Chapter 326: The Puppeteer Subjugation Battle (2)

Chapter
326: The Puppeteer Subjugation Battle (2)

It
wasn’t just Balkan and his party who realized that the battle had
begun.

“Ttyuttaah,
ttaaaah!”

“Eurrgh!
Eurrrgh!!!!”

Thud!
Thud
thud!

The
imbeciles and rioters, locked in cages or bound, all rolled their
eyes back and began to riot.

Having
been forewarned, and having predicted the outcome to some extent
since the Puppeteer had entered the tent, the high-ranking
knights began to issue orders simultaneously.

“Negotiations
have broken down! Draw your swords, everyone!”

“They’re
being controlled by the Puppeteer! Don’t kill them! Just subdue
them and keep them alive!!!”

Kwaaaang!

At
the same time, the rioters who had been locked in cages began to bend
the iron bars with their strong bodies and head somewhere.

The
gazes of the mindless crowd were all directed at one place.

The
tent where the meeting had been held just a moment ago.

The
place where the Puppeteer and the Princess’s party were.

The
knights had been feeling the flow of Mana emanating from the tent and
the ominous tremors of power clashing with power for some time.

“The
Alliance Leader and the Princess are there! Assist them in their
battle!”

“Block
the rioters trying to get into the tent! Don’t let them in!”

In
their eyes, the Puppeteer was a truly terrifying being.

If
the puppets were allowed to invade the tent, the balance of power
would be immediately broken.

Their
mission was to block the mindlessly rushing puppets.

Swish!

Clang!
Clang clang!

The
sound of flesh being cut and weapons clashing echoed from all
directions.

The
rioters, moving without their own will, threw themselves at them like
monsters, not caring at all whether their bodies were injured.

The
guards and knights continued to swing their swords to subdue the
rioters, using their entire bodies to block their advance.

Subduing
one rioter from the lawless zone was not a difficult task for them.

Two
wasn’t too difficult either.

But
four required at least two people to respond in preparation for the
worst.

Eight
required them to move in an organized manner.

More
than a dozen required the organizations to cooperate and fight
together.

More
than a hundred required the cooperative to swing their weapons
countless times.

Swish!
Swish swish!

Sweat
began to pour like rain from the foreheads of the knights who swung
their swords once, twice, four times, eight, dozens, hundreds of
times, and rough breaths flowed from their mouths.

The
body swinging the sword becomes heavier and heavier.

There
seems to be no end to it no matter how much they cut them down.

Subduing
a massive number of puppets brought extreme fatigue.

Unless
they were an extraordinary superhuman, it was impossible for even the
strongest knight to face hundreds or thousands of people alone.

In
the face of overwhelming numbers, the human body inevitably reached
its limit and began to plead for rest.

Dudududududu!

From
far away, the sound of countless footsteps was heard along with the
rumbling of the ground.

“Eurrgh!
Eurrrgh!”

“Ttyuatta!
Kkeuheueueuk!”

“Keureureueuk!
Eurrrgh!!!!”

The
imbeciles and rioters who were near the camp in the lawless zone, who
had not yet been bound or subdued, began to pour into this place.

“…Ah…”

The
knight, watching the scene of countless people losing their ego and
rushing in like the undead, muttered blankly.

“Is
this, the power of the Seven Demons…”

Clang!

The
sword that had slipped from between his blood-soaked, slippery hands
fell to the floor with a metallic sound.

The
exhausted knights hesitated in the face of the overwhelming numbers.

“There’s
no end in sight…”

There
was literally no end in sight.

Countless
rioters filled the horizon at the end of their vision.

No
matter how many hundreds of soldiers there were, it was impossible to
block all those numbers—

Kuuuuuuuuung!

“…Eut?!”

“Wh,
what?! An earthquake…?”

Suddenly,
the ground shook greatly, and the expressions of the knights, who had
been harboring despair one by one, stiffened.

Surely,
nothing more could happen here…

“Th,
there! Look there!”

Unlike
their uneasy minds.

The
gazes of those who had not realized something boiling up from the
depths of their hearts turned to where the voice pointed.

The
place where their gaze was directed.

Above
the tent where the battle with the Puppeteer was in full swing…

A
large and enormous flag, at least 3 meters long, was planted.

A
large flag, wrapped in dazzling light, that was somehow even sacred.

Those
who witnessed the flag could all clearly feel the enormous Divinity
emanating from it.

“The
Knight of Light…”

A
knight, feeling the presence of the enormous Divinity emanating from
the flag, muttered blankly.

“He
who protected the Princess, the future of the kingdom… has bestowed
a miracle upon us…”

The
huge flag, fluttering fiercely like a conquering general planting a
flag in the center of the enemy,

With
its sudden appearance, it began to give a huge resonance in the
hearts of the exhausted.

“Power…
power is overflowing…”

Those
who had dropped their swords clenched their fists again and firmly
gripped their swords.

“My
body is so light… this sudden change is the first time since I
received a blessing in the labyrinth…”

Those
who had been exhausted and collapsed were embarrassed by their
suddenly lightened bodies, but they rose to their feet with an
unknown sense of elation boiling up from the depths of their hearts.

Clang!
Clang clang!

The
sound of fierce fighting echoed from behind.

“The
Princess is still fighting!!!”

The
male knight who suddenly took the Lord’s side was also in the midst
of a fierce battle.

The
knights holding swords instinctively thought.

“We
have to stop them! We can protect the Princess!”

The
eyes of those who had not been able to play a proper role when the
Demon of Wrath worshiper attacked the royal family burned hotly.

“This
is our chance to avenge that day! Hold on for your lives!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaa!!!”

The
flag fluttering in the favorable wind brought a new wind to the
battlefield.

The
knights, who had regained their morale in an instant, swung their
swords again.

Swish!!

Feeling
the presence and grace of the huge flag supporting them from behind.

***

[◆Blessing
of the Flag Leading to Victory]

—The
flag wielded by the hero who ended the Great War raised the morale of
allies and terrified enemies.

—If
the target has a ‘fear’ emotion towards the caster, the effect is
doubled.

—Creates
an area within a radius of 200 meters.

—All
stats of ‘allies’ within the area +3

—All
stats of ‘enemies’ within the area -3. If the maximum condition is
met, it is permanently applied even when leaving the area.

At
the same time as the blessing was activated, I felt the Divinity that
had been accumulated in my dantian being cut away in chunks.

‘As
expected, the consumption is too great.’

As
a huge amount of power drained away in an instant, my eyes closed
involuntarily as a reaction.

Clench!

But
there’s no time to sleep comfortably.

I
gritted my teeth, shook off the dizziness, and regained my composure.

I
took my ears away from the fierce battle noises coming from outside
and focused on the situation in front of me again.

“Ah…
as expected…”

At
the same time as I activated the blessing, the Puppeteer was
staring at me with sparkling eyes.

“How
long has it been since I’ve seen that flag again…!”

The
Puppeteer, whom I defined as an ‘enemy’, must have felt his power
weaken within the debuff area of the flag, but he came even closer
with a very excited face.

The
Puppeteer’s eyes, filled with joy, turned to me and the flag.

Frowning
at the greed and possessiveness that filled his eyes, I drew up
Divinity again.

‘The
front line is enough for now.’

Idelbert
and Celsia.

The
two of them were fully demonstrating their skills even against the
Puppeteer.

Denshi
is a little lacking compared to the two.

Swaeeeeeeeeek!

Thanks
to the massive buff given by [Blessing of the Flag Leading to
Victory], which was defined as an ‘ally’, he even fired a wind magic
intertwined with a bolt.

‘Did
he learn it from Jjuppit Jjuppit of the Wind Valley?’

He
had learned it from the wind spirit who was close to her, but it
seemed that he had not been able to do it before due to the lack of
Mana stats.

Anyway.

If
three vanguards are clustered together and looking for an opportunity
to attack each other in a non-chaotic battle, the timing may be
twisted.

That’s
why I took a step back and assessed the battlefield.

‘Let’s
do what I can do.’

Things
that Idelbert, Celsia, and Denshi can’t do.

Things
that only I, who is a pure front-line dealer, can do in many ways.

Kiiiiiiing—

With
a familiar starting sound, the Blessing of Radiance was activated.

The
moment I gathered the miracle of healing in my hand, gathering the
Divinity that had filled my dantian.

“Don’t
interfere!!”

Kwaaaaaang!

The
Puppeteer’s Mana thread, filled with Magi, covered Celsia.

The
Puppeteer’s blow, gathering the thread in the form of a fist,
struck Celsia’s armor.

The
moment it collided, the fist made of Mana thread instantly burst
Celsia’s armor.

‘Crazy…’

I
held my breath for a moment as I watched the scene.

The
Puppeteer squeezed out even more power and delivered an even more
powerful blow even while standing in the debuff area.

Celsia,
who was hit directly by the powerful blow and lost consciousness for
a brief moment, was about to break through the tent and hit the wall
of the building in an instant.

Puhuhuhuhuhuh!

“Hup…!”

I
quickly ran out and caught Celsia with my whole body.

Celsia,
who had grown plump and was thrown at an amazing speed, was by no
means light, but I succeeded in naturally catching her without
hurting her by using the flow of inertia.

“Kahak…!”

But
Celsia’s condition was not good.

Perhaps
her internal organs were affected by the blow, she spat red blood on
my helmet and her face.

There’s
no time to just stand there blankly.

I
put my palm firmly on Celsia’s body and sent the miracle of healing
to her.

‘I
can’t heal from a distance like real priests.’

I
haven’t gotten used to handling miracles to that extent yet.

But
there is a big difference between me and the priests.

Priests
are almost dead if they come out to the front line, but I am
originally a warrior.

‘If
I can’t give miracles from afar, I can go closer and give them.’

A
warrior who doesn’t have to worry about injuries can head to the
center of the battle more freely.

“Ugh…”

As
I gave her a healing miracle with Divinity gathered to the level of a
serif, Celsia soon opened her eyes.

“Balkan—I,
sword…”

Celsia,
who had become plump, was very tough.

“It’s
here.”

As
soon as she opened her eyes, she looked for her greatsword, and she
staggered and tried to rush to the Puppeteer with the greatsword
I gave her.

I
grabbed Celsia’s shoulder and pulled her back.

“Where
are you going when you just got hurt? It’s your turn to switch.”

“Ugh,
but…”

“You
can still use magic in that state, right?”

“To
some extent, I practiced…”

“Then
leave the front line to me from now on.”

I’m
running out of Divinity soon.

The
maintenance time of the flag is only 10 minutes at most.

If
I want to subdue the Puppeteer within that time, this is the only
way.

“Sorry,
Balkan…”

“What’s
there to be sorry about? It’s all that bitch’s fault. Please
intercept well with Denshi.”

“Leave
it to me.”

I
smiled at Celsia, who nodded with a firm expression, and grabbed
Bunny, which I had planted in the ground.

[Is
it finally mealtime?]

“Yeah.”

Bunny,
who smiled lowly, transformed the ax blade and revealed its teeth.

I
held out the Magi-mixed soul stone I had acquired after killing
Carellos, the Demon of Jealousy worshiper, to Bunny’s mouth.

Crunch!
Crunch crunch!

The
moment Bunny crunched and swallowed the Magi-infused soul stone, an
ominous energy began to rise from the extra-large ax.

[Today’s
a special meal.]

“It
didn’t fill you up, did it?”

[Of
course not!]

I
added to the grinning guy.

“There’s
still one more meal left.”