Wizards: Starting as a Potions Master!

Chapter 383 Evil Arts: Flesh Golem

In front of the palace, Su Nan frowned and said, "No, you're wrong. This isn't about using magic to summon back the capital of the Assyrian Empire from over seven thousand years ago."

Dogg the Ghoul said, "But the facts are right in front of us."

Mary, the Rubber Witch, and the others looked at Su Nan and asked, "Is there a problem, Su Nan?"

Su Nan pointed to the sky and said, "For some reason, my werewolf and vampire races are extremely sensitive to the sun and the moon."

"Now I feel the sun in the sky..."

"The sun we saw before we entered the swamp was not the same sun. The sun we see in the sky now is thousands of years younger."

Mary nodded and said, "The previous sun was in the southeast, but this sun is in the southwest. The sun's direction couldn't have changed so drastically in such a short time. So the only possibility is that the two suns are not the same, or at least they are from different periods."

The ghouls were dumbfounded.

Su Nan glanced at them and said, "In other words, it wasn't that super-level magic that summoned back the capital of the Assyrian Empire, but rather we people who were called back to that era by that magic."

"So the sun and sky we see when we look up are the sun and sky from more than 7,000 years ago."

The ghouls were then horrified to realize what had happened.

The Rubber Witch, however, had a more unconventional way of thinking. She said weakly, "Lord Su Nan, so... we've traveled through time?"

"Did we travel back more than 7,000 years? Can we go back?"

"No, no, wasn't it the period of growth of the wizarding civilization more than seven thousand years ago? It seems that going back to that era wouldn't be bad. Resources were still relatively abundant, the wizarding civilization wasn't in a state of infighting, and there wasn't a terrifying energy world yet."

A look of longing appeared on the Rubber Witch's face. "Staying here is wonderful."

"There is danger here," said Mary, the "Justice" witch. "The emperor of the Assyrian Empire is one of them."

Su Nan glanced at the Rubber Witch with surprise. "Rubber Witch, don't think too wildly."

"The past can never truly be summoned back. This place is merely a shadow of the past. If you live here, you will lose your future."

"A shadow. It represents stagnation."

Su Nan had studied the spells of the Hand of War, and although the spells here were not quite the same as those of the Hand of War, they had similarities.

"This should not be the real world from more than 7,000 years ago, but a war sand table that was built by extracting the spirituality of the world at that time and recombining it from the ruins of the past."

"Don't be fooled by this place."

Su Nan turned around and saw a large army of wizards. They were all dressed in wizard robes, with a lighter breastplate over them. The breastplates seemed to be magical artifacts, their surfaces occasionally flashing with runic light.

In addition, each set of breastplates has a number on it.

Just as war golems have numbers, these wizard soldiers also have numbers.

This indicates that the training of sorcerers in the Assyrian Empire was already large-scale and systematic. It is likely that any Assyrian subject found to have sorcerous talent would be immediately recruited into the army and begin their training as a sorcerer soldier.

It was also written on the stone tablet outside the core area of ​​the swamp before—

The Assyrian Empire was not an empire built on culture, but rather on continuous military victories.

These wizard soldiers were also using golems to pull a huge wagon, on which lay the carcass of a dragon-like beast.

The wizard soldiers were discussing in hushed tones how they had captured the earth dragon, a beast equivalent to a second-circle wizard. They also planned to infuse its blood into the [Earth Vein Mechanism] to gather the earth's spiritual energy.

Su Nan thought to himself, "So that's how it is. The Assyrian Empire needs to constantly hunt dragon-like magical beasts and use their blood to maintain the power of the dragon veins."

The wizarding army glanced at Su Nan and his group, who were standing outside the palace. The ghouls and Marys thought a battle was about to begin.

But to everyone's surprise, they only glanced over there before turning away and ignoring them.

It was as if Su Nan and his men were invisible walls. The army split in two, bypassed them, and marched forward.

The Assyrian army, pulling wagons, marched toward the imperial city.

Su Nan was considering whether to follow them. If this batch of magical materials was for the emperor, then following this convoy would allow him to meet the emperor.

But now there's a problem: even the emperor of this era has at least the power of the third ring. If he were to go there directly with his own strength, it would be like a lamb entering a tiger's den.

Therefore, going directly there doesn't seem to be a wise move.

But to keep delaying like this is even more unwise.

Clearly, all the anomalies before us were caused by the emperor, and to resolve them, we must meet with him.

Su Nan saw that the three golden werewolf hunters had already slipped in through the back door of the Great Library.

"Since the Assyrian Empire had a well-established system for training wizards, it certainly didn't have reclusive wizarding organizations like those in the current Material Plane, each guarding their secrets."

"Perhaps I can find some good magic in the library that can help me out of my current predicament."

Su Nan said to everyone, "Then let's enter the Assyrian Empire's palace first. There should still be some distance between the outer perimeter of the palace and the emperor's location."

"The Pure White Council members have already gone in. Oh well, they're just a bunch of clowns. The only thing to worry about is that there seems to be an energy world that went in with them. Let's go in and take a look."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

So they followed the Assyrian shaman soldiers into the palace before them.

When Su Nan and his group arrived at the gate of the palace city wall.

When Su Nan stepped onto the first brick of the palace, the brick sank slightly before rising again.

A heavy voice sounded in Su Nan's ear—[Wizard, you may enter the Heavenly Palace.]

Su Nan was speechless. The emperor had actually compared his palace complex to a heavenly palace.

He's comparing himself to the celestial realm.

Not long after they entered the palace, they saw people conducting magical experiments and modifications next to the palace walls.

A group of wizard soldiers were seen holding down several ordinary young mortals and using ritual knives to cut open their muscles and skin.

The mortals were wailing incessantly. "No! No! My lords, please! We don't want to become monsters!"

"We have paid our taxes on time, Your Majesty. We are all good citizens."

The person in charge of performing the flesh golem transformation surgery had a cold look in his eyes and said in a cold and cruel tone, "For the sake of the Empire, becoming a flesh golem is your duty."

"This is an order issued by His Majesty the Emperor."

"The situation on the front lines is becoming increasingly tense, and we hope that all citizens can understand."

"Let's do it!"

What followed was a chorus of screams.

Su Nan looked at the half-finished flesh golem that had been completed to the side. It was a ten-meter-tall clay golem.

At first glance, it seemed normal, but upon closer inspection, something was amiss. The mortal who had undergone the transformation was now a bloody mess, trapped inside the clay golem's chest. His severed limbs merged with the runes within the golem, allowing him to control it.

When Su Nan saw this, he thought it was the work of the Energy World.

Such a cruel and unsightly scene disgusted him.

Su Nan looked at the mortal beside him who was being cut and transformed by the ritual knife, and began to ponder.

"It turns out that the Emperor's solution—a better golem—was a flesh golem made from living people."

"After transforming mortals, place them inside flesh golems, combine them with the golems, and then manipulate them using mental spells."

"That is indeed a solution. It's just too crude, barbaric, wasteful, and unsightly."

After saying this, Su Nan walked over out of curiosity and stood next to the palace wall to observe this magical modification.

The wizard in charge of the transformation frowned, but after sensing that Su Nan was a second-ring wizard, his expression changed and he became respectful.

"It's actually a second-ring wizard."

The emperor of this era was also a third-circle wizard.

Therefore, a second-circle wizard should be considered a high-ranking member of the Assyrian Empire.

This may explain why, although the troops frowned upon seeing Su Nan and his group, they deliberately ignored him and avoided him.

After all, second-circle wizards are directly commanded by the emperor himself.

You don't need to be directed by others.

The wizard in charge of the transformation used two ritual knives to cut open the male mortal's body. By this time, the Rubber Witch and the others had already retreated, not wanting to witness this cruel scene.

The observers were only Sunan, Mary, Vasilian, and Elder Dominion the Ghoul.

Su Nan pondered, "Although this kind of transformation ritual is too disgusting, I have no need to adopt it. But just observing it has indeed taught me a lot."

"The Emperor seems to have discovered that the human soul's structure is extremely complex, and the soul is merely the outermost edge of humanity's true existence. Therefore, this transformation ritual, in essence, transcends the outer shell of the soul, transforming it into its deeper layers, releasing the deeper existence within mortals."

"If I'm not mistaken, it should involve dissecting the abyss of existence within the mortal soul, allowing the energy of that abyss to be released."

After all, within the outer shell of the soul lies the abyss of the mind's existence.

"It releases mental energy, so even mortals can sustain the energy of the flesh golem. I just don't understand why we don't use wizard apprentices to create the flesh golems, since their mental power should be much stronger?"

Su Nan pondered, "Does the Assyrian Empire, as a sorcerer's empire, have laws that forbid the treatment of sorcerer apprentices in this way?"

By this time, the wizard chief had completed his transformation. He put away the dozens of knives and placed them in his pocket, then gracefully bowed to Su Nan.

"That's incredibly rude of you."

"Sir."

"You must have just returned from the front lines in the Fairy Wilderness. I could tell from your hurried appearance and the fact that you haven't changed out of your Assyrian attire. The situation at the front is dire. So these mortals will have to endure some more hardship."

The wizard chief officer stood aside, looking at the flesh and blood body still slightly moving on the operating table, and said with a smile, "Sir, my skills are not bad, are they?"

"With this flesh golem, we can save so many wizards from dying on the front lines."

Su Nan glanced at him, considering how to give a vague answer so as not to arouse suspicion. The best way was to repeat what the other person had said; this would actually elicit more information.

"The battle on the front lines is indeed fierce. If we had more powerful flesh golems, perhaps fewer wizards would die."

The wizarding official clenched his fist, then relaxed it, and sighed. "This is why I've meticulously researched the creation of flesh golems, sir. I'm merely a first-ring wizard; the magical resources I've exchanged for military merits in the barracks can no longer help me advance further."

"This is all I can do to help the adults on the front lines."

"His Majesty the Emperor said that the reason this world cannot move forward is because of these mortals. These mortals are obsessed with illusory religious beliefs all day long and rely on others for everything. In the past, wizards brought civilization to mortals, but soon civilization was forgotten, destroyed, and belittled by mortals who believed in gods. They had to submit to the mercy of the gods and put their own safety above the benevolence of the gods."

The chief wizard, who had been speaking normally, suddenly became fanatical, raising his hands and making a peculiar gesture that seemed to represent the Assyrian army.

"Things began to change after His Majesty the Emperor. With the help of a great sage, His Majesty the Emperor realized a truth—the protagonists of this world are the wizards, not the mortals."

"The wizard should rule and lead everything."

"Wizards must establish a nation and assume our due responsibilities."

"At the same time, His Majesty the Emperor created the flesh golem so that mortals could also make some contributions."

Su Nan was speechless. "Okay."

Su Nan suddenly sensed a powerful magical pressure approaching from behind. The first-ring wizard in front of him immediately bowed to the approaching wizard to express his respect.

"Greetings, Your Excellency the esteemed Celebrity Wizard."

Su Nan turned to look at the so-called celebrity wizard. He noticed that the upper right side of the wizard's breastplate had a special family rune, and the man was clearly hostile to him.

His magical pressure had suppressed the ghouls, the Rubber Witch, and the Rye Mistress. Only he, Mary, and Vasilyan were now free to move, as they were all second-circle level beings.

The renowned wizard stared at Su Nan and said, "Why have I never seen these second-ring wizards before? There are a total of 178 second-ring wizards in the Assyrian Empire, but I don't think I've ever seen you."

"The second-circle wizards of the Empire hold a prestigious position and hold meetings periodically in His Majesty the Emperor's palace. They all know each other."

"Are you travelers from another dimension, or spies from the Fairy Wilderness? But it doesn't matter. If you voluntarily join the Assyrian Empire, who you were before is irrelevant."

"Don't misunderstand, I don't have a problem with you. It's just that investigating the enemy is my duty as a high-ranking official."

Su Nan frowned, about to say something, when suddenly a huge explosion rang out in the sky. The explosion was deafening.

Mary the Witch of Justice said, "The golem that fought the Pure White Council before... has fallen down."

"Who broke it?!"

Suddenly, an otherworldly scene appeared in the sky. Enchanting floral fragrances wafted from that otherworld, while in the capital of the Assyrian Empire, hundreds of watchtowers rang their bells.

The celebrity official was taken aback.

"Damn it, the gods of the Fairy Wilderness dare to directly attack the capital of our Assyrian Empire!"

"They're desperate! I don't see how you can fight us without the goddess of victory and wealth!"

(End of this chapter)