what. A shift back towards the wolves and the world watched as both wolves bolted off to the far left side.

  “This is incredible JD! I can hardly believe we’re here and watching this all unfold!” Nick continued.

  “You know me Nick, whenever it comes to rune options within the golem league, I get just as excited as a fat kid does when they see cake. When the league announced they were going to allow the duplication rune into competition, I was excited to see how it was going to be utilized. But, now we’re seeing it live and I’m loving that sugary frosting goodness!” JD commented.

  The Shibito had now continued to stagger and sway as it stood. Pepper was unable to discern if Jin-Woo knew exactly what had happened or where the two wolves now were. But they didn’t have to wait long, for the wooden timber wolf launched itself out of the underbrush.

  The duplicate wolf soared through the air like a missile streaking towards its target. The Shibito spun around and brought a spinning heal kick which slammed into the side of the wooden golem. The Shibito continued its momentum and tried to slash with its sword.

  A solid gash was carved from the wood as the blade cleaved the duplicates skin. But the exposed week side was a prime target for the true timber wolf. The metal golem lunged from a different location and latched down with its teeth on the Shibito’s arm.

  The timber wolf pulled its opponent down and off balance. The Shibito was now staggering on its feet as the wolf dug its claws into the earth and reared backwards. That was when Jin-Woo started to activate a rune in its free hand.

  Red pulsating light began to circulate around the limb. A quick twist and the Shibito turned to aim right at the wolfs face, but that was when the duplicate golem arrived. It slammed its head directly into the Shibito’s right hip with a mighty ramming attack. The impact twisted Jin-Woo’s golem around and sent a blazing beam of fire into a nearby tree.

  Wood splinters erupted everywhere as the blast severed the mighty tree in two. The wolves bolted to safety as the colossal tree began to fall towards the ground. Without delay Jin-Woo activated another rune, a flash of red light surged down the swords blade. The camera view adjusted to show the golem was about to be smashed in place by the redwood tree.

  It appeared to only have a second left when a red light sliced through the threat. The strike severed off another portion of the tree and the rest slammed into the arena with a thunderous arrival. Pepper couldn’t help but notice that the longer the match continued, the more Jin-Woo faded away from the drunken master technique.

  The Shibito now stood amidst the scattered pile of split wood. Jin-Woo turned the golem around in a half circle and looked as if it was actually scanning the area. The eerie chuckle began and quickly escalated towards a diabolic laugh. Its’ red energy pulsated to life and grew in intensity along with its evil laugh. A final bellow scream of anger and then red flames shot out of the kabuki mask, the samurai sword and the Shibito’s free hand.

  The three separate beams of fire immediately caught the nearby woods aflame. A shift in the arena’s aura could now be felt through the broadcast. Though Pepper couldn’t tell by the angle of the camera feed, it appeared as if the arena was darkening.

  “Not only is this match heating up, but nature is ready to bring balance as a thunderstorm as rolled in overhead JD.” Nick informed the viewers.

  “Is it actually nature? Or are these two ladies bringing us their own conjured thunderstorm?” JD countered.

  “Well you certainly bring up a great point JD. One we’ll certainly have to find out in the post match interview.”

  A flash of lighting overhead illuminated the arena floor. There was a few taps of rain that could be seen falling near the Shibito, and then the heavens opened up. The rain came crashing down and soon the Shibito was covered in water as it maintained its placement at the arena’s center.

  The camera began to zoom out and that was when Pepper could see bright streaks of light zipping throughout the surrounding trees. From the high up angle they could see that the speed was actually some type of magical enhancement. The two wolves left an electrified ripple in their wake before they would jump to their next point.

  Pepper could see that the wolfs speed was increasing and eventually it was so fast to see their tmini was creating their own patterned rune. The two wolves finally came to a stop and a thunderclap sounded overhead. The rune now complete and glowed with a golden yellow coloration. It pulsed with life and grew with intensity while the thunder and lighting clashed overhead.

  The Shibito began to launch fireballs randomly around the area, probing the void for its opponent. The wolves on the other hand maintained a safe distance as the lighting targeted the Shibito and unleashed its furry. Jagged lines of lightning shot down in forceful bolts of energy and slammed into the Shibito.

  One of the lightning bolts impact shot directly through the golems left leg. Another bolt ripped through the right shoulder. Another round of bolts slammed into the lower back at the golem while a separate bolt sliced the left side of the Shibito’s face. The energy was so great that the entire side of the golem was now scorched and appeared to be sizzling.

  The lightning ended and Pepper could see the two wolves slowly stalked towards their opponent. One on either side of the Shibito, who had now returned to the swaying motion it had earlier in the match. The camera shifted over to Jin-Woo, and his body movements made it clear that he was actively working to command his golem. His efforts appeared to clearly be failing as every failed attempt brought more panicked expression across his face.

  The two wolves came into view at the same time that their bodies rippled with electric energy across their skin. A second later the duplicate timber wolf launched itself forward. It streaked across the distance and slammed directly into the Shibito.

  Shibito’s auto balance feature had kicked in and the golem staggered for a few steps. The Shibito had not even came to a full stop though when the metal timber wolfs attack arrived. The wolf latched down onto Shibito’s arm that held its samurai. In the blink of an eye the wolf had ripped the arm clean off the golem.

  Pepper’s eyes widened as the duplicate wolf timed its second attack perfectly. The Shibito not even having time to recover from its severed arm when the wolf latched onto the opposite sides leg. To Pepper’s amazement, the leg crumbled under the force of the attack.

  The Shibito fell down and the stump of its severed leg thudded into the arena floor. The golem reached its right arm out to brace itself. It was then that Jin-Woo looked to have regained some type of connection to his golem, but it was too late. Shibito started to glow with its red energy, powering up to launch another attack.

  He wouldn’t have a chance to release it however, for the two wolves came charging in at the same time. The metal Timberwolf slammed directly into the chest of Shibito as the duplicate wolf slammed into its’ back at the same time. The dual ramming attack was too great for the stone golem and the distinct sound of rock shattering could be heard throughout the broadcast.

  “That looks to be it JD! The wolves have done it!” Nick exclaimed.

  Pepper watched as the two wolves stood frozen for a second. They slowly backed away after a brief moment and piece by piece of the Shibito began to crumble away. The red energy flickered for a second and then fluttered out. The stones crumbled down into a pile, and as if it was planned, the Kabuki face landed on top of the pile looking up at the camera view.