Chapter 180
Chapter 180
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: The Demon King's Puppets
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“…Deathberry?”
Perist’s lips twitched, still unable to grasp the situation.
“What the hell is going on—”
Crash!
Right then, Seren shoved him aside and tumbled to the floor with him.
Splat. Something streaked past the spot where Perist had been standing just moments ago.
‘A bundle of threads?’
The ones she’d seen so far had been silver, but this one was a murky black.
What would happen if it touched her?
She had no desire to experiment.
“Ugh, black threads…”
“…”
Perist let out a voice laced with fear.
“What is that?”
“T-Threads coated in corrosive liquid… They’re so dangerous that they were sealed away so no one could fight with them…”
“…”
If they were coated in corrosive liquid, even blades would struggle to counter them. Sure, skilled swordplay could deflect them a few times, but after that?
Any weapon touching the liquid would rust and degrade rapidly, and without her sword, she’d have no way to deal with those threads.
“If there are black threads, that means there are other kinds too?”
“…”
“Perist!”
Seren spoke to Perist, who flinched in surprise.
“Are there other kinds?!”
“Y-Yes…”
Seren bit her lip.
She felt like she needed to hear more, but did they have the luxury for that right now?
She glanced at Deathberry.
It stood there with one hand still extended, frozen like a statue…
She had no idea what it was thinking.
And she didn’t want to know.
“Why did you save him?”
Caron had approached at some point, asking in a low voice. He was on guard against Deathberry too.
“…I don’t know.”
That was Seren’s reply, but the words Perist had said flashed through her mind at that moment.
- Seren. My first friend.
“…”
Her head throbbed.
Had she been swayed by such a trivial remark? In any case, Seren slapped Perist across the cheek.
Smack!
“Eek!”
“Snap out of it.”
Focus returned slightly to Perist’s eyes.
“You need to get out of here first. Hide somewhere in this mansion, or if you can move, head to Building 12 where the Dean is, or just get away from here somehow.”
“W-Why…?”
“…”
It was a question loaded with many meanings.
Instead of answering, Seren gave one final piece of advice.
“Go quickly. And don’t pull out the sword in your shoulder. You’re at risk of bleeding out.”
“…”
Perist stood up and hurriedly left the spot, his face still pale with fear.
[…]
Even then, Deathberry—the Demon King of the Blood Moon—did not move.
He no longer felt like a mere puppet… but conversely, he didn’t feel like a living being either, more like a withered leaf on the verge of crumbling.
Faced with such an enemy, Seren Goodspring and Caron Woodjack—
To be honest, both were thinking the same thing: they had no answer.
“…That cold storm from earlier, how many more times can you use it?”
“Once.”
“Hmm.”
“What about you? You don’t look like you’re in any shape to fight.”
Caron gave a wry smile.
“I used the Blessing of Explosive Slaughter. It causes explosions inside the body. I use that shock to momentarily boost my speed, but as you can see, my body ends up like this. The pain I can endure, but the shattered bones are the problem. In this state, my movements are inevitably restricted.”
“I see.”
Even in perfect condition, they’d be doomed to defeat, and now both were in such a wretched state that it was a miracle they were still standing.
It was like facing a monster with a paper knife, but neither despaired. They appreciated that about each other.
[…]
Deathberry stood motionless in place.
Was he treating them like fish already hooked? Damn it, there was a limit to looking down on people.
That’s as far as her thoughts went.
“…”
“…”
Then Caron and Seren realized it simultaneously.
‘This is…’
‘A thread?’
When had it happened?
Threads had formed around them like a spiderweb. They were the silver ones she’d seen first.
‘How did we not notice?’
A hollow laugh escaped her at the sense of helplessness.
This made them actual hooked fish. Fish heads who hadn’t even realized they’d swum into the net themselves.
Step.
The Demon King took a step forward.
She could see Deathberry approaching on his own.
She saw it, but neither could budge.
Seren Goodspring thought.
The only one who could turn this situation around was her.
But what would change if she unleashed her cold energy in this state?
If even the cold couldn’t sever the threads…
‘Ah.’
Suddenly, Seren realized her options were far too limited.
Participating in the Bednicker training session and receiving the forgotten god [Frost]’s Blessing had been good up to that point, but she couldn’t fully wield this power yet.
‘I just want to hole up in secluded training for about ten years.’
…If things stayed like this, she’d die anyway.
With the mindset of either die or pass out, she was about to unleash her cold energy.
Boom—the floor erupted. Damn it, were there still more coming?
Even Seren’s half-exhausted eyes swirled with despair for a moment.
But fortunately.
This time, the one who appeared wasn’t an enemy.
“Brother…!”
Seren thought as she saw Caron’s face light up.
So he could make that kind of face, that kind of voice. Maybe she was wearing a similar expression.
“…Did I arrive a bit late?”
Hearing that irritating voice sound so welcome said it all.
Ruan Bednicker emerged from the cloud of dust…
[…]
And a smile spread across Deathberry’s face.
* * *
I scanned the surroundings right after appearing.
To put it bluntly, it wasn’t a good situation.
In this unknown space, it felt far worse than when I’d glimpsed it before.
Evan was slammed into the wall, seemingly unconscious… Caron and Seren, still standing, looked on the verge of collapse.
And the culprit behind all this—the Blood Moon—had a human face embedded in the moon visible through the window…
Deathberry wore the exact same expression.
Which one was the real body?
Probably the moon.
In any case, that unsettling smile gave me chills.
I clicked my tongue at the Demon King grinning with a mouth torn literally to his ears.
“Do you have to smile like that?”
[…]
The moment Deathberry flicked his hand, I saw the threads around Seren and Caron tightening sharply.
If left alone, they’d be diced into cube steaks in seconds.
‘Can’t let that happen.’
I immediately reached out and grabbed the silver threads with my hand. I felt the thin threads digging into my palm’s skin.
Even after channeling qi.
‘…Wish I had calluses.’
Back during my Spirit Mountain days, I could’ve gripped steel wires barehanded without issue.
No matter how deep the qi, it couldn’t fully replace a tempered body. That was the definitive reason inner and outer arts needed harmony.
Swallowing my regret, I ignored the threads burrowing into my skin and yanked them.
Whoosh—
In any case, the threads extended from Deathberry’s body.
As I forcibly pulled, his frail body floated up and was dragged toward me.
I clenched my fist and smashed it forward.
Boom!
My punch slammed into Deathberry’s face.
‘This feels better than expected…’
The sensation was oddly satisfying.
Bits of puppet skin clung to my fist. With his face shattered, Deathberry smashed through the window and flew outside.
It ended so anticlimactically it felt deflating…
“…!”
At that moment, I whipped around in surprise. The usual heckling voice I heard in moments like this was absent.
“Evan?”
“The rat bag over there.”
Seren pointed to Evan embedded in the wall. No major wounds, but unconscious.
Caron asked.
“Did you take it down?”
“Felt good on the fist. But…”
I paused.
Clatter—
The torn-up puppet—probably one Seren, Caron, or Evan had defeated—twisted and rose.
One with a ripped-off arm and stuffing spilling from its gut. The moment it stood, something bizarre happened.
Whirr—
A bloody aura enveloped the puppet’s body, and soon its form began to change.
The plain stuffed doll transformed into Deathberry.
All in less than a second.
Heh.
Deathberry grinned irritatingly again. This time, I unleashed my right hook.
White Sun Eclipse, Second Form.
Fire Wheel.
KABOOM!
Fire Wheel struck Deathberry’s body squarely.
It landed perfectly again. Flames spread from his body, soon engulfing him like dry kindling.
But.
Clatter—
There were at least hundreds of puppets in this room at minimum.
They began rising one by one, naturally transforming into Deathberries.
Clatter, clatter…
I flexed my fingers and started counting the Deathberries.
“…One, two-three, four-five, squid.”
Then I stopped.
Too many to bother counting.
Before I knew it, we were surrounded by Deathberries.
Seren sighed and muttered.
“…I hate enemies like this the most.”
She knew it wasn’t the time, but curiosity got the better of me.
“What kind of enemies are ‘like this’?”
“You know, ones that split and regenerate. It’s just annoying, no sincerity, no thrill… Right now’s a point where I’d get off if there was a stop.”
“I see.”
Seren was starting to lose it, spouting nonsense.
I was about to ask what kind she did like, but there was no time for chit-chat anymore.
The horde of Deathberries charged.
At that moment, I deliberately took three steps forward, leaping right into the heart of the enemy.
Thus, I became the fool who walked into the battlefield’s most dangerous spot…
Of course, that would reduce the burden on the other two as much as it increased mine.
This was right.
The most intact one had to take on the most enemies.
Dozens of Deathberries swarmed.
Relying solely on crude physical attacks, no threads or other powers.
Not hugely threatening, naturally.
Which meant I couldn’t let my guard down.
I concentrated qi into my eyes. I awakened the divine beast’s power too.
Using Flame Eyes and Death Eyes simultaneously—this technique needed a name soon, I thought, as I surveyed the surroundings.
‘…’
Then I realized every Deathberry lunging at me was connected by threads.
‘The one controlling these threads… Huh.’
Following the threads’ origin with my gaze led somewhere ridiculous.
The moon.
Threads descending from the moon attached to the puppets, manipulating them like marionettes.
‘Damn.’
Did I have to smash the actual moon?
Crunch!
In that instant, a Deathberry from my blind spot bit my forearm.
The moment its creepy eyes met mine, this shitty puppet grinned too.
And that wasn’t all.
[Ah—.]
A voice echoed.
Not a physical voice.
It spoke directly to the mind, but too repulsive to call telepathy.
Like a finger invading the ear canal and stirring the brain.
I grimaced openly.
[Sweet, unparalleled, possessor of myriad souls. You’re mine.]
“…”
[But why?]
Deathberry tilted his head.
[Why haven’t you returned?]
“What?”
[I hoped you’d consume it this time—]
I smashed that face with my other hand, cutting off the voice. Simultaneously, I pondered.
What did that mean?
What was ‘myriad souls’?
Doubts piled up, but I decided not to dwell deeply on the Demon King’s vague words for now.
Mechanically reducing the Deathberry count, I mulled over what I could interpret.
‘Why haven’t you returned?’
The first thing that flashed was Spirit Mountain’s Blessing.
Naturally leading to thoughts of regression.
‘The Demon King can perceive my regressions, huh.’
A fact I’d realized from my conversation with Legion Commander Kazita: the nine Demon Kings of the black swamp remembered our encounters.
Even from a past that no longer existed.
Thus, first off: Demon King-level beings could recognize my regressions.
‘Hoped I’d consume it?’
Was he referring to Spirit Mountain’s Blessing?
It didn’t make sense.
If Hadenaihar knew about my regressions, wouldn’t me going back to the past be something he desperately wanted to prevent?
It would make things far more troublesome for him.
‘My regression benefiting Hadenaihar? No way that—’
Right then.
‘…’
I abruptly halted my train of thought.
An absurd idea had suddenly struck me.
Spirit Mountain’s Blessing was a power full of mysteries. Even I, its possessor, couldn’t claim to understand its full nature.
In other words…
A transcendent being like a Demon King might know far more about this power than I did.
‘Hoped I’d consume it.’
In other words, he wanted to deplete it.
If I could use the Blessing unlimited times, there’d be no reason to say that.
Meaning this Blessing had a usage limit.
That realization made everything click into place.
Even the reason the Blood Moon Demon King had toyed with me here in the basement.
Showing me Spirit Mountain and the present alternately like a dog.
A laugh escaped me involuntarily.
‘Hadenaihar, you bastard…’
He’d been trying to consume my regressions.