episode_0078

What’s the most annoying thing when dealing with puppet masters?

Brain attribute magic of the level of a great wizard?

Constant attempts at brainwashing and mental attacks?

They were all annoying, but there was something else that really annoyed him.

Swish!

“Hot, slow.”

Evasion ability that is close to MAX.

The guy has an evasion ability that’s almost like mind poison for a wizard theme. In the game, he would only get hit once out of 100 attacks.

“Not only is it slow, but you can see right through it. Is that really all?”

The behavior of all living things is actually made up of very weak electrical signals. When the brain sends a specific electrical signal, we act accordingly. The signal comes first, then the action.

So, in a literal sense, we are no different from biological machines.

If so, if only, if only.

What if we could read those tiny electrical impulses our brains generate?

Well, what if we could at least detect the timing of when that electricity is generated?

Wouldn’t it be possible to evade the next move in advance?

He can do that.

I don’t know if it’s because of the brain magic that I’ve been practicing for over a hundred years, or if it’s because of my power.

At least the guy could tell when to attack with it.

In short, he is a guy who has gathered all the skills of a dog.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Thanks to that, my attacks were invariably cutting through the air. A uselessly sharp sound echoed through the air.

The guy who dodged my attacks by a span was smiling the whole time.

“I had high expectations since he’s a warrior, but I’m disappointed.”

Of course, he has his weaknesses too.

The guy can only detect the strength of the signal, but he can’t read the type of signal.

Since he is a wizard by nature, he cannot avoid attacks that exceed his speed. And he is weak to area-of-effect attacks.

If you use this, you can deal damage.

Kookook.

I gather my strength. I pour magical power into my sword with the sole intention of hitting the guy hard.

Clearly, in the world he sees, a particularly strong electricity is surging inside my brain.

Of course, in absolute terms it may be a tiny difference, but he can tell the difference.

And from the moment you realize it, your attention will be drawn to this side.

He raises his sword high into the air, as if he’s about to strike down at any moment. The guy who saw him turns his body to the side.

I chuckled when I saw that.

‘This is fake, you punk.’

Change the movement. From a vertical slash to a right turning kick.

Perhaps this signal was sent to the guy. However, it was obvious that the guy who had already made large movements to avoid the strong signal would not be able to avoid this attack.

puck!

As if to prove that, a dull sound rang out.

My foot lands in his stomach. He quickly raises his arm to block, but it’s not enough to absorb all the impact.

The guy’s expression suddenly frowned.

Yeah, if your evasion is maxed out, your defense should be lowered.

“···Okay. Looks like you didn’t just get the Vulcans by luck.”

“Why do the guys I meet always talk so much? What good would it do if we fought quietly?”

“······.”

Fortunately, he kept my word. He started preparing his magic without saying a word.

Crackle! Crackle!

Yellow electricity swirled around the creature. The magical power was concentrated in one place to a terrifying degree. Indeed, this was the magic of the great wizard.

I took a defensive stance, while looking at what my party members were doing.

Kang! Kakang!

“Sir Farrell, please come to your senses!”

The other side was busy in their own way. They were stopping the brainwashed Farrell. Even if he was brainwashed, the opponent was still level 79.

He is the vice-captain of the Knights Templar. It was bound to take time to stop him.

Then it looks like I’ll end up having to stop this attack by myself.

[Blessings are coming!]

[The effect of the blessing temporarily increases magic resistance!]

The moment I was thinking that, a buff was applied to me.

Yeah, even though they’re busy, they still give you a buff.

Look at him and use all your defensive skills.

“Lightning strike.”

Immediately after, the guy’s magic flew at me. It was literally a lightning strike. Without any time to dodge, the guy’s strike dug into my body.

Crackle! Crackle!

The high voltage made my whole body’s muscles contract. The smell of burning meat rose up my skin.

“Cluck cluck···.”

I coughed up blood.

After all, the Four Heavenly Kings are the Four Heavenly Kings.

I tried to defend myself, but I didn’t expect this to happen with just one magic attack. If I hadn’t had regeneration, I might have been unable to fight for a while.

Although it turned out to be stronger than expected, there was some good news.

“I will join you, warrior!”

First, the team members who subdued Farrell joined.

Now we’ll be able to deal with him a bit more easily.

Second, I was bleeding.

To others, it may be just a simple wound, but to me, it is a signal for the real battle.

I decided to take this opportunity to try out a new skill I had just learned.

It wasn’t the skill I learned from Lily at the library last time, it was a black magic that I got as compensation for the damage I took when fighting the Red Tower.

[Use blood flow control!]

The blood flowing through the mouth begins to move strangely.

It stretched out towards the puppet like a thin, long thread, going against gravity. It was magic that allowed me to control blood as I wished.

It’s one of the essential skills for a self-harming wizard, but I’m just now getting around to using it.

He approached the puppet master, moving freely through the bloody thread.

The guy looked at the blood with interest. Well, it probably doesn’t look that dangerous now.

But that’s not all. I’ve added a new skill to blood flow control.

[Use hardening!]

Phew!

In an instant, the blood hardened and shot forward quickly. The blood stretched out like thorns and attacked the guy.

Even though it was obvious that the signal would go off and I would avoid it, it didn’t matter.

Anyway, my goal is to limit its movements.

Phew! Phew, Phew! Phew!

The attack continued. Thorns made of blood continued to sprout, as if branches were sprouting from a single tree branch.

Despite the rather dizzying attacks, the puppet master dodged all of them without even blinking.

It’s still relaxed. We need to apply more pressure.

At this point, the party members stepped forward.

Camilla and Adele each held weapons and guarded the guy on either side. As expected of a physical fighter, their actions were quick.

I gave some light instructions to the remaining party members in the rear.

“If Yuris uses his power, please release him immediately. And Lily, please cast some debuff magic.”

“Yes!”

“······.”

“Lily?”

“······You can do it. You can do it.”

“Excuse me, Lily?”

“Oh, yeah?”

Strangely, Lily seemed to be absent-minded. Her eyes were looking somewhere else, as if she was thinking about something. She looked very nervous.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry···.”

“Please stay focused during battle.”

“···Okay.”

Why is he like this? When he was subduing King Chung, he fought calmly even in that dirty environment. Does he have any bad memories of the puppet commander?

I was briefly curious, but didn’t have time to figure it out.

Because the guy started using his superpower.

“Ugh?! Adele, what are you doing all of a sudden!”

“Wait, it’s not me! My body is acting on its own···!”

Kang!

Adele’s dagger clashes with Camilla’s sword. Two women with confused faces are seen. Adele has been brainwashed.

Even though it is only a light brainwashing that controls the body, in battle even that can be fatal.

During the brief moment of confrontation between Camilla and Adele, the puppet master escaped.

“Haha! That’s funny!”

The guy who had regained his composure by spreading out some distance smiled brightly.

I was sweating profusely. It was obvious that we had been the ones putting the pressure on, but it felt like we were being played by the guy.

Come to think of it, the guy has never used his superpower before, even though it’s his main skill.

Why is that? Just to enjoy this battle?

No, even though the guy was crazy, he was a guy who chased after ghosts to my advantage.

For a moment, just for a moment, an ominous assumption flashed through my mind.

then?

What if the resources that could be used for this ability are being used elsewhere?

As soon as I had that thought, I heard screams coming from around me.

“Gyaaaah!!”

I turned my head straight to where the scream came from.

A large number of people who had lost their eyesight were flocking to this place.

In other words, they are brainwashed people. And it seems like they were brainwashed quite a long time ago.

The first thought that came to mind was doubt.

‘how?’

Clearly, the guards and the priests were all investigating the territory.

How did you manage to brainwash so many people?

As I was thinking that, I saw all kinds of filth attached to the puppets’ bodies.

They all looked like they had popped out of somewhere, looking shabby. Somewhere like a sewer, an abandoned slum, a back alley, etc.

I swore.

‘Fuck.’

They were so focused on finding the puppet that they neglected to find the missing person. The guy took advantage of that gap.

Because of this, the surrounding area quickly began to become chaotic.

One of the puppets is wielding a knife and causing a ruckus, while another puppet is trying to stab its own neck with a blade.

Some puppets were capturing civilians who had fled from somewhere.

“Gyaaak! Let go of it!”

“What are these kids, honey!”

A couple who seem to be just entering middle age, a blacksmith in an oily apron, a father and daughter, etc.

A large number of people flock to the battlefield.

It was only natural that the puppet master’s gaze, who loved causing trouble, turned towards them.

“You seem to be getting along well. How many years have you been married?”

“Please, spare my life. I have a 9-year-old son. So please···.”

“Then it’s been at least 9 years since you became a couple!”

The guy continued speaking affectionately. His tone was extremely calm, but that made it all the more creepy.

Not very good. I could feel the Demon King’s seal weakening in real time.

“Don’t worry. One person will get out of here alive!”

Exactly.

As he snapped his fingers, the two couples began to strangle each other. The intention was obvious: whoever killed the other first would be spared.

It was a vicious game, as expected of a guy.

“Gek, kkeukkeu···.”

The sound of gasping for breath could be heard intermittently. The faces of both men began to turn blue. But the game did not last long.

Saaak!

“Cluck! Cluck···!”

“Are you okay?”

Because Yuris reached them and purified their abilities.

A shallow ability like this that is simply attached to the body can be easily resolved.

The lower the opponent’s level, the higher the purification efficiency.

If that were true, the puppets running wild around us right now could be purified in a short period of time.

The problem is that there are too many puppets for that to happen.

It takes too long to subdue them one by one.

That’s why I grabbed Lily’s shoulder.

“Lily”

“Ah, ah, huh?”

Because she was the only one here who knew how to use the wide-area suppressor.

Of course, I can also inflict mass paralysis with blood power replacement, but I still don’t have enough blood. There isn’t much blood in the blood pouch necklace either.

“Wake up and listen to me. From now on, Lily Yang’s role is the most important.”

“Me?”

Even the moment I called her, she still hadn’t come to her senses. She seemed to have lost her mind somewhere.

I gave her a firm grip on the shoulder to bring her to her senses.

“Please prepare a magic that can bind movements from now on. I don’t need a very strong magic, so something with as wide a range as possible.”

“Ah···.”

“You understand?”

“Yeah, I understand.”

I feel uneasy. I feel particularly uneasy today.

It was strange when he first encountered the puppet master, but now that people started causing a ruckus, even his hands were shaking.

But since I spoke strongly, she somehow came to her senses and started to chant. Mana began to rise around her.

Okay, that’s fine for now.

I figured out the rest of the situation.

Frankly, the situation was the worst. The brainwashed civilians were running wild in real time, and by releasing the puppets, the guy’s superpowers were also freed up.

Of course, the puppet company is still alive and well, and to make matters worse, Lily and Yuris are unable to properly participate in the battle due to the puppet subduing.

Camilla and I, Adelman, must stop this disaster.

“Ugh···.”

“Sir Farrell, are you okay?”

Correction, even Farrell.

I’ve roughly estimated the past time so far.

It’s been 14 minutes since I met the puppet master.

If we just hold out for about 16 more minutes, McGuff will arrive.

So we fought a fierce battle.

To be exact, it was a fierce battle only for us.

The four of them attacked without stopping, but they were unable to land a single effective hit on the guy. In between, their supernatural powers would attack them, confusing their minds and bodies.

The electric attacks that came flying at every little gap were enough to render one temporarily incapacitated.

Not to mention the puppets causing a ruckus around.

“Haa···haa···.”

“Whew··· Whoo···.”

So 16 minutes.

Two seriously injured, four slightly injured.

A third of the puppets and the kidnapped civilians died.

Even though Lily used a wide-area suppression device to block its movements, it still couldn’t prevent its death. Even though she tied its entire body with something like tree roots, it still kept struggling, so what should we do?

Since their attacks on us didn’t work, they eventually even attempted group suicide.

It was a bitter but somewhat successful result. The stench of blood rose everywhere, and there were many corpses of people who had committed suicide or killed each other.

Given the level difference, we made the best choice.

“···I admit it. There are many talented people in the human world. I was planning on killing them all, but it’ll take some time.”

He was still relaxed. His flawless skin was a little dusty and sweaty, but that was all.

It’s a world of difference from us, who are half-torn to pieces.

The guy who took a breather continued speaking.

“But don’t worry. I’ll kill you all before I go back.”

“Well.”

I put down my sword. There is no need for me to step forward now.

“That person’s thoughts seem a little different.”

Finally here. The strongest of the current human race.

“···Why did you show up from the farthest place?”

He was holding a large sword as big as his body in one hand and covering it with sword energy. He was spewing out the killing energy that had been quenched for decades onto the Four Heavenly Kings.

I smiled faintly.

It seems like you really hate me, but in times like this, you’ll attack the enemy first.