Ch.445Chapter 445 – Ill-Fated Connection (1)

‘I never thought she’d still be alive.’

I had assumed she died during the battle at Ferarius, but unfortunately, it seemed she had survived.

And she hadn’t just returned.

Not only had her appearance changed, but I could feel she had become even more powerful than before.

‘Did she modify herself like that?’

I quietly analyzed while recalling my last battle with Phobia.

That crazy puppeteer had already turned her own body into a puppet.

If she somehow survived that place, modifying herself wouldn’t be difficult.

“Perhaps I should have cut off the roots completely back then, just in case.”

Acknowledging that I had underestimated my opponent’s tenacity, I switched my weapon to a halberd to help Rizanis who was gradually being pushed back. Just then, I sensed killing intent from behind me.

Since it wasn’t directed at me, I turned my head to see its source and noticed Sia glaring at Phobia with furious eyes.

“What happened to that body?”

Perhaps responding to the cold voice, Phobia, who had been busy dealing with Rizanis, turned only her head to look at Sia.

While her body still faced Rizanis, only her neck twisted around in a grotesque manner that made me want to look away. Meanwhile, Sia continued speaking.

“This reaction, I’m not just sensing you. I can feel the Demon Lord’s power too. What’s going on? What exactly is that body?”

“Demon… Lord?”

Phobia tilted her head as if momentarily regaining her senses.

Then, as if suddenly realizing who that name belonged to.

Phobia grinned and said.

“I am the Demon Lord!”

“What nonsense!”

“Exactly what I said!”

Phobia lightly jumped up and used magic to push Rizanis away.

At the same time, her body began to rotate around her neck until her body and head properly faced our direction.

Finally facing us properly, Phobia pounded her chest and said.

“This body belonged to that demon called the Demon Lord! So I am the Demon Lord!”

“…How?”

“Because I ate that old man!”

Phobia said with apparent delight.

“I devoured his soul! Then I claimed his empty body as my own and beautifully modified it!”

“How could you consume a soul….”

To Chris’s disgusted question, Phobia answered with a bright smile.

“He tried to devour my soul. But I had already separated my soul from my puppet body!”

Spreading her wings wide in that state, Phobia laughed.

“Even if my soul separates from my body, my consciousness and will remain! Not knowing this, he tried to swallow me, so I pretended to be swallowed and slowly took control of his soul from within! And finally devoured him!”

Phobia smiled brightly as if reminiscing about that moment.

“That demon begged for his life inside me, crying that he, the next Demon King, couldn’t suffer such a fate! Since his words were uttered as his soul dispersed into magical energy, I’m sure no one but me heard them!”

Phobia smiled brightly as she looked at Sia.

“His soul became my nourishment. His power is now mine. All the power he gathered is mine. His body is mine too. But he was your enemy anyway, right? No complaints?”

“…There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed, Puppeteer.”

Sia pointed her sword at Phobia and spoke in a cold voice.

“I cannot tolerate disrespecting the dead.”

“Even though he was your enemy?”

“Regardless of who they are, everyone deserves minimal respect and final rest.”

Sia said in a cold voice.

“Even if they were my enemy.”

“…I don’t understand.”

Phobia replied with a bright smile.

“Since he wasn’t beautiful, I don’t care what happens to him!”

“I understand perfectly, you wretched woman.”

Killing intent and contempt were palpable in Sia’s voice.

“Prepare yourself. I’ll end you cleanly.”

“…Try it. You dying Demon King.”

As if regaining her senses, Phobia spoke in an eerie voice.

“I’ll turn you into my puppet too.”

Just as with Sia earlier, killing intent and contempt were evident in Phobia’s voice.

As I stood beside Sia with my halberd, she quietly said.

“You might want to step back, just in case.”

“I don’t like her either. Please don’t exclude me.”

After glancing at my comrades taking battle positions behind us, I answered, and Sia gave a small nod.

“…I won’t refuse your assistance. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me for something so obvious.”

I didn’t like her either anyway.

Helping Sia was the natural thing to do.

“Still, to think we’d be interrupted right up to the end.”

I sighed softly while glaring at Phobia.

“Really, just when things seem to be going well, something always gets in the way.”

“It seems to be your nature. Then let’s overcome this together.”

Sia adjusted her stance and said in a cold voice.

“Let’s clear this obstacle and reclaim your life with dignity.”

“Sounds good.”

I nodded and glared at Phobia.

Phobia, who had been waiting for us until then, soon smiled and raised her hands.

Threads extended from her and embedded into the ground, and puppets made from monster corpses—collected from who knows where—began to rise.

Just like before, they were twisted and barely recognizable.

Among them were puppets made from humans and even monsters that didn’t inhabit this area.

It seemed she had diligently collected things to her liking even on her way here.

‘…At least it’s a relief that none of the Lizardmen seem to have been turned into puppets.’

Whether because her attention was focused elsewhere on me, or because the Lizardmen didn’t meet Phobia’s aesthetic standards, there didn’t appear to be any Lizardmen among the puppets.

While their impression wasn’t exactly pleasant, I had traveled with them briefly and was somewhat concerned, so it was genuinely fortunate that no Lizardmen had met the terrible fate of becoming Phobia’s puppets.

Feeling relieved about that fact, I split a puppet wolf that charged at me with my halberd and immediately rushed toward Phobia.

Phobia looked at me with a bright smile.

“Did you miss me too?”

“Not at all!”

If anything, I never wanted to see her again.

I threw my halberd at Phobia while smashing an approaching puppet with my fist and closed in on her.

And as Phobia’s movement faltered momentarily from deflecting the halberd with her arm, I kicked her face with all my might, sending her body flying backward.

The impact was stronger than expected, and Phobia flew backward, destroying several puppets standing behind her. I could hear excited cheers from the Lizardmen behind me.

‘That was too easy.’

Thinking that a woman who had returned despite being presumed dead couldn’t be defeated so easily, I looked in the direction Phobia had flown.

Sure enough, I could see Phobia extending her arm and rising from the debris of puppets.

However, her neck had completely twisted around, seemingly unable to withstand the impact.

“That hurt.”

With the front of her body facing me but her neck twisted backward in a grotesque state, Phobia spoke to me.

As I firmly gripped my returned halberd and pointed it at her, Phobia’s neck began to rotate.

-Crack

With the sound of bones forcibly realigning, Phobia’s neck returned to its original position.

Though she had said it hurt, the impact wasn’t as severe as I’d thought, as Phobia smiled brightly and spoke to me.

“Strange. I’m stronger than before, but I feel like I can’t put in as much power as I thought. Are you sick or something?”

“Would you like me to be?”

I spoke to Phobia while pointing my halberd at her.

And Phobia smiled brightly and said.

“Of course!”

Without any hesitation, she expressed her desire for others to be in pain as she spread both hands wide.

“Being in pain means feeling suffering, right? It makes you want to recover quickly, right?”

With her wings fully spread and magical energy gathered into dark, slimy spheres above her hands, Phobia smiled at me and said.

“When you become a puppet, all pain flies away! So if I turn you into a puppet, I’m saving you from pain!”

With a smile so wide it nearly split her face, she spoke with a voice tinged with madness.

“You’ll escape from pain, and I’ll gain a precious friend! Want to become a puppet?”

“That’s enough!”

While I held Phobia’s attention, Sia approached and began swinging her greatsword.

Phobia immediately turned her neck to look in that direction and created a shield-like barrier of magical energy to briefly block the greatsword.

And just as Sia was about to follow up with another attack, Phobia stretched her hands toward both of us and shouted.

“Go away, come here!”

With that, Phobia launched the two spheres.

Sia tried to dodge one, but it wasn’t a simple attack—the sphere exploded mid-flight, and I saw her being pushed back.

Conversely, the sphere flying toward me suddenly started pulling me in.

When I changed my weapon to a halberd and cut through the sphere, the pulling sensation disappeared, but Phobia charged at me, seemingly taking advantage of the opening.

As she tried to swing her claws infused with magical energy, I quickly changed my weapon to a shield and blocked it.

“Feel pain. Suffer. Become a puppet. Become my friend!!”

Phobia grabbed the shield and started shouting.

With a screeching sound, the shield began to be pushed back.

As I briefly considered whether to switch weapons to escape or push back with the shield, Phobia, as if unwilling to give me time, raised her other hand and began gathering magical energy.

And then, the very next moment.

A gravity sphere appeared above Phobia’s head.

The sphere sucked Phobia in, and as she flew toward it, she frantically flapped her wings to escape its range while shouting.

“Who is it!”

“It’s me, you damned woman!”

Beatrice, who had flown in by hooking a chain in mid-air, immediately kicked Phobia.

Perhaps because she was hurriedly trying to escape the gravity sphere, Phobia’s defense was late, and she crashed straight to the ground.

Landing in front of me, Beatrice grumbled at Phobia with an irritated expression.

“Who do you think you’re putting your filthy hands on?”

Watching Phobia rise again, Beatrice wiggled her finger and said.

“If you want to flirt, do it with other puppets. Living people don’t like you, right?”

“I’ll make them into puppets!”

Phobia smiled brightly and extended her fingers.

Magical threads began to extend from Phobia’s fingers.

“Don’t worry. You, and everyone else, I’ll turn you all into puppets!”

The threads moved as if alive and flew toward us.

I quickly changed my weapon to a sword and swung it to cut the threads, while Beatrice burned them with flames around her fist.

However, some threads flew past us toward those behind.

As threads flew toward Sera and Chris, who had momentarily let their guard down while dealing with approaching puppets.

And as Eve cut one of those strands, Phobia shouted with a bright smile.

“You all get along so well!”

Extending more threads from her hands, Phobia laughed.

“It would be better if everyone stayed together, right? I’ll make you all mine, I’ll make everything mine!”

As if attempting the same attack again, Phobia began moving her hands.

With her gaze fixed on me, Phobia shouted.

“Everyone will become my friends!!”

Phobia shouted, spitting as she did.

I quietly pointed behind her.

“Watch your back.”

“You, damned womaaaaaan!!!”

Rizanis, who had circled around to Phobia’s back while fighting puppets, charged with eyes blazing with fury.

With eyes full of killing intent as if facing a mortal enemy, Rizanis slammed into Phobia and shouted.

“How dare you try to hurt the warriors and Rizi!!!”

“This…!”

As if momentarily regaining her senses, Phobia glared at Rizanis and tried to push her away.

But Phobia’s posture had already collapsed significantly due to allowing Rizanis’s full-force surprise attack.

With Phobia pinned beneath her, Rizanis raised her halberd high and shouted.

“I’ll pound you into the ground, you damned woman!”

Rizanis brought down the halberd with all her might.

A terrifying sound spread around with each strike.

“Die! Die! Die!”

As if working herself into a frenzy, Rizanis’s eyes began to roll.

And as if for the final blow, Rizanis gathered her strength one more time and raised her halberd.

Then brought it down toward Phobia.

The impact was so powerful that ice shards from the surroundings scattered around.

The ice fragments briefly obscured our vision.

And when those ice fragments settled.

I heard Beatrice clicking her tongue.

“Damn…”

It seemed this wasn’t just Beatrice’s sentiment, as I could sense surprise from those around us.

“…That hurts.”

Unlike before, a cold voice was heard.

Pinned under Rizanis, Phobia glared at her while gripping her halberd with one hand.

Soon Rizanis clicked her tongue and tried to pull her halberd back.

But the halberd didn’t budge, and looking at the slightly bewildered Rizanis, Phobia muttered.

“This is why I hate Lizardmen. I hate beastfolk who aren’t pretty. They stink. They’re barbaric. They’re stupid.”

Gradually pushing the halberd up, Phobia glared at Rizanis.

“Your face is decent enough that I considered making you a puppet, but I see you’re not suitable after all.”

With those words, magical energy exploded from within Phobia’s body.

Caught in the explosion, Rizanis flew backward, and as she landed safely, Phobia slowly rose.

“Ugly. Barbaric. Dirty. Filthy. Not beautiful. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you.”

Phobia muttered with disgust, shaking her head.

She swayed like someone drunk.

But at the same time, a slimy magical energy could be felt from within her body.

“Puppets. Only puppets matter. Everyone must become puppets. Life is unnecessary. Puppets are beautiful. My friends are beautiful. Ugly things are unnecessary. I’ll fill the world with beautiful things.”

A gloomy voice spread around.

The slimy magical energy gradually reached its critical point.

And exploding her magical energy, Phobia shouted.

“I’ll turn everything into puppets!!”

Phobia raised her head.

Along with her voice filled with madness, Phobia’s wings and horns grew even larger.

“Starting with you.”

Phobia’s eyes, with whites turned black, began to stare at me.