Chapter 127 - 43: [Crawling Mechanical Undead]

Chapter 127: Chapter 43: [Crawling Mechanical Undead]

Beside the corridor lay a small garden, thickly planted with grayish-green fir trees and interspersed with unknown shrubs. In its center stood a white stone pedestal, pierced all over with broken, black iron swords. The whole scene exuded a dim, softly gloomy texture, like a setting painted in an oil canvas.

Priest Lier’s footsteps echoed through the empty garden corridor. Suddenly, he stopped.

The faint CLICKING sound didn’t react immediately, continuing for a few more steps before finally halting.

Holding the short sword in his arms, Priest Lier turned around slowly and examined the area behind him. There was no one there, nor was there anything on the ground. He slowly turned in a full circle, yet he still didn’t notice anything unusual.

"It’s probably just a rat," he thought. "Which idiot monk brought food into the Caster’s Hall this time? How many times have I said it—food is not allowed in the Holy Hall!"

He turned back around, completely unaware that a fist-sized Nether Copper Helmet was clinging tightly to the back of his robe’s hem with its small Nether Copper Limbs. As Priest Lier walked forward, the small helmet with its limb-like claws was dragged along with his robe.

The Steel Fire Monastery, usually filled with the CLANG CLANG of hammers striking anvils, was surprisingly quiet today. The monks had all gone to help officiate the festival and maintain order.

The Nether Copper Helmet spun around to look in all directions. It carefully slipped under the hem of Priest Lier’s robe, using the small claws of its Nether Copper Limbs to hang upside down on the inside of the fabric.

The surrounding light abruptly dimmed as Priest Lier, holding the Demon Quenching Short Sword, entered the Holy Hall’s inner sanctum.

The inner hall enshrined a massive, heavy anvil, covered in deep, overlapping hammer marks. An iron proverb was engraved on its base: "Strength is the fire; wisdom is the hammer."

Straight ahead stood an iron statue as tall as a giant. It depicted a bearded man raising a hammer high—he was burly, robust, with a slight beer belly, but his arms were knotted with bulging muscles. The black iron was carved with exquisite skill, outlining a lifelike face. Unlike typical sacred statues, however, his features held little divinity. He looked exhausted and melancholic, resembling the sort of man who would drink strong liquor alone in silence inside a cabin during a blizzard.

The statue’s hollow eyes carried an indescribable sorrow, drowning in the darkness of the inner hall’s vaulted ceiling.

Two other priests stood in the inner hall, quietly waiting for Priest Lier.

"I’ve brought the winning piece," Priest Lier said. "I believe it is worthy of being presented to God."

The other two priests carefully lifted the Demon Quenching Short Sword from its soft cushion and examined it closely.

"Agreed. It truly is an outstanding work," they said, nodding and wiping away their fingerprints with a soft cloth.

The three approached the giant-like statue. A Steel Fire Priest pulled a black iron Serrated Broadsword from his waist—no, it was a massive iron key, shaped like a Broadsword. He lifted a metal relief on the statue’s base to reveal a stone keyhole underneath. Inserting the Serrated Broadsword, he twisted the hilt forcefully, as if thrusting into an enemy’s wound and letting them bleed.

With a CLICK, the stone lock turned. Driven by gears and magical mechanisms, a heavy door RUMBLED open, revealing a narrow passage leading underground. The door was so thick it looked like a massive solid block, half metal and half rock.

Led by Priest Lier carrying the Demon Quenching Short Sword, the three of them formed a line. The other two priests held torches high as they entered the narrow passage one by one.

RING RING RING! The moment Priest Lier stepped into the entrance of the underground passage, a bell beside the door rang out without warning.

The three priests paused and turned to look at the bell. It was a simple yet durable Magic Quality Detector. An iron canister held an indicator Magic Potion, into which special boiling catalysts were placed. The boiling lid would continuously spew steam, driving a small fan blade to spin and repeatedly strike the bell.

"What’s going on?" one priest asked, looking at Lier. "Do you have Demonization materials or blood steel on you?"

"No. I already took off my Blood Steel Glory Ring beforehand," Lier said, shaking his head.

"Oh, this time’s piece is a Demon Tempering Weapon," the third priest realized, pointing at the Demon Quenching Short Sword in Lier’s arms.

"The magic concentration of this weapon is actually high enough to trigger the detector alarm?" Lier was stunned for a moment. "Is it really that outstanding?"

"This year’s champion is a promising talent," another priest sighed with admiration.

The three continued down the tomb passage, skillfully disabling the mechanisms and bypassing hidden traps along the way. Walls that would crush inward, trapdoors connected to Crossbow Arrows, collapsing rocks, and giant iron hammers driven by powerful magic mechanisms that could flatten a Full Armor Knight—a seemingly endless array of formidable traps and devices filled the corridor.

Looking at these mechanisms and traps, a little thing hanging on the inside of Lier’s robe by its Nether Copper Limbs shivered slightly.

Both sides of the tomb passage were covered with cast works, some rusted and some pristine. Ranging from weapons and agricultural tools to gears and machinery, they filled the walls completely, making one wonder if this tomb was constructed entirely out of stacked metal.

At the end of the labyrinthine passage lay a spacious burial chamber. It was filled with all sorts of magnificent cast works, though all were covered in a thick layer of dust.

In the center of the chamber, surrounded by countless master-level cast works handcrafted by Craftsmen, lay a silent mummified corpse. Embedded into the back of its neck was a strange small chip, half metal and half crystal.

Priest Lier placed the Demon Quenching Short Sword he had been holding in front of the corpse. The three priests knelt before it, reciting their prayers in unison:

"Lord of Casters, supreme lord. The children of the forge offer this to the first Lord of Casters.

"May the long night comfort your cold and lonely heart, like a dust-covered hearth.

"Lord of Casters, supreme lord. Boundless glory is offered to the first Lord of Casters.

"Through endless suffering, your hands forge a brand new life of happiness."

...

Amidst the devout prayers, the Nether Copper Helmet carefully peeked out from the inside of the robe, looking at the little red dot at close range on its UI’s radar interface.

[Auxiliary Scanner Enabled]

[Authorized user detected.]

[User Identity: Konstantin Ivanovich Lotnikov]

[Position: Metallurgical Engineer]

[Verification Passed]

[Granted equal clearance to this user’s profession]

[Materials Science Level 3 Unlocked]

[Artificial Life Science Level 2 Unlocked]

[Basic Material Phase Transformation Level 3 Unlocked]

...

On their way back, the bell of the Magic Quality Detector at the door suddenly erupted into loud ringing once again.

The three of them looked at each other in dismay.

"Didn’t we already leave the Demon Tempering Weapon behind?" Priest Lier asked.

They patted themselves down and repeatedly tested passing through the doorway, but the Magic Quality Detector remained silent.

"Is this thing broken? One moment it’s working properly, the next it goes off randomly," a priest said, scratching his head.

"Replace it immediately. There can be no broken items in the Holy Hall," Priest Lier ordered.

Behind them, a little helmet went CLICK CLICK as it scrambled frantically on its Nether Copper Limbs like a spider. Using its sharp limbs to scale the wall, it vaulted over the Holy Hall’s outer boundary and dropped perfectly into a piece of Nether Copper Hand Armor.

"Let’s go," Samael whispered, quickly leaving with Talia, who had been keeping watch at the corner.