Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"So that's how it is..."

Hugh's face darkened when he learned the truth.

"I don't know much about that monster, but I guess it was created by the Phantom Book you mentioned..."

"Let me explain."

Before anyone knew it, Dalian was already standing at the door.

“‘The Book of the Unborn,’” Darian said, “Do you know what a golem is?”

“Originating in Judaism, it involves using magic to infuse clay into freely moving dolls. In the Old Testament, it represents an unformed or soulless body,” Hugh said. “Could that monster be a golem?”

"Yes, it is as pure as a fetus, without its own consciousness, and can only act by being manipulated by commands. These commands are based on Shem ha-mephorash (meaning the name of God hidden in the scriptures, consisting of 72 letters). In the end, it is just a clay doll. Dolls do not have the concept of death, so even if you blow it up, it will not make a difference."

At this point, Dalian glanced at Isaac.

"Logically speaking, golems are very difficult to destroy. How did you manage to blow him to pieces?"

Although she didn't go downstairs, she could still see everything clearly through the window.

"It's just a simple, low-level trick: extracting carbon dioxide and water from the air, refining it into methane, and then pouring it into the monster's crevice and igniting it."

"Quite modest, that's one of the few good qualities in a nasty man like you."

"I'll take this as a compliment."

“Wait a minute, if the golem isn’t dead, then…” Hugh looked around nervously, “is it still in this villa?”

"Of course."

Isaac: "If you can still feel a small amount of gas when it moves, but if it stays still, then it's just an ordinary inorganic matter. Inorganic matter doesn't have gas, so I can't detect it either."

"...This is troublesome."

"Never mind that for now!" Geese shouted. "We have to get out of this villa first, no, we should call the police..."

Dalian shook her head.

"It's impossible; all the telephone lines in this room have been cut."

"Was it Estella who did it? Then send the servants out of the villa to get help..."

"That's probably impossible."

"Why!?"

“I noticed it from the beginning; there’s no one else alive in this villa except for us and Estella,” Isaac said. “Including the maids who poured us tea earlier, we can’t sense their presence at all.”

"This……"

"Oh, everyone's here~"

"!"

Except for Isaac, the other three all turned around in surprise.

Estella stood behind them with a smile on her face, holding a blood-stained knife in her hand.

Chapter 986: I ask you, are you a human being?

“Miss Lilburn…”

"How annoying, Lord Diswald, you still won't call me Estella?"

Estella always wore a gentle smile, but to those around her, that smile seemed so sickly, and together with the bloodstained knife in her hand, it gave off a terrifying feeling.

"Miss Lilburn, those betrothed women who were murdered before... and those servants, you killed them all, didn't you?"

Even though he already had the answer, Hugh still asked the question with difficulty.

He found it hard to believe that the beautiful young woman in front of him was a murderer.

"Yes."

Estella maintained her elegant smile.

"Why……"

"Because everyone is so mean." She tilted her head, revealing a very innocent expression. "I just want to live with everyone."

"what?"

"The servants all wanted to leave after learning about the curse in the villa, it's so troublesome, I had no choice but to leave them all here." Estella spoke in chilling words, "I just wanted to live here peacefully with everyone, but my cousin actually came to say goodbye last night. If he cares so much about his wife, why did he come here in the first place..."

"So, you killed them?"

Estella nodded and smiled:

"Yes, because as long as we can't move... we can stay together forever."

boom----

The wall suddenly collapsed, and the golem that Isaac had destroyed the night before reappeared here.

A strong stench of blood and decay emanated from behind the broken wall. Upon closer inspection, the bodies of servants and those who had disappeared earlier were found lying inside, some of them already rotten and revealing their bones.

"Well……"

Upon seeing this gruesome sight, Hugh couldn't help but cover his nose, while Geese simply knelt down on the ground and began to retch.

Isaac, however, focused all his attention on the golem in front of him.

"Is this thing indestructible?"

"The golem has no concept of death; only the seventy-two holy sounds that destroy it can destroy it."

"Tsk, this kind of mysterious thing is really troublesome."

"You, an alchemist, have the nerve to talk about others?"

"Alchemy is a science, and alchemists are scientists."

"I didn't feel any sense of science at all."

As the two were talking, the golem charged towards Isaac and his companion, raising its thick arm to smash down on Isaac's head.

Faced with the punch, Isaac dodged to the side and kicked the golem in the waist, sending it flying back several meters.

Before the golem could make its next move, Isaac had already placed his hand on it.

呲——

Blue lightning filled the room, and the golem's body, made of earth and stone, rapidly crumbled into fine powder that scattered on the ground.

"Was it successful?"

"not yet!"

The powder that had been scattered all over the ground floated up in the air again and reassembled into a golem.

Isaac: "...This is troublesome."

He genuinely found it troublesome.

This was probably the first time he had faced a completely unscientific enemy, where his professional knowledge seemed utterly useless.

While he had no problem surviving, he was completely unable to kill the other person.

Golems have no soul or life, and as weapons, they have no core components such as engines or power sources.

Alchemists are helpless when faced with an incomprehensible enemy.

If Isaac were to encounter a problem that he couldn't solve at all, he would choose to expend some Philosopher's Stone and Truth to borrow some power. However, the golem in front of him, apart from being unkillable, did not arouse his interest at all, and he didn't even feel any sense of crisis.

"It seems you also have things you can't solve, alchemist."

You seem very happy.

When Dallian saw Isaac unable to kill the golem, he laughed like a child who was hundreds of years old.

"Of course, I'm quite pleased to see you, such a rude person, completely helpless!"

Instead of having time to be happy, you should think of a way to get rid of him.

"I know without you telling me."

After saying that, Dallian looked at Hugh, who was about to subdue Estella.

"Hughie, you are now granted the power to open the gate."

"It should have been done a long time ago."

Dallian chuckled, extending her hand from her black sleeve and revealing her chest.

Her delicate collarbone and fair skin were exposed, along with a huge, ancient padlock on her chest.

Hugh stepped forward and took off his gloves, revealing an ancient emblem on the back of his hand, with a golden key engraved with ancient script floating in his palm.

He recited it solemnly and seriously, like a knight taking an oath.

I ask of you, are you mankind?

Dalian replied in a lower, more subdued voice than usual.

No, I am the heavens, the heavens within a gourd.

The golden key was inserted into the lock on Dalian's chest, and she breathed slightly heavily.

The lock on his chest was opened like a city gate, revealing a huge hole inside. Hugh reached his hand into the hole, and golden light flashed for a moment.

A stone slab appeared in his hand.

At the same time, the villa's ceiling began to collapse, dark clouds could be seen gathering in the sky, lightning churning within the clouds, and everything around began to burn.

"Is this... the Phantom Book?"

It can draw upon the power of nature; it seems that this power called the Illusion Book is not to be underestimated.

“A clay tablet praising Thor, one of the oldest phantom books in the world,” Darian said, “capable of summoning the thunder hammer of the gods.”

Boom—

As Hughie chanted the contents of the stone tablet in a low voice, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky and hit the golem.

The power of nature is immense; the golem struck by lightning shattered into pieces in an instant.

Then it was pieced back together not long after.