Chapter 909: Skysteel Stone
Skysteel Stone—reputedly the most worthless yet most valuable stone. This stone possesses a natural resistance to magic, making it one of the rare materials completely impervious to elemental penetration. It is absolutely immune to spells.
To make matters worse, this stuff is terrifyingly hard. After neutralizing elemental power, even Sword Saints below the Sky Rank can't hope to damage it. Only pure physical force can break Skysteel Stone.
Its yield is scarce and mining it is extremely difficult, making it the best material for building city walls and fortresses. In the Northend World, Skysteel Stone is exceptionally rare. Back in the Third Dynasty, only places like the imperial capital could afford to use it for their walls.
With such a massive block of Skysteel Stone, it's obvious it was mined by Bill George's alchemical golem legion.
No need to try—Leon already knows that among their group, only someone like Hubert, with pure physical strength, could even leave a mark on the Skysteel Stone. The rest don't even qualify to scratch it.
"The way back is sealed. Whoever we're up against, they clearly don't want us to escape. The retreat is blocked by this giant Skysteel Stone, and there's almost no chance of breaking through. We can only move forward and find the mechanism here."
Suddenly, a bolt of realization flashes through Leon's mind. His pupils contract sharply, and he quickly crouches down to examine the fading alchemical array on the ground.
Watching the runes and patterns slowly dissipate as if they'd never existed, Leon takes a deep breath.
Thinking back on their previous encounters, it's eerily similar to what happened aboard the Dauntless.
Aboard the Dauntless, it felt as though all their actions were being watched, yet they couldn't figure out how. In the end, they concluded that the monster had already taken control of the Dauntless.
From the moment they entered, everything here seemed to be working against them. Even the mechanical arms used to polish alchemical golem parts would suddenly attack.
Hundreds of spikes inscribed with anti-magic runes would shoot out from the walls without warning, and at a crossroads, they'd be ambushed from all sides by alchemical golems.
There could only be one possibility!
Leon finally realized the only possibility!
He finally understood why there were surveillance methods he couldn't detect; such means should only be possible for Sky Rank powerhouses, but the attacks they've faced are sudden, not overwhelming.
Because everything around them was a means of surveillance—the floor beneath their feet, the walls beside them, every trace they left behind was being watched.
Because the entire base was monitoring them! That's why no traces of traps or mechanisms could be found; every trap appeared without warning.
The entire base is an alchemical golem!
Leon took a deep breath, his eyes still filled with a trace of shock.
"If I'm not mistaken, this base itself is a supermassive alchemical golem!"
As soon as Leon spoke, everyone was stunned.
"Merlin, are you joking?"
Anderson stammered.
Wagner's face turned pale with fright.
"Archmage Leon, this... this joke isn't funny at all..."
There was no hint of a smile on Leon's face; he spoke seriously.
The original owner of this place had an unparalleled mastery of alchemical golems. Before and after the Third Dynasty, only a handful could compare to him.
Turning the entire underground base into an alchemical golem was within his power, and this explanation fits everything.
They were now inside the body of this enormous alchemical golem. Naturally, every movement was known to it, even calculating their route and timing to set ambushes that would maximize its power.
Aside from the explanation that the entire base is an alchemical golem, there is no other possibility.
Not just Wagner—even Anderson wore an utterly incredulous expression.
But Leon knew it was possible. In the apocalypse, though he'd never seen such a colossal alchemical golem himself, he'd read about it in the Desolate Library.
At the peak of the Northend World's development, there was a faction called Puppet City, specializing in alchemical golems. Their fortress was a giant golem, and their legion swept countless planes, even attacking the Undead Plane.
But their Puppet City was lost in the Undead Plane, destroyed when they had conquered over half of it.
Bill George spent so long in the Blazeforge Plane, and may have always been here at Radiance Fortress.
Creating a masterpiece where the entire base is an alchemical golem is entirely understandable.
A true master of alchemical golems—no wonder, at the height of the Northend World, so many coveted Bill George's relics.
In the end, no one found Bill George's true relic, but it was specially recorded and placed in the Desolate Library.
Moreover, what made Leon most certain was the question he'd been puzzling over from the very start.
When they first entered, all the machinery and alchemical golems on the assembly line had run out of power, and it looked like they'd been drained for a long time.
But the guardian alchemical golems still had plenty of energy. Where did the rest of the power go?
You have to realize, the Abyssal power drawn by the entire Radiance Fortress's alchemical array is enormous—even if only a fraction was funneled underground, it's still astronomical.
With so much power, even the energy supply for the alchemical golems couldn't be guaranteed—where did the vast majority of it go?
Now there's an explanation...
Most of that energy was used to power the entire base—or rather, this immense alchemical golem!
All the energy was prioritized for the largest alchemical golem—the base itself—keeping it running. The massive assembly line for making golems stopped, likely due to a lack of raw materials.
No one's been here for many years, so the base couldn't make new golems without materials and had to shut down.
Everyone, be careful and stick together. We're up against the entire base now; danger could appear at any moment.
After instructing everyone, Leon waved his hand and summoned several rock golems to scout ahead.
"Merlin, why not choose the paths to the left or right?"
Anderson asked, a bit puzzled.
Leon stared at the pitch-black corridor ahead.
Our only hope of leaving is to find the core of the base. The whole base is an alchemical golem, supplied by nearly inexhaustible energy. If we don't locate the core, we could be trapped here for centuries. This is the masterpiece of a peak Sky Rank alchemist. Do you really think we can break out by force?
As soon as Leon finished, Wagner, who was about to say something, shut his mouth.
A peak Sky Rank mage, especially one skilled in alchemical golems—trying to force our way out would require Sky Rank power at the very least.
Wagner deeply regretted coming along. He might die here, and his only option was to follow Merlin—he didn't even dare to object, because he really might die…
Leon led the group into the main corridor. After only a few steps, a rumbling noise sounded overhead.
Blocks of Skysteel Stone, each seven or eight meters thick and perfectly square, came crashing down. These stones fit tightly against the walls, leaving no gaps. Each weighed at least two or three hundred thousand pounds—Hubert couldn't lift them, let alone anyone else. It was pure, crushing force!
Leon’s expression changed slightly. His magitech array instantly calculated that there were fifteen Skysteel Stone blocks, meaning they’d have to dash 130 meters before the stones hit the ground.
And those Skysteel Stones would hit the ground in less than two seconds!
Leon didn’t hesitate—he unleashed his Flame Elemental Avatar, conjuring a massive wheel-shaped phantom behind him that spewed endless fire, forming a tunnel of flames ahead. As the fire surged forward, Leon began casting Flame Blink, flashing ahead.
After three consecutive Blinks, Leon appeared just as the flaming tunnel reached past 130 meters.
Immediately, Leon turned and cast into the corridor, summoning four yellow vortices from which five- or six-meter-tall rock giants emerged, raising their arms to hold up the falling Skysteel Stones.
In an instant, half the rock giants were crushed by the impact of the Skysteel Stones. More giants emerged to slow the stones’ descent.
In the corridor, Hubert stomped the ground and charged forward like a cannonball, covering the 130 meters. Reina, following Leon’s lead, unleashed an icy waterfall and escaped with three consecutive Ice Blinks.
Anderson and the golems used the same method—unleashing their strongest spells behind them and letting the force propel them backward over 130 meters.
In just over a second, everyone escaped—except Wagner, who was the slowest. He tried to mimic Leon’s Flame Elemental Avatar and escape using the flaming tunnel and Flame Blink.
But his Flame Elemental Avatar was lackluster—each Blink only covered a dozen meters. In two seconds, he’d barely escaped seventy meters, only halfway.