Chapter 442: The Scene
The workshop felt empty. By the entrance, a few deactivated Alchemical Golems were laid out, and further in, there was nothing particularly unusual.
But then, what was with that intense magical fluctuation...?
Leon’s gaze, quite by accident, landed on an inconspicuous corner, where an Alchemical Golem lay sprawled. From a distance, it looked no different from the deactivated golems at the door. But Leon could clearly see that this one was covered in scars—many of them sword marks—and it still radiated lingering magical fluctuations...
The golems at the entrance were simply broken, or had lost their Mana Core, but the one in the corner was different—it looked like it had been through a grueling battle, battered and worn.
Leon walked over alone, crouched beside the battered golem, and studied it closely. He soon realized this construct had existed for a very long time—something his keen eyes could easily discern. Leon inspected the golem, discovering that the Mana Circuit connecting to its core had been forcibly severed. With practiced ease, he found where the Mana Core should have been.
It was completely empty there—the Mana Core had clearly been taken.
Leon shook his head. Just as he was about to stand, he suddenly sensed a faint pulse of magic coming from where the Mana Core had been. In an instant, his expression changed—his body froze as he stared at the golem. He could feel it: the residual magical fluctuation on the Mana Core was astonishingly strong.
"The Mana Core powering this Alchemical Golem must have been a level-forty or higher Mana Crystal..."
Leon wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. There was no doubt—this was a Sky Rank Golem. If its Mana Core hadn’t been taken, all of them could have been doomed here today.
The reason for the attack by hundreds of Alchemical Golems when entering the workshop now made sense—it must have been the work of this Sky Rank Golem, which had altered the programming of the other constructs. Even after losing its Mana Core, the lesser golems continued to operate under the new instructions, so when our group approached, they attacked us...
Leon checked the Sky Rank Golem's parts again and was pleasantly surprised to find that most of them were intact, with only a small portion having suffered varying degrees of damage.
At that moment, Leon remembered the Sky Rank Alchemical Golem he had brought from Vaughn's Laboratory. He had always been thinking about it—if he could dismantle the parts from this Sky Rank Golem and install them on his own, then add a high-level Mana Crystal as a core...
As for the few missing parts, Leon wasn’t worried at all. He was bound to visit the Golem Plane in the future and could pick up some replacement parts then—it wouldn’t be a big problem.
Once the Sky Rank Golem was fully repaired, its strength might not reach the legendary Sky Rank, but it would at least be able to handle level thirty-seven or thirty-eight opponents with ease.
If he could find that particular item in the Golem Plane, Leon was confident he could raise the golem’s power to the level of Star Sage Joey.
What does Joey’s level mean...
That’s practically the peak of Title Archmage—someone who’s touched a hint of transcendent power.
Throughout Northend World’s history, only about twenty Sky Rank Golems have ever appeared. If Leon could get his golem’s strength close to Sky Rank, that would already be impressive.
Leon didn’t waste any time and began dismantling parts with practiced skill. His speed at taking apart the Sky Rank Golem would amaze any creator; the soft sounds continued for over ten minutes as he removed precious components one by one. William Merlin and Dalson didn’t notice his actions, busy searching the vast workshop.
Leon removed another core component and was about to start on the power system when suddenly, the Sky Rank Golem lying in the corner moved...
Yes, it really did move.
Leon was startled.
What was going on...?
Then he remembered—the Sky Rank Golem’s Mana Core was gone. No matter how strange things got, it couldn’t threaten him, especially since he’d already taken apart most of its components.
Having survived the apocalypse, Leon knew full well that whether it was a mana-powered warship or an Alchemical Golem, without magical energy, it was nothing but scrap metal.
Suddenly, the Sky Rank Golem’s eyes flashed. Seeing this, Leon seemed to remember something and turned to look at the opposite wall.
This is...?
The moment Leon saw the scene, he was almost stunned. The image clearly depicted Emperor Charles leading powerful human warriors in the battle before the Throne of All Creation.
It was an unprecedented battle...
The Five-Colored Dragons and Pureblood Elves joined forces to defend the Throne of All Creation, launching a furious counterattack against Emperor Charles and his warriors. In the fierce assault, many of Charles’s human champions fell.
“The Merlin Ancestor! It really is the Merlin Ancestor...”
Standing behind Emperor Charles was a middle-aged man whose crest Leon recognized—it was the Merlin Family Crest, the very same one William Merlin had obtained in the Plane of Apocalypse not long ago.
Leon stared at the crest in shock. The Merlin Family was clearly not as simple as it seemed. If that man really was the Merlin Ancestor, then the family’s history must stretch back to the end of the Nesser Dynasty...
He then realized that not only were the Five-Colored Dragons, Pureblood Elves, and humans involved in the battle, but behind Emperor Charles stood several Sky Rank Golems, one of which looked familiar—perhaps the very same one beside him now.
No, that’s not right…
Leon was full of questions. Even though he’d only watched the battle for a few seconds, he could tell that Emperor Charles and his champions were losing badly. At that moment, not only was breaking the Throne of All Creation impossible—even escaping the siege of the Five-Colored Dragons and Pureblood Elves would be difficult.
But according to Northend World’s history, wasn’t it Emperor Charles who broke the Throne of All Creation and founded the Third Dynasty...?
It seemed very different from what he knew...
At that moment, the entire scene suddenly darkened. Leon saw an indescribable black hand stretch out from nowhere, covering the sky. The Five-Colored Dragons and Pureblood Elves, upon seeing the black hand, reacted as if they’d seen a ghost—its presence was utterly terrifying to them.
The black hand descended with overwhelming force, and Leon witnessed a scene he would never forget: countless Five-Colored Dragons and Pureblood Elves were instantly annihilated, unable to resist at all.
The scene reflected on the wall ended abruptly there...
Yet the image of the black hand descending lingered in Leon’s mind, haunting him. His feelings at that moment were beyond words.
What kind of power was that...?
Even beings as powerful as the Five-Colored Dragons and Pureblood Elves were killed in an instant—and not just one, but a whole group...
Does such power really exist in this world?
This terrifying power was simply beyond his imagination.
After watching for a while, the Sky Rank Golem remained motionless, lying quietly in the corner. Leon frowned: this golem had existed for ages and had participated in the battle for the Throne of All Creation. What puzzled him was how it ended up in the King of the Caucasus’s magic tower.
It looked as though it had been through a brutal battle, with many damaged parts and its mana source taken.
Leon shook his head and didn’t dwell on it. He crouched down and focused on disassembling the golem’s parts. After about twenty minutes, he had stripped all the valuable components from the Sky Rank Golem.
Once he finished, Leon slowly stood up and glanced around, noticing that Dalson and the others were busy with their own tasks.
This huge alchemical workshop was basically confirmed to be safe. Occasionally, a few damaged alchemical golems would appear, but any of the ten people present could handle them easily. After entering the workshop, everyone began searching for the entrance to the next floor.
Leon released several Eyes of the Mage, carefully controlling them as he moved around, seemingly searching for something in the alchemical workshop.
After a few minutes, Leon reached the place he’d been looking for—a small room with a pile of useless alchemical golems at the door and a thick layer of dust on the floor.
Of everyone here, only Leon knew that workshops of this scale usually had a control room. The place he was in now was the control room for the entire alchemical workshop.
The control room was now in ruins, but traces of the alchemical array controls remained.
Standing in the cramped control room, Leon couldn’t help but shake his head. He’d come here hoping to find clues, but now it seemed he’d been overly optimistic...
At that moment, he turned to leave the control room. Not watching his step, he seemed to kick something on the floor. Looking down, he saw a fist-sized, pitch-black object.
What is this thing?
Leon frowned. The control room was the core of the workshop; it shouldn’t have random junk lying around. Yet the object on the floor didn’t seem special—just a fragment of something, judging by its shape.
After a moment’s hesitation, he reached out to pick it up. But as soon as his hand touched the black object, he froze, standing motionless.
This thing was far too strange...