Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Puppeteer Battle and Tower Invasion
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"That guy's incredible!! Was it 【Puppeteer】?"
Even though she was the lowest climber participating in the league with Royalty rank.
She was climbing up while displaying astonishing talent.
She even tied up the rampaging Predator with threads and neutralized him, securing a victory by suppression judgment.
Not satisfied with that, she faced the Fist King in close combat without ever yielding an inch, ultimately wrapping him up tight in threads and sealing him—proof of her ample skill.
She summoned countless puppets at once and remotely controlled them to fight.
Whether she made the puppets herself or not, the summoned mannequins all had a crude feel to them.
"Ahh~ It'd be great if she could use those to make [VTuber] characters."
Adelheid, as an 【Artist】 herself, rated it a Legendary class that synergized well with her.
Making [VTuber] characters exactly as they appeared and having the puppeteer manipulate them for concerts or fan events?
The potential applications of the ability were endless with just a little imagination.
On the flip side, if asked how useful it was for climbing, the way she freely pulled out thin threads made her look just like a spider.
She even had an overwhelming advantage against "physical classes."
The closer they got, the more they got entangled in threads, their movements gradually slowing until they were fully wrapped and sealed.
That would be fine, but she even had a skill to control opponents ensnared in her threads.
In the Fist King's case, he nearly lost by pulling the puppeteer toward him instead, but as a climber, he used the puppets as shields and responded well enough.
"I'm scared..."
Cheong Hieu muttered as he watched.
Wakamo was freely employing the [boxing] she had observed and learned from him.
She didn't slip, but she used footwork unseen in taekwondo, dashing across the field like it was a ring.
"Yeah..."
Wonda Hye agreed.
In her fight with Wakamo, she had finally reached the realm of wielding [skills] without using [skills].
Using the liquefaction of [Idol's Body], she turned her arms into liquid and hardened them into metal, showcasing various tactics.
Imagine fighting an opponent who not only mimicked your techniques bit by bit but advanced into new realms.
Even monsters judged there was no chance of victory and chose suicide rather than conceding more—how much worse for climbers?
Martial arts climbers had their foundations stripped away, and those with special abilities had their methods stolen.
"Go!! My killer dolls!!"
At the start of battle, the puppeteer deployed dozens of puppets at once.
The puppets, equipped with weapons from all sorts of classes, seemed capable of using [skills] too.
Even the sight of a cleric-like puppet buffing the others drew applause and admiration from the American Association President.
—That was because it was an American-originated Legendary class.
The [Professor], who had been leisurely spectating, recognized the smart kid who had asked him questions last time and his eyes sparkled.
"She's got grad student talent!!"
"Gaaahhh.....!"
"Debuffing from the spectator seats is cheating!!"
At the Professor's words, the puppeteer clutched her head and cried out in pain.
Wakamo, who had flanked and closed in, decided that was no good, lifted her up, hugged her, and soothed her.
The puppeteer, buried in Wakamo's chest, flailed in surprise at the head-patting hand.
"G-Get off me!!"
Threads extended from the handle in her hand, reconnecting to the halted puppets, making them move again.
The puppets charged at Wakamo, joints creaking with metallic clanks.
At the moment an incoming attack sliced off her head, only her head dispersed into mana mist and evaded—Wakamo's doing.
Being able to turn liquid meant not just hardening into metal, but vaporization too.
Of course, it was essentially abandoning parts of her body, so there was the demerit of losing mana accordingly—but it wasn't a big issue for Wakamo.
"Uh, uhh...."
Wakamo scattered like mist under the onslaught from the puppets surrounding and piling on her.
She had done it before, but she could even switch her main body to the dispersed particles.
So, what if Wakamo Inarizushi deliberately vaporized her own body? How did it reconstruct?
Wakamo released the suppression on [Idol's Body], which was trying to revert to original form, and her body reformed in an unexpected place.
Did it regenerate where the mana floating in the air was most concentrated?
"K-Kill her!!"
Spotting Wakamo emerging far away, the puppeteer sent her puppets charging.
A spear-wielding puppet thrust at Wakamo.
It didn't forget to raise the spear into position and activate a [skill] before dashing.
Wakamo silently observed the charge of the puppet with a horse's lower body.
Without the puppeteer's control, puppets just froze in place.
Throughout the match, Wakamo had felt that the stopped puppets resembled something.
In that state, the [Puppeteer] supplied mana to move them according to her "will."
The reason the puppeteer's threads were deadly was that non-magic classes couldn't see pure [mana] without using [magic].
They could see incoming [skills] or [magic], but not the mana absorption used to cast them.
But Wakamo could see it—probably the wizard classes watching the tournament could too, right?
The thin threads extending from the puppeteer's hands.
They never tangled or knotted with each other.
With no limit to their length and endless supply, they could be used diversely for offense and defense.
Moreover, the puppets' materials boosted their stats, so in this era where climbers had easy access to survival gear, a [Puppeteer's] growth was bound to be rapid.
No need to go far—just in the Russian Tower, there were probably dozens of places making puppets.
It was even possible to supply mana through threads to make puppets move automatically.
"Excellent, show me more!!"
The puppeteer unleashed ever-changing movements with every finger twitch, attacking with inhuman joint articulation.
The puppets used class-based skills, but only 1-2 per type, making their patterns obvious.
Their attack methods had few patterns, but that made them tricky instead.
While the shield-bearing tank blocked Wakamo's movements, archers and shooters attacked from range.
From the absence of mages, Wakamo deduced the mana consumption came from the puppets themselves.
The more skills they used, the less mana she sensed from the puppets.
'Not bad at all.'
She implanted commands into the puppets for remote control in battle.
Meanwhile, she directly controlled her strongest main puppet, attacking whenever openings appeared.
"As expected—[Flesh Freak] is fun."
"How...!?"
"You're growing fast for a newbie climber. The [Mediator]'s help, right? Clean class training. Pro work."
Five minutes into the clash, her eyes trembled as everything was seen through.
Clearly the same climber, yet something more... an inexpressible terror.
Like something wearing a human-speaking skin?
Even that monster had no chance against [Man-Eater], making her break into cold sweat at the climbers' world's absurdity.
But—that's why she liked it.
Far from fearing a strong opponent, the puppeteer's hands danced brilliantly, revealing fighting spirit, competitive fire, and greedy ambition to win.
Non-humanoid monster-shaped puppets began emerging.
She even entered a massive Minotaur puppet's body for protection and went wild.
"Then shall I fight the same way?"
No matter how many puppets swarmed, it was ultimately four fighters.
Ignoring the tank that couldn't be pushed back, Wakamo lightly handled the close-range puppets, using the tank as a shield for occasional ranged attacks, then activated [Idol's Body].
Out popped Mei Shaolongbao from a separated space.
And further away, Gang Yeoul stood with arms crossed, smiling.
"You said you couldn't use skills?!"
"That's just a clone!! It's Wakamo-nim's own talent, unrelated to [skills]!"
"As expected of a true idol!!"
Completely misunderstood, but Wakamo didn't bother correcting her.
Unable to change camera view with [Camera Manipulation], she used Gang Yeoul as a camera to shift perspective.
And from Wakamo's fingertips extended a thick mana thread.
"No way...?"
Wakamo had already put considerable distance from the panicking puppeteer.
"Is that the thread our daughter mentioned?"
"Huh? Daddy can see it too?"
A mana strand so thick and long it was visible to the naked eye connected Wakamo's hand to Mei.
Formed so densely even those who couldn't see mana could spot it.
Wakamo fully slumped into place, moving her hands like gripping a game controller.
Crack—!!
Mei Shaolongbao's red eyes lost focus, her expression blank as a puppet, and charged.
"Block—!"
"Hyaah!!!"
Mei casually slashed with a handblade, decapitating three puppets.
Flexing her waist back fluidly, she kicked the tank away, shattering their formation.
"Hyaah!!"
Without pause, a low handblade sweep wrecked the puppets' ankle joints.
No matter the material, joints were always the weak point!!
The puppeteer fired threads to steal control of Mei's movements.
The instant they connected, Wakamo's mana backflowed through them, making the puppeteer vomit blood and tumble out of the Minotaur, writhing on the ground.
"Gaaah...!!"
"That's [Mana Backlash], right..? Backflow during casting?"
"No, Professor. Looks like she tried seizing control."
"Reckless...!"
Even those who knew Wakamo well struggled to grasp it intuitively.
Unfortunately, the puppeteer wasn't the type who could see mana.
Even American Association President [Akasha Wizard] Timothy shuddered at the mana pillar pouring from Wakamo.
Any sane wizard wouldn't pick a fight with mana against her.
"That's capoeira technique Mei Arua Que Gongasu..!"
A heel kick from a split-legged spin, hand on ground!
The immense rotation matched a master swordsman's horizontal slash!
Even the holy swordsman couldn't help but gasp in admiration.
Lightning surged across Mei's body.
She gripped a long staff she'd raised, assuming stance.
Swinging it shattered puppets spectacularly, but the lightning gathering on it turning into fierce flames drew gasps from the crowd.
"【Super Flame Whirlwind Staff】!!"
Flames swirled in circles along the spinning staff.
She swung it full force, sending a blazing wheel of fire at the puppeteer, who desperately used puppets as shields—but they collapsed in the explosion.
Tap tap—
Wakamo continued controlling like a game.
With command inputs, Mei unleashed every [skill] implementable in a fighting game.
Essentially inputting will, wrong commands didn't matter. She moved as Wakamo desired!
Mei Shaolongbao massacred unilaterally in a one-sided rampage.
"Urgh... Puppeteer!! You can't hold out until Mei resorts to despicable, vile evil faction martial arts?!"
"Ah, can't reach phase 2."
"Fighting with righteous faction arts so sneakily(?)"
Weird fan protests aside, the clean victory left Mei flashing a V-sign smile.
"Next up: Holy Swordsman Alexander Doherty vs. Japan's wizard!! Oyama Sadako's match!!!"
"Damn, already hyped!!"
"Our Britain's Knight King wins, obviously?"
"Isn't it Pirate King?"
"Hey, Sadako's Navy."
"Wha...?"
"Awesome—!! Let's win this!!"
Sadako headed to the arena, loosening shoulders with a joyful expression.
Wakamo returned to the spectator seats.
With some spare time, she fired up NyuTube for VTuber streams.
But the members' streams, which should have been live, weren't visible to her.
Asuka's desperate rescue messages and Inari Fox God's external contacts didn't reach her either.
The top climbers gathered in the arena were completely isolated, unbeknownst to themselves.
※※※
"Shoot the angel!!"
"Don't shoot!!"
The saint, driving the overtaken truck, shouted desperately.
"No time to explain!! Use the skill that opens that space!!"
"Why should I trust you!!"
"We'll use Korea's authentication method."
The driving saint raised one hand.
Folding index, middle, and ring fingers, she pressed thumb to her protruding tongue and pinky to her forehead between the brows.
Asuka's eyes bulged at the unmistakably Korean gesture even Ichigo wouldn't miss.
"Mchang."
"If I'm lying now, may my mom be called a whore"—a bombshell oath!
"She's legit, Ichigo!!"
"Wow, fuck. Tempting. Open the portal first!!"
Asuka opened a portal ahead, and the saint boldly leaped in.
Robert followed suit.
As the flying angel entered last, everyone tumbled onto vast plains.
The truck door opened, and the Oracle stepped out.
"Seriously, Man-Eaters exist to kill human climbers—why are they even strong against idols? Can't wrap my head around it."
Surprisingly, as an [Idol], Wakamo was treated as another race, so her stats wouldn't drop even with them.
Simply put, the American Man-Eater was monstrously strong, so Wakamo would lose in a head-on fight.
The current Man-Eater? Wakamo could win easily without pushing herself.
—A peculiar class shrouded in secrets and unknown origins.
Even the 【Mediator】 knew of its existence but had no details to share.
A class like an executioner, solely killing climbers for humanity and the tower—now emerging for the first time.
As a monster!! And it didn't vanish even if the tower collapsed!!
"Huff.. huff... Anyway!! To avoid misunderstandings, I'll say it upfront!! —I did it because there was no time."
"I was confused too, but I get it after the explanation."
"Shut up, Morpheus. I'll bullet your forehead★"
Oracle shut up at Pippkin Mami's sweetly threatening words, having no retort since his mind control was real.
Panting, the saint cautiously asked Ichigo if her [Path Guidance] hadn't been perfect.
She had guided them to avoid [Executioners] as much as possible while blocking the [Holy Knight Order] herself.
"....It's related to me being the 7th generation. Hajime Ichigo—I told you my skill uses [Lifespan], right?"
".....Yeah."
"Climbing the tower restores lifespan. Using lifespan lets me use nearly all skills. Some consume lives. The six saints above me, unable to climb, chose 'noble sacrifice' for the greater good."
"Noble sacrifice?"
"That's just the Pope's term. Saints all have true faith and pure devotion to God.... I did too."
Panting nonstop, she seemed chased, anxious.
"Basically, we're beyond suspicion. In my case, I realized something off at the Legendary Festival. The Pope said idols mustn't be acknowledged, but she was human to anyone."
Thus, she claimed the Pope's transfer to 【Idol】 was divine punishment.
"Church records in the catacombs detail history repelling [Idols]. That history reacted to the [Idol] in the Vatican now, awakening dormant underground ones and reactivating the halted tower."
"Planning to kill the Pope with that?"
"Not me. I had no intent to dirty your hands."
As said, she meant to protect them by expending [Lifespan].
But once broadcasts started, the Pope would know, so time was short—she twisted their minds to believe.
"...Why not use it on me?"
"Haha—it's not just one or two.... Also, my identical face is a skill effect. For gaining faith.... Strangers see the same face as the same person, right?"
"Ah..."
"By the way, this is a skill judgment too—costs lifespan."
She casually claimed even breathing shortened her life.
Asuka pitied her, knowing someone similar.
"The Pope... isn't a climber. No idea why she became 【Idol】 now."
The process of creating 【Companions】 was Vatican-related, understandable.
But the manager not being a climber was odd, the saint insisted.
"Doing inhumane underground experiments too. Doesn't the [Mediator] know? Like Russia's tower?"
"—I said the tower is the path to God.... I'm more anxious because past saints' records mention the Pope conversing with God often."
Ichigo started feeling uneasy too, something wrong brewing.
Then faint vibrations began.
"Harsh to say, but!!"
Robert spoke up.
"Towers have egos! Each has apostles! If there were towers in the past!!"
Vibrations intensified.
This was Wakamo Inarizushi's personal space.
Why was the lingering domain shaking even after skill cancellation?
"Towers can't turn aberrant??"
[The tower emerges!]
No sooner said, a massive spire intruded into [My Worlds].
Like Gang Taegong's crossing, the tower moved itself before them.
The group froze in speechless horror.
[The Italian Tower invades [Wakamo Tower]!!]
Why?
Why now, after staying dormant?
But more eye-catchingly, where Wakamo's house had been.
"What... the"
The tower burst from the ground, smashing the house—it collapsed, crushed and swallowed by the expanding spire.
Wakamo's lifelong collection of merch, clips, cherished figures, computer.
All the journey data with Asuka, Pilot, Ichigo, Wakamo Corporation goods—everything swallowed.
[Korean Tower urgently notifies allied towers of invasion!]
[(No reply)]
[Korean Tower screams that Italian Tower destroyed Wakamo's merch collection!]
[Chinese Tower rushes over urgently.]
[Japanese Tower faints!]
[Russian Tower trembles in fear!!]
"......This makes the Pope's life or death irrelevant now, right?"
The angel cautiously said in a quivering voice, gauging reactions.
Asuka, who let them in regardless of Pope drama, silently drew her dagger.
"I'll commit seppuku...!!"
"Don't escape death, you fool!!"
Pippkin Mami read Asuka's mind and clubbed her down.
The Italian Tower loomed menacingly, oblivious!!