Ernst fixed his gaze on Ghost's movements. He could vaguely discern dark, struggling shadows being drawn from the golden shells and absorbed into the swirling black mist.
After a few moments, the mist coalesced back into a humanoid figure. The dark vapor suddenly shifted, radiating a brilliant, intense light, the signature of a hyperspectral form.
"How is it?" Ernst asked.
"Is the extraction proceeding smoothly?"
"Very good, Master," Ghost replied, its voice vibrating with newfound power.
"I didn't expect the quality of these souls to be so high. It surpasses all my expectations. To think such a feast was just waiting here. I previously worried about finding enough strong wills to build my elite guard, but this... this is a goldmine."
"Excellent," Ernst smiled.
"The Golden Army operates in a 70 by 70 formation. That is 70 squads, each with 70 soldiers, totaling 4,900. Almost five thousand souls. Start immediately. Strip this entire army bare. With this kind of power, you will truly be a one-man army. You won't ever need to fear group battles again."
Ghost trembled with excitement. He leaped into the air, his body expanding with a muffled bang.
The humanoid form dissolved into a massive, rolling cloud of black mist that quickly blanketed the entire cavern, enveloping the dormant Golden Army.
Under Ernst's watchful eye, transparent, struggling shadows were systematically ripped from their golden casings and assimilated into the darkness.
Due to the sheer number of constructs, the absorption was a tedious process. It took a full hour before the dark cloud finally ceased its work.
The mist began to shrink rapidly, reshaping into Ghost's human guise as he approached Ernst.
"Master," Ghost said, bowing heavily.
He looked sluggish, overburdened by the sheer volume of spiritual energy.
"I have absorbed an abundance of souls today. I need to rest and enter a deep sleep to properly assimilate them into my core. I fear I won't be able to serve you during this period. I hope you can forgive me."
"It's perfectly fine," Ernst said, waving his sleeve.
"This is a critical period for your growth. When you awaken, your strength will have reached a completely new tier. You will be far more useful to me then. Go rest."
With Ernst's permission, Ghost dissolved into a wisp of black smoke and slipped into the enchanted folds of Ernst's sleeve.
Ernst turned his attention back to the silent cavern.
The Golden Legion was now truly dead. Without the bound human souls to act as their operating systems, the machines were just empty shells.
If someone managed to turn them on now, they would act like uncoordinated infants, stumbling and entirely unable to fight. They were essentially a heap of scrap metal, albeit very expensive, magically conductive scrap metal.
Staring at the soulless army, Ernst suddenly had an idea. He raised his wrist, and a beam of light shot out from his watch, scanning the nearest golden soldier.
The holographic display mapped its mechanical joints, gears, and internal runic structure in perfect detail.
"Red Queen," Ernst spoke into his communicator.
"Draft a redesign for the Golden Legion's internal structure. Retain the magical runes responsible for their self-recovery, but strip out the archaic clockwork. I want to add a modern, technological power system to ensure combat effectiveness without relying on souls."
"Understood, Dr. Ernst," the Red Queen's clear voice resonated in his ear.
The holographic projection hovering over Ernst's wrist began to shift and transform.
First, the magic runes were digitally isolated and optimized to preserve the healing factor while freeing up internal space.
Next, the clunky, gear-driven legs were removed entirely. In its place, an anti-gravity propulsion array was installed at the base, enabling the unit to transition from bipedal movement to high-speed flight.
The arms were also overhauled. The standard sword and shield were outdated.
The shield was redesigned into a split-face mechanism housing a high-yield energy barrel in the center, allowing for devastating long-range attacks.
Feeling a bit cautious, Ernst added one final fail-safe.
"Include an internal reservoir for nanorobots. If the magical self-repair fails or is overwhelmed, the nanites can quickly synthesize replacement parts on the fly."
The new blueprint was finalized in seconds. Ernst didn't want to wait; he wanted a proof of concept.
He stepped up to the empty golden shell in front of him and began to manually disassemble it, using his telekinesis to rip out the useless gears.
Following the Red Queen's blueprint, he restructured the chassis.
Finally, he pulled a proprietary AI chip and a miniature nuclear arc reactor from his dimensional pack, slotting them into the machine's chest cavity.
The entire process took less than ten minutes.
The newly designed Golden Legion warrior resembled a sleek, upside-down golden egg, hovering about four meters tall.
Ernst reached out and stroked the smooth, polished surface, appreciating the seamless integration of the ancient magic runes with modern alloy.
"Initiate," Ernst commanded.
The brand-new unit hummed to life, levitating smoothly off the stone floor.
The upper dome detached slightly to form a head, with two glowing blue optical sensors flickering on.
Two mechanical arms extended from the sides, one holding a modernized, rune-etched dagger, the other equipped with the split-shield energy cannon.
"Intelligent Robot No. 1 reporting, Dr. Ernst," the machine spoke, its synthesized voice carrying a hint of programmed respect.
"You are the first of your kind," Ernst said.
"I transformed you personally. Let's give you a name. You are Mark."
"Mark. Thank you for the designation, Creator," the robot responded.
"Alright, no more pleasantries. Mark, show me your combat parameters."
"Understood."
Immediately, a faint magical wave emanated from Mark's chassis.
The drone shot forward, maneuvering through the complex stalagmites of the cavern with unparalleled speed, effortlessly breaking the sound barrier in the confined space.
The speed and agility were flawless. Next came the melee test. Mark hovered near a massive stone pillar.
The rune-etched knife flashed in its mechanical grip, slicing through the solid rock as easily as a hot knife through butter.
The ancient hardening runes held up perfectly under the new power source.
Finally, the range test. The shield on Mark's left arm split open down the middle, revealing a glowing cannon barrel.
A beam of concentrated plasma shot out, striking a boulder dozens of meters away. The rock vaporized in a resounding explosion, reduced to fine dust.
"Very good. Excellent job, Mark," Ernst smiled, highly satisfied with his upgraded prototype.
"I am satisfied with your service. You can sleep now."
Following the command, Mark descended to the ground. The mechanical arms folded tightly against its sides, the weapons retracted into the chassis, and the head sank back down, returning the unit to its dormant, golden egg.
Having confirmed the success of the hybrid design, Ernst looked out over the remaining 4,899 units.
He needed them transported back to Skull Island, but he wasn't going to upgrade them all manually.
"Red Queen, assessing our current resources at the base, how long will it take to complete the transformation of the rest of the Legion?"
"The mechanical overhaul is relatively simple, Doctor," the Red Queen replied.
"The bottleneck lies in inscribing the new magic runes. That requires actual wizards for the delicate structural points. Given the limited number of magical personnel currently employed on Skull Island, it will take approximately three years to retrofit all 4,900 units. However, if you allocate additional funds to hire more wizards from the underground market, the process could be expedited to roughly six months."
Ernst shook his head. "No need to rush. I don't plan to deploy the Golden Legion immediately, and I don't want to expose our operations by mass-hiring mercenaries. Three years is fine. Let's take our time. Have the logistics team prepare the storage bays. I'll transport the shells back now."
Ernst got to work. He unpacked a set of modular mechanical equipment, assembling a large, circular archway.
He then placed over a dozen blue space-energy crystals into the mechanism. He flipped the switch.
A blinding blue light shot out, causing the space within the arch to violently ripple before tearing open a stable, massive wormhole connecting directly to Skull Island.
Under Ernst's telekinetic control, the dormant golden shells began floating off the ground, moving in an orderly, continuous stream through the portal.
Due to the sheer volume of the 4,900 massive constructs, the automated teleportation process took over twenty minutes.
As the very last golden shell crossed the event horizon, a desperate voice echoed through the cavern.
"Stop! Where are you taking them?"
Ernst turned around to see Prince Nuada stumbling into the chamber.
The Prince looked battered and exhausted, having finally dragged himself back to the main vault, only to find it completely empty.
"They belong to us!" Nuada yelled, pointing a trembling finger at the closing portal.
"You can't just take them away!"
Ernst let out a dry chuckle. "Oh, no. The Golden Legion belongs to me now. I can do whatever I want with them."
"You can't just steal my birthright! It's unreasonable!" Nuada protested urgently, stepping forward.
"Unreasonable?" Ernst laughed aloud.
"In your Dark World, strength is the only truth. Think about your father, King Balor. Think about the countless humans he slaughtered. As the king of your realm, didn't he rely solely on his superior strength to take what he wanted? Now, I am stronger than you. The Golden Legion is my prize by right of conquest. Do you still have any delusions about fairness?"
"Are you not afraid of retaliation from the Dark World?" Nuada threatened, though his voice lacked its former venom.
"Not at all," Ernst replied casually, beginning to pack up his portal generator.
"If your people want revenge, they are welcome to come and try. But consider this: after everything that has happened today, you still don't even know my name, do you? Maybe you should figure out who you're dealing with before you declare war."
Prince Nuada was left entirely speechless.
He stood frozen, watching helplessly as Ernst packed his equipment into his bag, turned his back, and vanished with a final flicker magic.
Standing completely alone in the massive, empty cavern, it took a long time for Nuada to regain his senses.
He eventually turned and walked away into the dark.
It was, undoubtedly, the absolute worst day of his long life, leaving him with nothing but the crushing weight of his ultimate defeat.
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