The Runic Alchemist-Chapter 538: A Colossal Titan

[Soon after Runefather's Arrival – John Harrison's POV]

John Harrison was a man of science, a watchmaker by trade, an engineer by passion. His hands had crafted mechanisms of unparalleled precision, guiding sailors across treacherous seas with the promise of unfailing time. And yet, for all his understanding of gears and levers, of balance springs and escapements, nothing—nothing—could have prepared him for this.

It all began with a letter. An invitation, if one could call it that, written in a hand that felt almost unnatural in its precision. Damian Sunblade. No title, no crest, yet the weight of the words carried the authority of kings. And why not? If the rumors were to be believed, the man was the closest thing to a god. He sought the finest minds from all over the world—men of engineering, metallurgy, and mathematics.

Compensation? He would build any tool of their desire—within reason.

The challenge? It just said to finish a monumental task.

Curiosity proved stronger than reason. And so, John accepted the non-obligatory invitation.

And then, at last, they arrived.

Just outside London, in the depths of an untouched forest, the trees parted to reveal the skeletal foundation of a titan. A thousand meters high, its legs alone towered taller than St. Paul's Cathedral, its foundations sprawling across acres of cleared land.

Before them lay the bones of a giant. A structure so vast it defied reason—a colossus of steel, soaring a thousand meters into the sky. The sheer volume of metal required to complete it was beyond comprehension—hundreds of millions of tons, the weight of mountains. Yet here it stood, incomplete but undeniable, its foundation already in place.

The assembled scientists and engineers stood in stunned silence. Even those accustomed to grand architectural feats—to the cathedrals of Rome and the bridges of France—could scarcely grasp what they were seeing.

"This," Damian spoke at last, addressing the group as he gestured toward his creation, "is what you have been brought here to build."

It was absurd. A metal giant of unfathomable scale, its interior hollow, its construction defying every known principle of engineering. How could such a thing stand? How could it be built without collapsing under its own impossible mass?

Questions poured forth, rapid and urgent. How would they smelt and transport the steel? How would they reinforce such an immense structure? How would it move—if it even could?

Damian answered none of these directly. Instead, he raised a hand.

And the impossible began.

From the earth, molten steel rose as if guided by unseen hands, flowing not like liquid, but like something alive. Gargantuan slabs fused seamlessly mid-air—without rivets, without welds, without seams. The very laws of nature twisted before their eyes, as if the colossus itself was assembling by will alone.

A chill ran through the gathered men. They were builders, makers of machines, believers in the tangible and the rational. But this—this was something else.

John Harrison swallowed hard. Whatever forces were at work here, they were beyond his understanding. And yet, the task remained. The steel might move by unnatural means, but its architecture, its balance, its integrity—those things still needed the guiding hands of men.

The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓.

With a slow breath, he stepped forward.

If his job was to build the damned thing, then it would be built right.

***

[Six Months After Coming to Earth – Damian's POV]

Damian had invited scientists and engineers from all over the world to help him build his titanic steel golem. Most were driven by curiosity, though many had rejected the invitation, preoccupied with their own country's pressing concerns. Those who had come, however, had not regretted their decision—not after seeing the towering skeleton of his creation.

It wasn't a simple thing to build. It required thousands of moving parts, meticulous checks and rechecks for weight distribution. The interior had to be not just strong but structured in a way that made it even more resilient than a solid steel construct. A golem made purely of solid steel would be a colossal waste of material—far too heavy for battle, forcing him to exert more mana threads to control each part.

The design relied on an internal steel lattice system similar to modern skyscrapers. There was the hexagonal honeycomb core to create a lightweight yet strong interior structure, distributing stress efficiently. His plan also incorporated load-bearing legs with a design similar to elephant limbs, reinforced to handle extreme compression.

Damian had incorporated many dungeon materials and rare metals into the build alongside steel. The multi-layered armor reinforced the outer shell, combining steel alloys with high-durability materials at critical stress points. He had used titanium-like otherworldly metal reinforcements in the knee, ankle, and hip joints to prevent excessive wear. Internal mechanisms like counterweights and gyros helped with balance, and hydraulic-powered actuators mimicked muscle movement for smoother walking. The feet were designed with shock-absorbing plates that included oil-based hydraulic dampers for impact reduction.

The power source was, after all, mana. The golem was controlled through mana threads—the control was like extensions of Damian's own body. However, animating such a massive construct required immense amounts of mana—far beyond what his sacrium mana cubes could produce continuously. Thus, inside the hollow body, Damian had built seven massive mana generators, each encased in hardened solid metals to ensure they could survive even in the chaos of battle.

In addition to steel, Damian had secured contracts with several allied nations to supply pure ammonia and potassium in massive quantities. He had stockpiled so much that even his Scarium Spatial Storage—a space capable of holding five Dreamlight effortlessly—was completely full.

With all these preparations, powered by his sacrium mana cubes Damian relied on his already-built steel and iron golems to handle the heavy lifting and welding, needing very little actual manpower. The biggest help he could say in the building and reinforcing such a massive structure was the invisible box spell, to which now Damian could bend and shape however he wanted. With that he needed no extra support to build such a titan.

What he required most were the expertise and skills of the scientists who helped him design the finer details of the structure. He'd explain the principles, give examples, and within days, the brilliant minds would create those things from scratch.

He had knowledge of ideas but not the technical details. He was no genius—just a student with a passing interest in engineering and various scientific fields. Still, that was enough to bring the impossible to life.

For the movement mechanisms, Damian combined hydraulic-pneumatic hybrid actuators, using steam-driven hydraulics and compressed air to allow fluid movement. Additionally, there was a cable-pulley system to control finer movements, like the fingers, while rotary gear mechanisms enabled articulation for the elbows and knees.