Chapter 430: Sky Rank Golem
Leon shot Solan Monty a cold glance, then walked over to the corner, quietly waiting.
Solan Monty kept his head down and said nothing, only nodding with a dark expression.
After two days, everyone emerged from the illusion. Most had changed in strength. Leon Merlin, who had ventured into the Pale Plane's illusion, had now fully fused with the Arcane Ring. Though still only at the peak of Seventh-Tier Archmage, his power was so overwhelming that even a Ninth-Tier Archmage would struggle to suppress him.
Ross Merlin’s experience was the most bizarre—he kept repeating the same battle over and over.
Years ago, he lost to Stan Watson in the Blazeforge Plane, and it haunted him ever since. But due to flaws in his meditation codex, he couldn’t improve his strength. Later, Stan Watson was killed by Leon, so that battle in Blazeforge Plane became his eternal regret. This time, inside the Blazeforge Plane’s illusion, after countless attempts, he finally defeated Stan Watson. Now, he’s an Eighth-Tier Archmage…
The Dragonblood Orc, Hubert, was the last to leave the illusion. Judging by his groggy look, Leon suspected that after that Whispering Crystal call, the guy probably went back to sleep for a nap.
But now, the Dragonblood Orc was a bona fide Ninth-Tier Swordmaster.
Once everyone was gathered, they rested for an hour. Pushing open the massive door, they didn’t encounter any danger. Beyond lay a spiraling staircase descending into darkness, apparently leading to the tenth floor of the Magic Tower. The group followed the winding stairs and soon arrived at the tenth floor.
The moment they arrived on the tenth floor, everyone was a little surprised. Judging from the eleventh floor, the tower only spanned a few hundred meters, but the tenth floor was vast beyond belief.
Clearly, the space had been expanded by an alchemical array…
To be precise, this was an abandoned Alchemist Workshop—a place dedicated to producing Alchemical Golems. The scale here was enormous, several times larger than the one Leon encountered in the Vaughn Laboratory. But unlike the eleventh and twelfth floors, this place was covered in cobwebs and a thick layer of dust, looking utterly desolate.
“My god, how many Alchemical Golems could this place churn out in a day…” Dalson in the team was nearly speechless with shock.
At the center of the crisscrossing assembly lines stood a massive furnace—black as pitch, perfectly intact after thousands of years, though not a single ember remained inside…
Just then, a faint metallic scraping sound was caught by the ever-active mana array. Leon frowned and with a wave, three or five Wizard’s Eyes shot out, instantly revealing the source: nearly a hundred Alchemical Golems were charging toward them at full speed…
Within seconds, the hundred Alchemical Golems had surrounded Leon’s group, packed so tightly there was no way out. These golems came in all shapes—some modeled after magical beasts, others after battlemages, swordmasters, and more…
“Isn’t this supposed to be an abandoned Alchemist Workshop? How are there so many Alchemical Golems…” Ross Merlin stared at the three layers of golems inside and out, scalp tingling.
Fortunately, the strength of these Alchemical Golems was all over the place, making them relatively easy to handle. But the fixed magical ray spells on their bodies were a real headache—especially with a hundred golems firing off spells like crazy. Even Leon’s group, strong as they were, had to work hard to fend them off.
After half an hour of fighting, not a single one of the hundred Alchemical Golems was left standing—they’d all been blasted apart.
But it was far from over. The group had barely walked a few hundred meters when another swarm of Alchemical Golems closed in—this time, only about thirty.
After they’d dealt with the Alchemical Golems, Leon frowned. He suddenly felt something odd. When they first arrived on the tenth floor, the group spent at least half an hour by the central furnace, yet not a single golem attacked them during that time…
But as they ventured deeper into the Alchemist Workshop, they were ambushed by two waves of Alchemical Golems in quick succession…
He crouched beside an Alchemical Golem modeled after a Shadow Wolf, stared for a moment, then rapidly dismantled it—parts falling off one by one, leaving Dalson and the others utterly dumbfounded.
"Something’s off…"
After a few minutes of dismantling, Leon shook his head, still puzzled.
"What’s off…?"
Hearing Leon say that, Dalson broke out in a cold sweat. He’d already felt the strangeness of this place, especially that illusion earlier. "Magus Merlin, could you be a bit more specific?"
"They’re not following their programmed routines—it’s like something’s influencing them, and the programming’s been changed…" Leon frowned, then glanced into the distance. A Wizard’s Eye darted out, and when the image came back, Leon pointed ahead: "That’s a golem production workshop, and all these Alchemical Golems are coming from there. Let’s go check it out…"
Led by Leon, the ten of them headed for the golem workshop. It was only a few kilometers away, and at their speed, it wouldn’t take long to reach…
But the number of Alchemical Golems charging at them was far beyond their expectations—wave after wave came at them, utterly relentless.
After nearly six hours of fighting, it was finally over. Of the ten, only Leon remained unscathed; the others were utterly exhausted, and Ross Merlin had even suffered minor injuries.
Leon gradually realized that these Alchemical Golems were acting strangely. Maybe their goal wasn’t to kill them, but to stall them—as if they were protecting something.
And that altered programming was the key to it all…
This massive Alchemist Workshop had been abandoned for at least a thousand years. What exactly were these golems protecting? Leon couldn’t figure it out…
When they reached the workshop entrance, there were no more Alchemical Golems left. Maybe every last one in the place had already been destroyed. Just in those six hours, they’d dealt with at least a thousand golems—enough to form a massive golem legion in any plane.
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Along the way, Leon had dismantled quite a few valuable components.
"Could there be something dangerous in there?" Dalson asked, looking nervously at the dimly lit workshop.
The group paused at the workshop entrance. Leon was frowning too—he’d tried to use a Wizard’s Eye to scout inside, suspecting that whoever or whatever was controlling those golems was hidden within. He couldn’t afford to be careless. But inside, a violent magical fluctuation instantly wiped out the Wizard’s Eye as soon as it entered.
"Everyone, stay alert…"