Wizard: I Can Refine Everything-Chapter 240 - 24 The Holy Guard

Chapter 240: Chapter 24 The Holy Guard

The Dragon Beast Cultivation Base was divided into four levels, where the outermost layer was the place guarded by the majority of Dragon Beast Knights and also served as the storage area for the base.

Huge rooms contained the corpses of various Flame Giant Beasts, and within these rooms were alchemy tools made by Giant Dragon Alchemy. These tools formed a field within the rooms that could slow down the decay of the corpses and the loss of their essences.

From within the shadow gaps, Richard emerged from a storeroom and then marked a spot on the map he held in his hands.

His map was a rough one based on the explorations of Ulysses. Richard was marking it to make it easy for him to grab some loot when they retreated later.

In these shadow gaps, although creatures of the Material World could not detect Richard, he also couldn’t interact with objects in the Material World. He could only touch these things once he emerged from the gaps.

The second layer of the Dragon Beast Cultivation Base was the nurturing grounds for the dragon beasts; these beasts, not yet fully grown, needed to be raised in the nurturing grounds for a while before they could serve as mounts for Dragon Beast Knights.

Upon entering the third layer, it seemed to function as a laboratory.

Richard saw several Fire Lizards tie a somewhat deformed dragon beast to a table and then skillfully insert several metal pins into the creature’s body.

As the pins entered the flesh, the dragon beast ceased its struggles.

Afterward, Richard saw a Fire Lizard take out tools and expertly dissect the dragon beast. The deformed parts were cut away and then stored in golden material jars.

The remainder, after being examined and recorded by the Fire Lizards, was hauled away by Dragon Beast Knights and chopped up to feed the younger dragon beasts.

“This is dissection for research? The Fire Lizard Clan’s level of civilization isn’t low,” Richard exclaimed in surprise.

The whole operation by the Fire Lizards was smooth and standardized, clearly the result of much practice.

But the more civilized they were, the more completely the Wizards would destroy them.

Passing through the third layer, Richard quickly reached the fourth layer, where he finally saw the heart of the cultivation base.

In front of him, a nearly one-square-kilometer plot of land held towering Crystal Cultivation Chambers, which contained dragon beast embryos.

“Indeed, they are relics of the Pioneers. These Fire Lizards actually have so many Pioneer Relics!” Richard looked at the cultivation chambers in front of him, his expression indescribably excited.

Compared to this base, the Pioneer Relics he had acquired before were practically garbage.

But just as Richard was getting excited, Ulysses suddenly threw a bucket of cold water on him.

“Caw, don’t get too excited yet. Take a closer look at these things.”

“Take a closer look?”

Richard approached the cultivation chambers and suddenly realized that the control panels beneath them were not made of crystal, but metal.

In Richard’s previous encounters with Pioneer relics, those items were special crystals; he had never seen Pioneers use metal.

Ulysses expressed his guess:

“Caw, I’m guessing these are devices left by the Pioneers for their servant army. Otherwise, after so many years, these instruments would have broken down long ago.

I don’t believe these lizards could fix Pioneer technology.

Take a closer look. Even among the devices they can maintain, some are broken.”

Richard moved among the cultivation chambers and found, just as Ulysses had said, that a considerable number of machines in the square were broken.

Ulysses sighed:

“Caw, time is the most terrifying poison. It can bring Gods to their knees, cause machines to decay, transform great Pioneers into natives, and silence the brilliant starry skies.”

“Pioneers can degenerate into natives?” Richard asked offhandedly.

“Caw, of course they can. A few ambitious individuals plus a civil war can fracture a civilization’s vast territory. The ambitious ones hold each corner and war with each other. Thus, craftsmanship begins to be lost, technology becomes disjointed, until they expend the last vestige of civilization, and the last vessel capable of taking mortals out of this world turns to scrap iron.

Thus, the great Pioneers regress into natives.”

Ulysses’s narrative flowed with ups and downs, as if singing the end of a civilization.

“So your Gods Civilization was born from the corpse of this civilization?” Richard asked curiously.

“Caw, no, that’s what I heard from a Minstrel in a tavern world. The tavern world is an Illusion World, where a creature known as a Minstrel lives. These creatures collect interesting stories from various worlds and sing them in taverns to reap praise and shock from guests.

Incidentally, they feed on this praise and shock.

If you encounter these creatures, consider telling them a story.

These little guys will trade what they consider useless for a good enough story, like shards of rules or the like.”

A tavern world, Minstrels that fed on shock and praise.

Richard felt this world was truly wondrous, full of too many things he had never seen.

Richard walked around the machines, but did not take action.

He was waiting, waiting for other Wizards to make a move and draw fire for him.

Even with Ulysses’s help, Richard, after all, was a Second Ring Wizard; burdened by such a nuisance, Ulysses would also be somewhat cautious in his actions.

Suddenly, Richard noticed that the Fire Lizards operating the machines in the square began to stir.

A Wizard was discovered by the Fire Lizards!

…

At the junction between the third and fourth layers of the base, Mephit transformed into a Stone Giant over three meters tall, each punch turning a Second Level Fire Lizard into a patty. And the reason he was discovered was quite simple.

“Damn it, you Fire Lizards even have dust prevention measures!”

With Mephit discovered, the entire base’s security sprang into action, as Fire Lizard Knights mounted on Dragon Beasts charged down the broad corridors toward the inner core, while those tasked with guarding the inner ring, the Third Level Fire Lizards, revealed their true forms.

“Target detected.”

“Target detected.”

The third layer’s several sealed rooms suddenly shattered, and ten massive creatures nearly four meters tall walked out.

From the outside, these beings vaguely resembled the shape of Fire Lizards, but their bodies were covered in a layer of armor similar to exoskeleton armor.

Constant reports from the armor streamed into the Fire Lizard’s ears. In its vision, a marker locked onto Mephit, who was making Fire Lizard Cakes with his punches, accompanied by streams of information.

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“Target: Semi-elemental creature.”

“Energy intensity: Thirty-seven levels; Physique equivalent to 245-250; spiritual power at 299.”

“Danger rating: Dangerous.”

“Killing strategy: Recommend using high-frequency vibration punches for close combat or deploying the Element Annihilation Cannon.”

The Fire Lizard ignored the information he couldn’t understand. The language used by the Holy Armor was that of the Giant Dragons, the language of their former masters, which was abolished when the first Fire Lizard King killed the Dragon King.

Although the first Fire Lizard King ordered the scribes to pass down this language, the uncertainties over the long years were enough to cause any precise program significant errors.

By the time he received his Holy Armor, only fragments of the Dragon Language remained.

The Fire Lizard spoke to the armor in the Dragon Language:

“Ignore!”

The next moment, all the information about Mephit disappeared from its view.

It stretched its body and took large strides towards Mephit.

Bang!

Mephit was sent flying several meters back with a punch, his arm, used to defend against the punch, now showing a huge crack, and the resulting shock wave caused the surrounding Fire Lizards to stagger dizzily.

“This is a… Lost Relic!”

Mephit, eyeing the metal monster before him, felt a flicker of greed.

If he could take this thing and present it to the Tower of Truth, he would earn enough merit to apply for the Great Wizard Trial!

“Natives, you truly are my lucky star!”

As Mephit sized up the Armored Fire Lizard, astonishing energy fluctuations erupted from his body. Runes appeared on him, and in a few seconds, Mephit had transformed into a Rune Stone Giant.

But in the next instant, Mephit’s body was flung backward.

“Armor, Extreme Combat Mode.”

The Fire Lizard uttered in Dragon Language—a language it too knew the meaning of—and immediately, holy Potions injected into its body, making it feel lighter as a seemingly endless vigor surged within.

With a flick of the wrist, its arm armor extended a Chain Saw Sword wrapped in arcs of energy.

“Wizard, today will be your end!”

…

While Mephit was engaged in battle, the other Wizards were not idle either.

They took advantage of the chaos to approach the central area, intent on destroying the cultivation chambers, but before they could get close, several other Holy Armored Fire Lizards found them.

Through the eyes of the Fire Lizards, all these concealed Wizards were marked.

In the face of the Pioneers’ creations, Wizardly tactics were clearly not secret enough.

Streams of information about the Wizards popped up quickly and were dismissed just as swiftly by the Fire Lizards.

Thus, the battle began.

The Fire Lizards activated Extreme Combat Mode, fighting like mad dogs. The Wizards tried to resist but found the magical resistance of the Fire Lizard’s armor incredibly high.

Fireball spells exceeding five thousand energy levels hit the armor without causing a scratch, merely pushing the Fire Lizard back two steps from the impact.

“Stalin, do you have a way to deal with these Fire Lizard’s armors?”

Theodore, while grappling with the Armored Fire Lizards using gravity, discussed strategies with Stalin, the most proficient in Alchemy Machinery among the Wizards.

But he didn’t receive an answer.

Because by that moment, Stalin had been disassembled into parts by two Armored Fire Lizards, even his soul captured by the armor.

The situation was developing unfavorably for the Wizards.

…

Outside the Cultivation Base, in his office in Luxor City, Balashar watched the battle between the Wizards and the Armored Fire Lizards through a light screen.

Beside him, Toin waited, trembling with fear, for Balashar’s judgment, his forehead faintly showing a nail mark.

“The battles of the Holy Guard are truly never tiresome, no matter how many times one watches.”

Balashar sighed, then turned to Toin at his side.

With a slight smile and an unhurried tone, he said, “Toin, you’ve been a great help this time. If you hadn’t switched sides, these Holy Guards would still be living off the king in his palace.”