From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 548 The Path of the Ancient Dragon
Using necromancy to bring long-dead corpses back to life is not a shocking thing.

Even Melina, a pregnant village girl from the countryside, can use the Sorrow Wand left behind by the witch Ethel to control her poor zombie husband.

Therefore, for a master of dark magic like Ivy, only by increasing both the quantity and quality of the undead he controls with necromancy can he truly make them useful.

However, this idea may need to be changed now.

The Iron Guardians of Gortash used necromancy to stuff mindless zombies into giant iron armor, using the zombies' remaining instincts to replace their rigid, mechanical movements.

Before Ivy's time travel, major technological powers on Earth had long regarded humanoid robots as the dawn of the next technological revolution. However, even after decades of research, and even with breakthroughs in AI technology, the mobility of humanoid robots remained weak.

Even maintaining balance has always been a very difficult task, let alone getting a humanoid robot to perform a series of complex movements.

This is because human mobility is actually extremely complex, involving the coordinated action of countless muscles, nerves, and bones. Even the capabilities of 21st-century industrial Cthulhu are insufficient to replicate and integrate the functions of these tissues using only mechanical structures, let alone the technology of Baldur's Gate, which is still at the level of the Middle Ages. Even with the participation of followers of the god of craftsmanship, Gond, they could only have created a giant, rigid, and difficult-to-control metal suit of armor.

However, with the addition of zombies controlled by necromancy, the power of magic instantly sparked a bright flame with the industrial crystallization.

These giant robots not only gained considerable mobility, but could even wield weapons and participate in battles, making it far more than just one plus one equals two.
However, the more complex the technology used in the Iron Guardian, the greater the barriers between them, which adds more weaknesses to it.

Using zombies as the core of movement means that the Iron Guardians will have the weaknesses of undead creatures. As long as targeted magic or divine power can bypass their steel armor, the Iron Guardians will quickly turn into a pile of scrap metal.

Using the Infernal Engine as its power source means the Iron Guardians are heavily reliant on Soul Coins produced in Hell. While Gotash's contract with the demon financier Mammon temporarily alleviates his concerns about the Soul Coin supply, expecting a demon grand duke to show mercy to mortals is unrealistic. If Gotash truly succeeds in completing the Supreme God's plan, Grand Duke Mammon would naturally not violate their contract and might even offer concessions. However, the current situation is dire for Gotash. Once it's proven that Gotash cannot bring him further benefits, the cessation of the Soul Coin supply is only a matter of time.

Finally, using the psionic network between the Supreme God and the Mind Flayer tadpoles as the control center for the Iron Guardians means that this Iron Army could be completely taken over by the Supreme God at any time. Moreover, this psionic network can also be interfered with by the Comet Prince in the Astral Prism.

With the manufacturing manuals stolen from the Iron Guardian foundry by Evil Intentions, Ivy quickly analyzed several weaknesses of the Iron Guardians. With targeted preparations, he could not only easily destroy this army, but also seize control of them in a short time.

This method, naturally, must be based on necromancy.

The first question Ivy had to consider was whether the zombies' activities were controlled by a rotting brain.

Secondly, is there any way to use magic to replace this rotting brain?

Finally, he used necromancy to bypass the brain tank hub in the Iron Guardian foundry and directly control the headless zombies inside the Iron Guardian, thereby usurping the power that Gortash relied on most.

After deciding on her research topic, Ivy threw herself into her new magical research.

Will, beaming with excitement, found him in the Tourmaline Abyss beneath the palace.

As the place where the vampire lord imprisoned his clones and performed the Black Mass, the Tourmaline Abyss is vast enough and still exudes a rich necromantic power, making it an ideal place for studying necromancy.

"Ivy! I heard you're... Oh!" Will, who had just entered Ivy's necromancy research lab, saw the Mummy Lord Carion as soon as he entered. As a true undead creature, he had also been summoned by Ivy to assist in the research. "Is this... Old Bones' relative?"

“No, he is the magic advisor of Morningstar City, the sorcerer Carion.” Ivy briefly introduced them to each other. Although Carion had been with Ivy for a few days, this was the first time he had met Will Ravengard.

“Ah, I did hear you found another magician…” Will looked the mummy lord up and down, examining the very old-fashioned shroud. “But I didn’t expect him to look like this… well, it’s not that strange. Do you have time now, Ivy? I think I’ve found the Bald Heart!”

“You found it? Hmm… let’s go upstairs and talk.” Ivy gestured for Carion in the Necronomicon research lab to continue his study, then followed Will out of the Tourmaline Abyss.

Even standing on the elevator, Will's excitement hadn't subsided, and he continued to talk incessantly about how he located Baldur's Heart: "There's so much about Baldur's in this city! Statues from different eras, chapels commemorating him, even murals peeling off building facades! Maybe I could write a travel guide titled 'Bardur's Gate: The Hidden Legends'!"

“I first ruled out the Grand Hall where the dukes work. Although it was the administrative hub that Baldur’s Heart was built by Baldur’s, if my father were as obsessed with the legend of Baldur’s Heart, he would have already turned it upside down!”

"Moreover, what I'm looking for is a giant dragon, Bodyan's companion, so the clues must be something very old. Anything built after Bodyan's death is not of any value."

"In the fall zone outside the cliff gate, near the cliffside cemetery where many civilians are buried, there is a very famous statue—Bodean Gazing at the Sea."

"It's a statue twice the size of a real person, and it's said to have suddenly appeared here after Bodyan disappeared. What's even stranger is that the statue can change its pose in an instant, but the part where it shades its eyes and looks out to the sea never changes."

"You saw it change its movement?" Ivy couldn't help but ask. In a world with magic, it wasn't anything special for a stone statue to move.

Professor McGonagall only needs to utter the phrase "Stones, move!" and the stone statues of all sizes in Hogwarts Castle will transform into warriors to fight against external enemies. And on the continent of Forgotten Realms, monsters like gargoyles are equally common. Not to mention, Ivy's party also includes a Baldur's Gate hero known as the Stone Lord.

However, the legend of the city's founder is indeed a suitable starting point.

“I waited for two days to witness it!” Will held up two fingers. “Finally, after a light fog at dawn, I saw it all with my own eyes! Bodyan drew the sword from his waist and pointed it at the sea! I knew then that this must be a revelation from Bodyan!”

"Only a vague direction? That's too broad a range." Ivy shook her head. Searching for the dragon along the direction of a deformed statue sword was no more likely than finding the supreme god by randomly lifting a manhole cover.

“That’s what I thought too.” Will nodded in agreement. “So I looked for other clues to corroborate each other. In the Blackgate, I found another very ancient stone building, a small church surrounded by many magical traps and runes. With Varo’s prosthetic eye and the alchemical potion you provided, I successfully entered it and found another, even smaller, Bodyan statue!”

The Black Gate is also an outer district of Baldur's Gate, but it is located outside the Black Dragon Gate in the Upper City, north of Baldur's Gate, and is the only way to Waterdeep.

The Black Gate area is mostly filled with stables and blacksmith shops, providing transportation for merchants and equipment repair services for adventurers.

"Let me guess, you marked the directions the two statues were pointing in on the map... So, the focal point is what we're looking for?" This line of reasoning wasn't difficult for Ivy; he had seen countless similar examples in all sorts of cultural and entertainment works.

"All correct! The directions indicated by the two statues intersect at Bodean Tower!" Will gave the answer without much hesitation.

Bodean High Tower is a fortress located in the High Tower district. It is the headquarters of the Flame Fist soldiers, and Liana Porter, who is stationed in the barracks near the Petrified Lizard Gate, was transferred from there.

The entire Haita district falls under the influence of the Flame Fist mercenary group, but that doesn't mean it's the safest lower district. With no powerful forces to restrain them, the Flame Fist essentially dictates the rules of that district.

As the most important fortress of the Flamefist, Bodean High Tower is built on a large island reef by the sea. The defensive facilities standing on the tower can easily control the entire Grey Harbor, and there is a huge chain at the base of the tower. Every night, this chain, which starts from Bodean High Tower and extends to Brampton District, is raised by the Flamefist soldiers in the fortress to intercept all ships traveling on the Chunsak River.

However, this measure was only enacted by the Council of Four after Baldur's Gate fell into turmoil, and the iron chains that had been submerged in the river had not been used for more than ten years.

In addition to the Flamefist Soldier Fortress and the Sea Chain Control Tower, Baldur's Tower also houses Baldur's Gate's largest prison, extending three levels underground.

Furthermore, the prison has a very special type of cell used only to hold serious offenders, known as the swimming cave.

It was a torture cell perfectly integrated with an underground cavern. The whole thing was a completely flooded, dark shaft with very smooth walls. The water was so deep that prisoners had to keep treading water to keep breathing, otherwise they risked drowning.

Once locked up, prisoners usually don't last long before they beg for forgiveness due to exhaustion and mental fear, and are willing to do anything the guards ask of them.

Ivy had been at Baldur's Gate for some time now and naturally had a fairly detailed understanding of it: "So, there's an ancient bronze dragon hidden beneath Baldur's Gate, and we must find the entrance there by passing through a fortress guarded by a hundred Flamefist soldiers?"

“That’s pretty much it.” Will nodded in agreement. “Much easier than infiltrating the Moonrise Tower guarded by the cultists of the Three Death Gods, right?”

“Hmm.” Ivy pondered for a moment before making a decision. “Now that you’ve decided on your target, let’s move out now. Gather the men and then we’ll set off. An ancient bronze dragon shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with, even if we fight it… And this way, we’ll also have a place for Karak’s heart.”

“We’re going to seek help! Anzu is a trustworthy partner of Baldur’s Gate. If he saw the current state of Baldur’s Gate, he would definitely join our side without hesitation!” Will quickly waved his hand. Although he was known as the Blade of the Frontier and had indeed stopped the Dragon Cult’s plot to summon Tiamat under the control of the Demon Grand Duke Zariel, he himself was not ready to fight an ancient bronze dragon.

"I remember the book 'The Legend of Ansu' mentioned something like trials, right?" Ivy thought they should prepare for the worst. "What if the trial involves fighting that dragon?"

Ivy has experience dealing with dragons, and even personally killed a dragon far larger than the true dragons of the Toril world. She then wrote its soul into a magical book containing the secrets of dragon slaying.

While Smaug the dragon has little to offer besides his size and defense, the magic of a bronze dragon is no match for Ivy's, and his primary damage type is lightning, which is completely countered by Ivy's [Wind Elemental Invocation]. If he wanted, he could easily turn the ancient dragons beneath Baldur's Gate into flying roasted lizards, even with just himself and his sword.

The process of gathering teammates is naturally unnecessary to elaborate on. Ivy's personally concocted invisibility potion also enabled the team to pass through the layers of blockade by the Flame Fist soldiers and penetrate deep into the fortress located on the island reef in the sea.

After dodging multiple patrols and bypassing the soldiers guarding the prisoners, the team, led by Will, finally reached the lowest level of Bodean High Tower Prison.

The splashing water inside the swimming cave and the occasional wails of hardened criminals echoed outwards along the passage, adding to the already oppressive and narrow atmosphere of terror.

“This should be it…” Will pointed to the two dragon-head torch bases on the wall at the end of the passage, “They’re different from the previous torch bases! I guess this is the entrance!”

(End of this chapter)