Chapter 97: The Legacy of the Saints
“Eagle-Headed Golem.”
When Nolan spoke the name, there was a strange note of nostalgia in his voice. Little Donnie, meanwhile, was still caught in the overwhelming sense of grandeur radiating from the colossal construct before them. He craned his neck upward, but even the wavering torchlight could only illuminate the golem’s lower legs. The muscles carved into the stone looked impossibly lifelike, every contour packed with explosive strength.
“Eagle-Headed Golem?” Little Donnie repeated, raising the torch higher in a futile attempt to see more clearly. “That name alone sounds terrifying. Brother Nolan, are you saying this thing is alive?”
“Not yet.” Nolan kept his gaze fixed on the towering figure. There was awe in his eyes, certainly, but even more than that, there was appreciation. A kind of wistful admiration that left Vivi and Renee quietly puzzled. “But the moment we step into the central hall, it’ll awaken.”
Vivi moved closer, studying the construct beneath the flickering firelight. Eagle’s head, humanoid torso, beast-like legs, wings sculpted from stone. The design was undeniably striking, filled with an ancient, savage elegance. Still, beyond its sheer size and intimidating presence, she could not see what made it so extraordinary.
“It definitely looks imposing,” she admitted with a shrug. Fearless by nature, she did not feel particularly intimidated by a man-made construct. “But you called this the pinnacle of Tyrian craftsmanship? Honestly, it just looks like a giant lump of rock standing around as a glorified roadblock.”
Confidence colored her tone. As a Nightingale, she trusted her speed absolutely. To her, any enemy too slow to keep up was nothing more than target practice.
Nolan turned toward her with an amused smile. “If I told you that, even after nearly ten thousand years without maintenance, this ‘lump of rock’ can still swing that axe with the force of a Gold-rank powerhouse, would you still think that?”
“What?!” Vivi’s beautiful amber eyes widened instantly, her furry ears snapping upright.
Little Donnie froze in disbelief. Renee instinctively shrank closer to Nolan, while even Romina, who had remained calm and composed throughout their journey, could no longer hide her shock.
Gold rank.
The weight of those two words was enough to silence anyone.
Across the entire Elfin Kingdom, Gold-rank experts were figures of immense renown, individuals whose names carried authority and fear in equal measure. In regional wars and political struggles alike, the appearance of a single Gold-rank combatant could alter the course of battle entirely. Demont Province only possessed three such individuals, and even facing Yuri the Executioner had nearly cost Nolan’s group their lives.
Yet this towering “statue” before them was apparently a Gold-rank war machine.
Romina unconsciously tightened her grip on her greatbow. Among the Wood Elves, she was already considered extraordinarily powerful and had begun touching the threshold of Gold rank herself. But precisely because of that, she understood how terrifying true Gold-rank power really was.
Her archery was unmatched within the forest. Hunting monsters, striking from concealment, surviving amidst nature—these were her specialties. But direct combat against opponents of equal caliber was another matter entirely, one in which she lacked experience.
Nolan ignored the stunned expressions around him. His attention never left the golem, as though he were admiring a priceless masterpiece preserved across the ages.
Then, without warning, he dropped another revelation.
“And when I say ‘the pinnacle of Tyrian technology,’ I’m not actually referring to the Eagle-Headed Golem itself.”
“Huh?” Little Donnie’s brain was already struggling to keep up. “Then what are you talking about?”
“Its power source.” Nolan drew a slow breath before speaking an ancient name. “The magic core known as ‘Korlotis.’ In the old Tyrian tongue, it means ‘Omnipotence.’ The thing was created during the War of Heaven through the combined efforts of Tyrian archmages, dragonkind, and the giant craftsmen of the skies. But the war was too catastrophic. By the time it ended, the techniques required to create Korlotis had vanished along with the countless heroes who died on the battlefield.”
He paused briefly, giving everyone time to absorb the magnitude of what he was saying.
“For thousands of years afterward, later Tyrian magi tried to recreate it, but every attempt only produced inferior imitations.”
Nolan continued walking slowly toward the hall as he spoke.
“The true brilliance of Korlotis lies in its structure. Under certain conditions, it doesn’t need conventional stored energy at all. Instead, it can directly absorb specific elemental energy from its surroundings and convert it into power.”
He pointed toward the stone floor beneath their feet, then toward the endless darkness surrounding them.
“Do you understand what that means? In a place like the Earth-element subplane, where earth mana is so dense it’s nearly tangible, as long as the core called Korlotis continues functioning… This golem is effectively perpetual.”
Perpetual.
Gold rank.
Combined together, the two concepts became something suffocating.
A Gold-rank war machine that never tired, never weakened, and never stopped moving.
Little Donnie swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. “Nolan… as far as I know, the entire Elfin Kingdom probably has fewer than fifty Gold-rank experts altogether. If the Tyrians could mass-produce even a hundred of these things, wouldn’t they have conquered the entire continent?”
“A hundred?” Nolan shook his head with a faint laugh. “You’re thinking far too small. According to surviving legends, at the height of the War of Heaven, the Tyrians fielded entire golem legions. Their numbers exceeded a thousand. A fully intact Eagle-Headed Golem operating at maximum capacity could rival a peak powerhouse who had already awakened the power of Origin. That was a true tenth-tier army. But even an army like that, something that would seem invincible in the modern era, was nearly annihilated in the final battle. Even the knowledge required to create them disappeared forever.”
For the first time, genuine regret crept into Nolan’s voice. It was the unique sorrow of someone who understood exactly how much had been lost to history.
Vivi, Little Donnie, and Renee were completely speechless now.
An entire legion of constructs comparable to Origin-level beings? What kind of age had that been? What sort of enemies could force such a civilization to the brink of extinction?
They looked once more at the silent Eagle-Headed Golem standing in the center of the hall. This time, there was no trace of curiosity or dismissal in their eyes.
Only reverence remained.
Not merely reverence for the construct itself, but for the glorious age that had birthed it. An era when saints walked the earth, heroes blazed across the world like stars, and civilizations stood at heights modern generations could scarcely comprehend.
Silence settled heavily over the entrance hall.
Only the crackling of the torchfire broke the stillness, reminding them that this was not some distant myth or fever dream, but a fragment of real history standing before them in the flesh.