Over a hundred bronze golems thundered into the ancient hall—an unstoppable tide of tal feet, each step shaking dust from the vaulted ceiling. Their eyes glowed with cold, uniform light, marching in perfect formation. Among them strode five silver-class golems, taller and heavier, each radiating the oppressive aura of a grand magus realm opponent.
The sound alone—steel grinding, cores humming, echoing like drums of war—sent a ripple of fear through the Nova Roma magus.
"Do not falter!!" Julian roared, voice slicing through the rising panic. "I have sent the signal! Hold your ground—help will co!!"
The words ignited sothing in the Nova Roma magus. Fear hardened into resolve; their auras surged brighter, domains flaring as they ford defensive rings.
Julian turned to Ery—nothing needed to be said. The Nova Roma would face the tide of golems. Ery and his group would confront Dravic and the monstrous guardian at his side.
He then lifted his sword. His domain unfurled in a radiant sweep, a majestic golden halo unfurled behind him— along with an aura that wrapped his allies in shimring gold. This was Julian unique law of Sovereign, gives a blessing of strength and protection. Even the half-conscious Casiel and Guskov stirred, breathing steadier as the blessing took hold.
"Fight!"
The Nova Roma formation charged forward like a spearhead, Poseidon on Julian’s left, Athar on his right, Athena and the five magus surging behind with shields of light and fire as they collided against the bronze phalanx with a deafening crash.
While Julian led the charge, Ery turned toward the white artisan golem standing beside him.
"Send all worker golems to support them," Ery ordered.
The artisan golem’s eyes flickered—then a distinctly feminine voice echoed from its core.
"Affirmative."
The twelve worker golems turned in unison and sprinted forward. Despite their awkward builds, they dove directly into battle, blocking blows, grabbing bronze arms, and throwing themselves as tal shields over Nova Roma magus, they widening the frontline in perfect coordination.
"Good job, VIA," Ery murmured.
Her voice replied through the golem, smooth and unhurried:
"Your wish is my command."
This was Ery’s newly gain advantage.
When Dravic activated Randhall’s key, multiple locked systems inside the artisan golem had awakened. VIA seized the chance, hacking into those newly opened pathways by injecting massive amounts of her own data into the system. She overwrote protocols, hijacked control layers, and in doing so beca the artisan golem’s new core intelligence.
But her reward was full command authority over the Artisan golem and its inherent authority over the worker golems. VIA now commanded twelve of them flawlessly.
Dravic, seeing Ery take what he believed was his legacy, flew into a rage and called the guardian golem to attack.
Ery’s eyes sharpened. "Then let’s test your new body"
Two identical constructs collided in a burst of tal and force, their fras forged from the sa alloys and powered by the sa core—yet their purposes could not have been more different. The guardian golem was born for battle: its arms unfolded into humming energy blades; its forearms split open to reveal hand-cannons; a shimring barrier pulsed around its body like a second skin. Even its fists were reinforced with rare tier-8 alloys capable of chewing through high grade weapons. Worst of all was the precision of its combat algorithms—thousands of lethal patterns cycling with cold efficiency.
In barely a minute, the artisan golem was forced on the defensive. Each clash sent it skidding back, servos shrieking. Every dodge ca a fraction too late. The guardian’s blade carved sparks along its plating; a cannon blast dented its chest. Blow after blow turned the artisan into little more than a tal punching bag.
But Ery stay calm.
He knew the artisan had one advantage the guardian do not— the high tech artificial being, VIA.
A soft pulse vibrated from within the golem’s core, followed by the calm synthetic voice.
[Analyzing combat sequence... processing fighting data]
[Downloading... recalibrating counter-patterns]
The updates were happening, but painfully slowly. Too slowly.
Ery grimaced. "Just hold on a little longer..."
Vic, ever the reckless one, perked up. "I can help!"
Of course he would say that.
Ery exhaled hard and summoned another help. "Livi—assist them."
A faint ripple answered him as shadow flared to life.
Annara and his dark-avatar were also sent to guard Vic while he unfurled his scrolls. Ink-lit runes blood into existence as Vic’s hands blurred through formation seals. One talisman slapped onto the ground—chains of energy erupted upward, snagging the guardian’s leg. Another flew and exploded into a net of glowing sigils, forcing the war-golem’s next strike off balance. .
But even restrained, the war-golem tore at the bindings with monstrous strength, inch by inch breaking free.
And the whole ti, VIA continued working within the artisan golem’s mind—absorbing every strike, every motion, every weakness—one algorithm at a ti.
This developnt twisted the possessed Dravic’s expression into a dark scowl. His gaze locked onto Ery, and fury—almost feral—burned behind his eyes.
"You... you’re the one who defeated Vashka," he snarled. "I will kill you for robbing my tomb!"
His voice warped as if two souls were speaking through the sa throat.
A surge of chaos flared around him. tal and fla roared together as Dravic unleashed his domain, and the Randhall hamr ignited in a violent blaze. A single step sent a shock of pressure across the hall—enough to crack stone, enough to warp the air itself.
Then he charged.
Ery bent the space between them instinctively, but even his spatial distortion fractured on contact. The force was too overwhelming. He swiftly activate his Icarus Wings, a burst of iridescent light propelling him out of the hamr’s path at the very last heartbeat.
BAMMMMM!!
The strike hit the floor instead.
A storm of broken stone and shuddering shockwaves tore through the hall. Even the ongoing battles staggered—several bronze golems toppled over from the quake alone.
"What power..." Ery murmured, unable to hide both awe and concern.
Dravic bared his teeth in a manic grin. "So you do have interesting artifacts! Show more—let see all of them!"
He ca again, faster than before.
This ti Ery shifted fully into his Twilight Transformation—silver markings rippling over his skin, his aura sharpening like a blade. The empowernt barely allowed him to slip past another earth-splitting hamr swing.
BAMMM!!
Another shockwave. Another crater.
Ery landed several paces away, breathing evenly but focused, eyes narrowing as he carefully observed the man before him. Dravic’s domain of tal and fla pulsed brighter and heavier than ever—like a forge on the brink of explosion. His cultivation had surged unnaturally; Ery could feel it. What had once been mid-stage Two-Cosmos had leapt toward high stage, perhaps even near the peak.
The reason beca obvious.
Randhall’s fragnted soul... aligning perfectly with Dravic’s tal and fla mastery.
Ard with a tier-7 hamr and the awakened tier 7 armor, empowered by a broken ancient intellect, Dravic had beco the worst possible enemy for a half-drained Ery.
The earlier fight with Vashka’s, summoning the three Khaos guardian had eaten deeply into his reserves, left his spirit pool strained.
Ery needed a strategy.
And then he rembered the man’s earlier words—the slips in his speech, the fractured identity struggling beneath the surface. Randhall had not fully taken over Dravic.
He took the gamble.
"I am indeed the one who defeated Vashka..." Ery called out, voice steady. "But tell —who are you? Am I speaking to Dravic, or to Randhall?"
The reaction was instant.
Dravic’s charge faltered. His steps stuttered. For the first ti since the madness began, uncertainty flickered across his bearded features.
"I... I am... Randhall!" he barked, as if forcing the words out. "They called the Celestial Machinist!"
Ery’s voice softened just slightly.
"Not many know that na anymore. After all... All believe you died three millennia ago."
"Three... millennia..." Dravic muttered. His expression twisted, the madness in his gaze flickering like a candle in a storm. His eyes lost focus, drifting sowhere far beyond the present. "Dead... yes... I... did... This is... my tomb..."
Ery added a deliberate push to deepen the crack in his emotions. "Yes. Since your death, your faction crumbled. No one remained."
"They... They all died..." Dravic whispered, voice trembling.
There it was. The opening Ery needed.
Ery struck.
He gathered the remnants of his soul power and focused it into one precise, lethal spirit attack.
[Spectral Gaze]
The ntal attack pierced directly into Dravic’s unstable soul.
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