Leon didn't dwell too long on the fact that the barrier no longer needed power once it was broken. He turned around and said, "That voice is coming from this direction. Let's go see what's been muttering and calling out to us."
He gripped his priest's scepter and took the lead into the ruins, with the rest of the group following closely behind.
Thick gray stone pillars supported a black domed ceiling, with blue mana lamps placed upon the pillars.
Strangely, despite the passage of at least eight hundred years, the mana lamps remained intact, continuously illuminating the passages within the ruins.
On both sides of the corridor, countless fragmented metal parts lay scattered on the ground, covered in a thick layer of dust.
Leon walked at the very front of the party. He lit a Light Prayer Orb and cast a Sacred Light Shield over himself.
After casting the two Divine Arts, his gaze swept over the architecture within the ruins, trying to match it with the knowledge in his mind.
However, after searching his memories, he couldn't find a period or kingdom that corresponded to this architectural style.
After walking about a hundred meters into the ruins, the previous calling voice became increasingly clear.
"My child... my child..."
Following the direction of the sound, Leon cast his gaze ahead.
At a corner of the underground passage, a figure was swaying from side to side, slowly walking toward them.
"Is that... an old gramophone?"
Zachary looked at the gramophone on the figure's head, momentarily stunned.
The figure possessed a pair of purely mechanical legs, but its arms were completely missing.
The most peculiar thing was that a gramophone the size of a lunchbox was perched where its head should be.
The repeated calls they had heard earlier were coming from this very gramophone.
"An alchemical golem?" Leon found it quite novel as well.
This thing with a gramophone head didn't look like a normal living being in any way.
With its mechanical legs and a body devoid of flesh, it looked exactly like an alchemical golem created by an alchemist.
"My children... you have finally come!"
When it reached a certain distance, the Gramophone Golem seemed to finally notice Leon and his group.
A red light flickered within the gramophone on its head, followed immediately by a sharp, ear-piercing, and miserable shriek.
This shriek was even more unpleasant than the sound of someone's throat being pierced!
Upon hearing this shriek, Zachary and the others instantly felt as if a sharp awl had been driven into their heads. Their minds throbbed with intense pain, and they felt so dizzy they nearly collapsed to the ground.
Meanwhile, a stream of light flashed across Leon's panel:
【Divine Art Casting Grade: Poor】
【The Will of the Gondor Empire EXP +1】
"It's a mental attack!"
Leon raised his scepter and quickly manifested the Radiance Longbow, violently firing a hammer at the Gramophone Golem.
Boom!
The Hammer of Sacred Light shot out and smashed into the Gramophone Golem's head.
The gramophone on its head shattered instantly, and the screeching mental attack vanished along with it.
Leon cast the healing radiance of the Light Prayer Orb over everyone. Uninjured, he and Alicia—who had emerged from the shadows—stepped forward together to inspect this peculiar Gramophone Golem.
The structure of the Gramophone Golem was very simple: a pair of mechanical lower limbs capable of walking, an alchemical drive core in the center of the chest, and an antique gramophone for a head.
However, Leon could not find a magic crystal slot on this alchemical golem.
"No, it shouldn't be driven by magic crystals providing energy..." Leon thought to himself.
Even an A-rank magic crystal wouldn't be enough to provide such a massive amount of energy to keep a Gramophone Golem running for eight hundred years without stopping.
"Master Leon, do you recognize this monster?" Zachary asked as he approached Leon, clutching his still-throbbing head.
Leon shook his head and said uncertainly, "I don't recognize it. But from the looks of it, this should be an alchemical golem."
"An alchemical golem?" Zachary agreed that the monster shared many characteristics with alchemical golems.
However... what kind of alchemist would give an alchemical golem a gramophone for a head?
And more importantly...
"How can an alchemical golem use mental attacks?"
Alchemical golems were typically pure physical alchemical creations. Their methods of attack were usually limited to direct physical strikes, such as using their fists.
Zachary had never seen an alchemical golem capable of performing a mental attack.
Leon shook his head; his understanding of alchemy was limited.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Just then, a noisy sound echoed from deep within the passage.
Leon looked up and saw one crooked figure after another rushing toward them from the depths of the ruin's corridor.
"Disobedient! Disobedient! Disobedient!"
"Striking Mother, child, disobedient!"
"Disobedient children must be punished!"
It was a swarm of Gramophone Golems! There were no fewer than a hundred of them!
And behind the Gramophone Golems in the front, Leon also saw many other different types of alchemical golems!
"Retreat, quickly!"
Even Leon had no intention of staying to fight upon seeing such a large number of Gramophone Golems.
Was this some kind of joke? Fighting such a vast number of enemies in such a narrow passage?
Leon was no fool!
While shouting for everyone to retreat, Leon raised his priest's scepter and rapidly cast one Divine Art after another.
【Radiance Longbow】
【Wind-Whisper Heavy Cannon】
【Bemis’s Sacred Light Cage】
【Petrification Curse】
【...】
A barrage of Divine Arts was unleashed, slowing the pace of the frenzied Gramophone Golems, allowing the group to quickly exit the ruins' main gates.
"No need to leave the underground passage! Wait a short distance from the gates!"
After exiting the ruins, Leon didn't go far. Instead, he stood in the passage leading to the gates and turned around to wait.
If he wasn't mistaken...
The swarm of Gramophone Golems, like a mob of frenzied fans, stopped abruptly as they reached the ruin's gates.
It was as if an invisible barrier at the gates kept them all contained inside.
"I see..."
Leon exhaled upon seeing this.
Looking at the confused group behind him, he explained, "Those gramophones are indeed alchemical golems."
"But they don't use magic crystals for power. Instead, they use the ambient mana dissipated in the air to charge!"
"If I'm not mistaken, there should be a small mana focus inside these ruins. The owner of the ruins used the mana emitted from that focus to power the ruin's barrier and these specially modified alchemical golems."
"If they leave the ruins, the mana in the outside air wouldn't be enough to sustain them, and these Gramophone Golems would instantly lose power and collapse..."
"However, the owner of the ruins must have considered this and programmed the Gramophone Golems with a rule preventing them from leaving the ruins..."
After Leon's explanation, everyone finally understood.
However, as Zachary looked at the Gramophone Golems piled up at the ruin's gates, his realization turned into a look of despair.
"Master Leon, these Gramophone Golems... they aren't just going to stay at the gates forever, are they?"
With a horde of golems capable of mental attacks and bewitching voices right under his manor, Zachary felt a chill run down his spine!
If some accident happened and these golems managed to break out, not just his manor, but the entire Jellyfish Town would be in dire straits!
Leon was well aware of Zachary's concerns.
However, a mana focus combined with alchemical golems was something difficult for a priest like him to handle alone...
"Let's call for help. We should invite some alchemy masters and magic masters to come over," Leon said.
Hearing this, Zachary's face grew even more bitter. "Master Leon, where would I find alchemy or magic masters in a small place like this?"
Leon waved his hand dismissively. "You don't have them here, but they exist elsewhere."
Zachary's eyes lit up. "Are you saying... Stormveil City?"
"There aren't any alchemy masters in Stormveil City." Leon turned and began walking toward the exit of the underground passage. "I'm talking about the capital."
"Once I write a letter back to the capital, I'll invite an alchemy master from the Alchemists' Association and a mage from the Ministry of Magic to come."
These alchemical golems were numerous and troublesome. Dealing with them would be time-consuming and exhausting; it would be better to just hire experts to solve it...
Suddenly, Leon stopped in his tracks.
"Priest Leon?"
Seeing Leon pause, Zachary asked in confusion from behind.
"I feel that one shouldn't trouble others with their own matters!" Leon turned around, his face solemn.
"Who knows how long it will take for people from the capital to arrive!"
"Delay breeds trouble. We must handle the alchemical golem problem in the ruins ourselves!"
However, on his panel:
【Divine Art Casting Grade: Good】
【Light Prayer EXP +13】
【Radiance Perception Lv1 (92/100) → Radiance Perception Lv2 (5/300)】
Rate on N.U.
