Chapter 49: Legends and Kings
The next day, inside the emergency underground bunker:
"Create 10 worker golem units... execute," Dion commanded, raising his hand.
The magic circle in front of him glowed brilliantly, enveloping the pile of scrap metal at its center. Watching silently from behind Dion, Aria and Cleo kept their eyes locked on the glowing circle. Moments later, the light faded, revealing ten new golems numbered 81 through 90 standing in the middle of the circle. "Thud." They snapped a military salute to Dion.
"Alright... this is the last ten. That completes the creation of 60 golems, which brings us to a total of 90 golems in our village, with five set to work as servants," Dion said, turning to look back.
"Awesome! Building the wall is going to go so much faster with this many," Aria replied, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the ten new golems in front of her.
"Alright, all of you head upstairs and get to work," Dion ordered the golems.
The golems saluted once more, fell into formation, and marched toward the elevator, riding up in batches. After the final group went up, Dion turned to Aria.
"Do you have any more iron ore and scrap metal?" Dion asked.
Aria paused to think, opening her dimensional storage to check the contents before looking back at Dion.
"All I have left in my storage is 200 iron ore and about 2,000 pieces of scrap metal. After that, my dimensional storage is empty," Aria said.
"Hmm... that should be enough," Dion muttered thoughtfully.
"What else are you planning to make?" Cleo asked.
"You’ll see," Dion replied, still lost in thought. "Can you pull out some scrap metal first? Just 1,000 pieces that are ready to use," he requested of Aria.
"Hmm... okay," Aria agreed.
Aria stretched out her arms, and a black vortex opened before her, spewing a heap of scrap metal onto the ground. Dion eyed the pile.
"Alright... perfect... Create 20 worker golem units, execute," Dion commanded, extending his hand toward the metal.
A magic circle expanded beneath the pile as a pillar of light shot upward, initiating the crafting process. Once the progress bar completed, the light dissolved to reveal 20 new worker golems, numbered 91 through 110, crammed tightly inside the circle. All twenty golems immediately saluted.
"Stay inside the magic circle," Dion instructed.
The golems nodded. Dion turned back to Aria and asked for another 200 pieces of scrap metal.
"What for?" Aria asked, her curiosity piqued.
"I want to make guards," Dion answered.
"Huh... guards?" Cleo asked.
"It’s hard to explain, just watch," Dion said.
"Oh... alright, here you go."
Aria summoned another 200 pieces of scrap metal from her storage. Dion had the worker golems haul the scrap inside the circle before ordering them to step back inside as well. Raising his hands once more, he commanded, "Create two soldier golem units, begin."
At Dion’s command, the golems inside the magic circle instantly saluted, then struck a unified pose with eyes narrowed, as if initiating a fusion process. A blinding yellow light engulfed them, shooting upward until it nearly reached the bunker’s ceiling. The radiance was so intense that Cleo and Aria had to raise their arms to shield their eyes. Dion simply stood there composed, arms crossed over his chest, watching the progress bar above.
"If whatever you’re making turns out to be dangerous, I’m destroying it on the spot," Cleo warned.
"Relax, it’s not dangerous at all. I made one back when I was hunting with my old party. Luna knows about it," Dion replied casually.
"Hmm... fine then," Cleo said, remaining on high alert.
"Now I’m really curious," Aria added, a wide smile spreading across her face as her eyes sparkled.
The progress bar reached completion and the light gradually faded, allowing Dion, Cleo, and Aria to make out two figures standing within the dimming glow. "Gasp." Once the light vanished entirely, Cleo and Aria gasped in shock. Before them stood two golem units unlike anything they had seen, completely different from the squat, round models with camera-lens eyes.
"Wow," Aria uttered in awe.
Standing before them were humanoid golems. Their upper arms were capped with rounded armor plates, and their hands were heavy gauntlets forged right into their arms. They boasted hulking iron torsos built like plate armor, supported by long, armored legs. A longsword hung at each of their waists, while a cannon barrel resembling a bazooka rested on their shoulders. Their heads were smooth domes featuring a single, sharp yellow camera eye in the center, with the numbers 1 and 2 painted on their foreheads.
"Srag."
The two imposing golems, standing nearly 6 foot 7 inches tall, offered Dion a solemn salute. Dion glanced over at Cleo, who was staring with her mouth agape.
"Hey... why are you staring at my golems like that? I’m assigning them to guard that new road that got cleared yesterday," Dion said.
"These are... the legendary battle constructs... Once again, you’ve brought something right out of a fairytale book into real life," Cleo said softly.
"Huh... legendary constructs?" Dion asked, confused.
"Long ago, when the world fought against the demons, the only ones that could stand their ground were the Xandor Kingdom and the forces illustrated in ancient texts... constructs just like these," Cleo explained.
"Oh... is that so? Well, that’s a good thing, right? Look at them," Dion said, pointing forward casually.
Cleo looked back at the two golems standing tall and proud. Aria was enthusiastically inspecting them, touching their frame and even climbing up one of them since they were so tall. "Sigh." Cleo let out a heavy breath, glancing at Dion beside her.
"There’s always some new surprise with you. I don’t even know what to say anymore," Cleo remarked.
"Hehe... pretty cool, right? Anyway, I’m kind of curious about what you just said. Did you read about that back in the Lutherias Kingdom?" Dion asked.
"Yeah... my department researched ancient artifacts. Everyone assumed those relics came from the lost kingdom of Xandor. There are no official historical records of that kingdom, only ancient fairytales describing the war between humans and demons," Cleo answered.
"Hmm... so that book was basically just a fairytale book?" Dion asked.
"No, it’s a book about world legends. The oldest entry recorded is the legend of Xandor and the evil dragon Gemmeth, whose seal was proven to exist from around 1,000 years ago. The rest of it is just warnings and prophecies about the ten hero classes and other things," Cleo explained.
"Oh... I see. What about Goddess Hestalia then?" Dion asked.
"That’s religious doctrine, which is different from legend. Though according to legend, the Xandor Kingdom was Hestalia... I don’t really understand it myself, and plenty of imperial mages are still trying to figure it out," Cleo said.
"Hmm... that’s pretty interesting," Dion said, thinking hard.
"And now I’m watching you create something straight out of that book with my own eyes, on top of your absurd power... Who are you, really?" Cleo asked, eyeing Dion closely.
"You’ve asked me that a million times, and my answer is always the same: I’m Dion, nothing more and nothing less. Come on now," Dion replied in annoyance.
"Ugh... fine, I guess I’ll take your word for it," Cleo grumbled, letting the matter drop.
"Anyway, let’s head upstairs. We’ll bring these two to that new road heading toward Eredor and I’ll set up a barricade there," Dion said.
"Oh... okay," Cleo replied, at a loss for words.
"Aria... let’s head up," Dion called out.
"Oh... awesome! But can I study them later?" Aria asked enthusiastically.
"Of course you can. Let me not waste any more time, there’s still plenty of work to do," Dion replied, turning around.
The two soldier golems followed behind Dion, their movements fluid and surprisingly human, lacking any robotic stiffness. Cleo and Aria trailed behind as they all stepped into the elevator. As the lift ascended, Cleo kept glancing at Dion, her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed in deep thought.
"He really is strange. Power that can reshape the very landscape of the world, crafting abilities that make no sense, and... a territory emitting massive, unexplainable energy radiation. Who is Dion, really? I need to keep a close eye on him," Cleo muttered in her head.
***
Meanwhile, at the exact same time inside the royal palace of Lutherias, King Alexius sat in an empty room wearing his full royal robes. Before him stood five magic mirrors, each the size of a grown adult, alongside a small pedestal holding a clear, semi-circular crystal. He glanced over at Mateo beside him.
"Mateo, let us begin," Alexius said.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," Mateo replied.
Mateo stepped forward in front of the king and placed his hand on the crystal atop the pedestal. The crystal emitted a colorful glow, and the five mirrors in front of them began to shimmer and ripple like water.
Shortly after, figures began to appear inside the mirrors from left to right: the heavy-set King Theobald of Minatheras, King Lamberd of the Thetor Kingdom, the young King Gred of Northgard, his face still pale and exhausted, accompanied by his mother, Helga, and finally King Araki of Eredor, with Haruto clad entirely in black standing behind him.
Every face bore a tense expression. Alexius stepped slightly forward and bowed in greeting to the gathered monarchs, who returned the gesture in kind.
"Very well. King Theobald of Minatheras, King Lamberd of Thetor, King Gred and Queen Helga of Northgard, and King Kenzo Araki of Eredor, let us begin. Today, we gather to discuss a new threat in the heart of the dark forest. Right now, our world is in a critical state and grave danger," King Alexius declared, his voice heavy with tension.