Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2767: Machinist Tomb 8

Having just fought the colossal monstrosity earlier, the sudden awakening of the white-gold golem instantly put everyone on edge. Flames appeared along Annara’s arms, coiling like serpents ready to lash out. Athar’s flying chakrams shot into the air, humming with lethal force, while Vashka’s paper strings unfurled between her fingers like talons preparing to strike.

But after a tense second, the golem didn’t move at all.

It simply stood there, eyes glowing brightly yet showing no intent.

"What is happening?!" Athar muttered, frowning. His eyes immediately turned toward Vic.

The young magus was still frozen in shock, but he quickly snapped into motion and began operating the cube with frantic precision. "I believe... I think... this isn’t a combat golem at all," he said, voice trembling with excitement. "It’s a worker type."

His breathing steadied as curiosity overtook fear. He leaned closer to the cube, excitement gleaming.

"Amazing... truly amazing... this must be one of Grandmaster Randhall’s greatest works. A golem designed to assist and continue his craft."

Athar scowled. "Then why is it not moving at all?! Is it even active?"

"I don’t know yet..." Vic muttered, jaw tightening. "The interface... the circuit... it’s incredibly complex. Just give me a moment."

Vashka immediately stepped forward, intent on seizing control, but Athar blocked her path. "Don’t even think about it! Our turn isn’t over yet!"

The female grand magus paused, visibly annoyed, her eyes narrowing as she calculated her next move.

Emery, meanwhile, stood slightly behind, quietly listening to VIA’s internal diagnostics.

The white-gold construct was indeed labeled The Artisan. But this was not the rigid assembly of metal plates and mechanical joints typical of high-grade constructs. This thing’s anatomy was closer to a perfected artificial lifeform.

Layered diagrams unfolded across his mind—luminous schematics rotating over the white-gold figure like ghostly blueprints.

It possessed an Astral Musculature Framework—bundles of living star-threads woven into flexible cords, capable of contracting with force strong enough to twist Tier-6 metals like soft clay. Beneath that, VIA highlighted the Aetheric Organ Mesh—a complex lattice of crystalline organs that shimmered with circulating energy. All were crafted from rare, high-grade materials. I was capable of manipulating cosmic level power and performing precision tasks impossible for ordinary constructs.

VIA’s voice echoed in his thoughts:

[Attempt to breach internal circuits unsuccessful. Primary key required.]

To Emery’s surprise, Vic arrived at almost the same conclusion. The young magus fingers trembled over the cube’s interfaces as he muttered, excitement overtaking fear.

"To operate this golem, we need a key—some kind of artifact tuned to Randhall’s signature. Otherwise..." His eyes widened as more runes unfolded. "The only other way is... to refine it directly."

He barely finished the last word before everything snapped into motion.

Vashka’s two silver golems lunged forward without warning—one barreling toward Athar in a burst of metallic thunder, the other sliding between Emery and Vic with blades forming along its arms. At the same time, the female grand magus herself shot forward, strings flaring like sharp silver ribbons as she reached for Vic.

But Emery had been expecting this.

With a single twist of his wrist, space folded like rippling cloth. Vic vanished from Vashka’s grasp and reappeared beside Emery, stumbling but unharmed.

"LADY VASHKA! This is outrageous!" Athar roared as he intercepted the incoming silver golem, his floating chakrams spinning into a defensive wall of golden arcs.

Vashka ignored him entirely. She shot Emery a venomous glare—clearly irritated that he prevented her from grabbing Vic—but she didn’t waste a second. She snapped her strings back and turned sharply toward the cube.

The three magus specialist rushed forward at her command, surrounding the white-gold golem and inspecting its surface runes with frantic focus.

Vashka fingers danced across the cube controls, her voice cold and sharp.

"You fools should know this cooperation was doomed from the start," she hissed. "I don’t care about that golem. I want Randhall’s divine skill. WHERE IS IT?!"

Still catching his breath, Vic replied, "Senior... if there really is a technique for Randall’s craft, I’d wager the golem created to continue his work is the one that holds it..."

Vic’s explanation made too much sense for Vashka to ignore. Her eyes narrowed, calculations flashing behind them. Without another word, she abandoned the cube and turned sharply toward the white-gold golem—toward the treasure she believed contained Randhall’s greatest secret.

Athar scowled in disbelief.

"Why are you helping her?!" he snapped at Vic before shifting his glare to Emery, waiting for his judgment and was replied by a calm mental whisper as if knowing what Vic was planning.

<Stay still. Let this play out>

Athar’s jaw tightened, but he obeyed.

While the two silver golems moved into position like loyal sentinels, Vashka’s fingers unfurled their razor-thin spirit strings. They whipped forward in glittering arcs, piercing the white-gold golem’s torso with surgical precision. The three specialists besides her, channeling their own essence into the construct’s inner circuits.

They were attempting a forceful refinement—claiming the golem as their own.

And Vashka was confident. She was, after all, one of the renowned artifact refiners. With three specialists backing her, even if she couldn’t fully seize control of the golem in such a short window, she was certain she could at least extract insights.

Emery, however, simply observed—silent and still.

He already knew the truth from VIA’s diagnostics:

The moment their spirit energy seeped too deeply into forbidden pathways, the reaction was immediate.

The white-gold golem’s dormant eyes ignited.

Its internal runes flared blindingly bright.

A heatwave pulsed outward.

In both its palms, radiant energy condensed and elongated—

Two burning blades of celestial flame came to life.

"GET BACK!!" Vashka shrieked.

She leapt away just in time, but her spirit strings were sliced to shreds the instant the blades moved. The three magus specialists were not as fortunate. They didn’t even have time to scream as their limbs severed cleanly through them—elegant, precise, merciless.

Blood sprayed across the altar.

Lifeless limbs tumbled to the floor.

And then—

As though nothing had happened, the golem froze once more.

The flames vanished.

Its arms lowered.

It returned to its previous stance—motionless, empty, like a statue awaiting its next command.

The silence afterward was thick and horrifying.

Vashka’s eyes twitched with a fury bordering madness. She rounded on Vic, trembling with rage.

"YOU—! You knew about this!! You did this on purpose!"

Vic recoiled in fear. "N-No, I swear I didn’t! But—" He swallowed hard. "... It makes sense that a construct like this would have a defense mechanism to prevent forced refinement. I thought... someone of your mastery would’ve known..."

The insult landed like a slap.

Vashka’s killing intent flared instantly.

Vic’s bravado evaporated in the same instant. He scrambled backward until he was practically hiding behind Emery, whispering frantically:

"I’m sorry, Sir... but you can defeat her, right?"

Emery almost laughed. He didn’t particularly care for Vic’s intelligence—but his ruthlessness, decisive action to efficiently sacrifice the three magus specialist... that, Emery found interesting.

A true serpent bloodline indeed.

For the first time, Emery found himself genuinely entertained by him.

Vashka, however, was anything but amused.

By now her domain had already erupted—threads of cosmic power unfurling from her like a rising storm and in response the two silver golems were awakened fully.

"Now all of you can die!!"