Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2777: Legacy 3

Minutes earlier, Emery was deep inside Randhall’s workshop, sifting through the ancient logs and experiment notes. The more he uncovered, the tighter unease coiled in his chest. Randhall’s writings grew increasingly frantic toward the end—his desperation to complete his so-called masterpiece twisting his genius into madness.

Vic, who had been attempting to refine the dormant golem, suddenly stiffened.

”Something’s happening... something just activated.”

VIA, which had been tasked with hacking the workshop’s systems—quickly confirmed it wasn’t her doing. The sudden activation came from somewhere else entirely.

Emery realized the truth through the shared senses of his dark avatar, who was currently inhabiting a clone body and infiltrating the ranks as one of the Nova Roma magus. The same mysterious specialist assigned to watch over Julian. Through that avatar’s eyes, the scene inside the tomb chamber unfolded with terrifying clarity:

Dravic had seized one of Randhall’s artifacts—

the same ”key” described inside the cube.

The moment Emery understood what that meant, dread rushed through him.

He immediately prepared to execute his backup plan—using his dark avatar to channel past all the tomb restrictions and teleport directly to Julian’s location—but the activation of the key suddenly triggered a dormant function inside the artisan golem. Emery was forced to deal with this problem, and by the time he finished, the battle in the tomb room had escalated to a critical point.

Emery arrived at the last possible second, catching the tier-7 hammer mid-strike before it could crush Julian. With a powerful twist, Emery redirected the blow, hurling the golem backward.

”I’m sorry,” Emery said breathlessly. ”I was held up.”

He didn’t arrive alone. Annara, Vic, and Athar stepped through the portal behind him.

The merchant grand magus reacted instantly. With a sweeping motion of his hand, Athar unleashed his spirit weapons—burning chakrams that whirled through the air like molten suns. Dravic ignored them at first, just like he did to Julian’s shield and focused entirely on crushing Casiel’s defense and his skull—until the chakrams abruptly curved mid-flight, all locking onto the pendant instead.

The Volkov leader cursed and leaped back, forced to release Casiel to defend his new treasure.

Emery’s dark avatar reacted instantly. Shadows warped around its hand as spatial manipulation flared to life—space folded, and Casiel’s battered form was yanked across the room in a single sharp distortion. The Seraph crashed into Julian’s arms, trembling, his feathers scorched and flickering with dying light.

Julian knelt beside him in a panic. ”He’s weak... but he’ll live.” His eyes shot up at Emery, desperate. ”Emery... what is going on? What do you know?!”

Emery didn’t answer him.

His gaze never left Dravic.

”Do you understand what you just triggered?” Emery asked, voice low, controlled.

Dravic’s lips peeled back in a wild grin. ”Understand?” His laughter was jagged, giddy. ”Hahahaha—of course I do! This pendant... THIS is Randhall’s true legacy!” He raised the violet jewel high, its glow reflecting in his crazed eyes. ”All his knowledge... all his creations... they’re mine now!”

His fingers tightened. ”But it needs more,” Dravic hissed, voice dropping into a hungry growl. ”It needs soul energy.”

He pointed at Emery like condemning prey.

”And you will give me yours.”

He lifted the pendant proudly.

The jewel pulsed—

FWOOOM—a surge of violet energy exploded outward.

Rings of runes ignited across the floor, crawling like living serpents toward the walls. The stone trembled. Something massive shifted in the dark beyond the chamber.

Metal groaned. Heavy footsteps echoed.

One pair... then five... then dozens.

Athena’s face drained of color. ”He’s... he’s activating every golem in the tomb. They’re all coming this way!”

Then the pendant rose from Dravic’s palm as if pulled by invisible hands.

It drifted toward the legendary armor and snapped into the hollow slot at its chest.

The reaction was instant.

Violet lines ignited across the armor’s plates, like veins filling with molten starlight. Dravic gasped—then laughed, trembling with euphoria.

”Yes... YES! I am now the true heir to Randhall’s legacy!”

But Emery’s expression was not fear.

It was pity.

”No,” Emery said softly. ”You’re becoming something else.”

The first wave of awakened golems thundered through the entrance, the atmosphere in the tomb shifted—pressure thickening, mana vibrating, stone trembling under their synchronized metal steps.

But then, Dravic’s triumphant sneer faltered. His pupils constricted. A tremor crawled up his spine.

A moment ago, the pendant’s violet light made him feel invincible.

Now it burned.

”W–What... what is—” His breath hitched. ”ARGH!! My head!! AARGH!!”

The white golem was already rising to its feet.

But instead of turning its hostility toward Emery or anyone else in the room, it walked straight toward Dravic with rigid, obedient steps.

In its hands was the Forgebreaker hammer.

The moment Dravic’s trembling fingers wrapped around the weapon, everything changed.

The violent spasms stopped.

The agony twisting his face melted away.

And in its place bloomed a feverish, unhinged grin.

He lifted his head slowly, staring straight at Emery with pupils that flickered in violet flame.

”You were right...” Dravic rasped, voice layered with something that was no longer his own.

”I am more than a mere heir...”

His lips stretched wider, almost tearing at the edges.

”I am Randhall!”

Julian’s eyes widened as the truth settled in.

A cold dread washed over the room.

For Emery, however, the sight only confirmed everything he had deciphered moments earlier from Randhall’s encrypted logs.

The legendary Celestial machinist had not died peacefully.

He had carved his soul apart.

One fragment was sealed inside the Forgebreaker hammer.

Another into the armor.

And the final, most crucial piece—the core—was hidden in the pendant that served as the master key to all his golems.

Those soul shards remained dormant for centuries, waiting for a new host foolish enough to bind them together.

And Dravic... had done exactly that.

The moment he tried to command the artifact, the key’s buried function activated— devouring its wielder’s soul energy to reawaken the fragments within.

Julian swallowed hard.

”So... Randhall is controlling Dravic’s body now?”

Emery shook his head slowly, gaze never leaving the possessed Volkov leader.

”I don’t know,” he said quietly.

”What’s inside him isn’t whole. After centuries of decay... what we’re looking at may be nothing but a broken soul, a deranged echo of the real Randhall.”

He exhaled, jaw tightening.

”And that probably makes it even worse.”

By then, nearly a hundred golems had flooded into the hall. Silver-plated units clanked into formation at the front while heavy bronze soldiers lumbered behind them. Their eyes glowed with cold violet script, all linked to the same twisted command: Dravic’s will.

Everyone instinctively pulled back to the center of the room. Nova Roma knights raised battered shields; Athena and Poseidon dragged the injured Guskov and Casiel behind them.

Dravic finally regained enough clarity to snarl at the gathered group.

”You’re all thieves! Every one of you! You will die for desecrating my sanctum!”

Tension rippled instantly through the hall.

One white golem alone had nearly destroyed them earlier—now over a hundred constructs filled the chamber, several of them silver-grade. And at their center stood Dravic, possessed and armed with multiple tier-7 artifacts humming with lethal power.

Julian stepped forward, posture steady despite the odds. His presence rallied the Nova Roma magus behind him.

He shot Emery a look. ”Tell me you have a plan.”

Emery exhaled lightly, a small confident smile tugging at his lips.

”I burned a lot of energy dealing with the witch earlier...” he admitted.

Then his eyes sharpened. ”...but this is the perfect time to try our new helper.”

With a sweeping motion of his hand, spatial energy rippled beside him—

A formation of golems materialized:

a dozen dark-iron units and a single white golem, perfectly identical to the monstrous one that had terrified Nova Roma minutes ago.

Gasps joined the sound of clanking constructs.

”This is why we were late... It took a while to finish refining them,”

At his command, the reclaimed golems moved into formation beside the Nova Roma warriors, their eyes glowing in synchronized readiness.

Across them, Randhall’s twisted remnant inside Dravic—froze.

His expression twisted from surprise... to rage... to absolute hysteria.

”You... You DARE turn my creations against me?!”

His voice boomed. Every golem in the hall responded instantly. Hundreds of violet eyes ignited at once. And then, with the force of a command burned into their very souls—

”KILL THEM ALL!!”

The chamber exploded into motion.