Chapter 33
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Regenerating Emitters
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“How do we take that thing down? Do we have to destroy its core like we did with the golem?”
Yeon Sung-hun shook his head at Han So-yul’s question.
It might seem similar at a glance, but golems and puppets were entirely different.
Unlike golems—practically indistinguishable from modern robots, powered by a central core—puppets were just that: puppets.
While golems operated from their cores, puppets required an external connection.
A fully autonomous puppet might be another story, but this one clearly wasn’t that type.
“There should be mana threads connected to an external source somewhere.”
“...The mana’s too dense to make it out.”
Choi Yeon-ah and Han So-yul hurriedly scanned the area, but the tomb was little more than a massive mana reservoir to begin with.
And this spot was far denser with mana than anywhere else.
Finding those barely perceptible mana threads was no easy task.
Yeon Sung-hun swept his eyes over the surroundings alongside them.
The most suspicious spot was, predictably, the jade throne.
And sure enough, there was a gem on the throne emitting a strange mana signature.
Is that it?
Just as Yeon Sung-hun let out a sigh of relief at spotting the mana emitter so easily, voices rang in his ears.
“Oppa, isn’t that it?”
“There’s one here too.”
Han So-yul and Choi Yeon-ah’s voices followed one after another.
Whipping his gaze around, Yeon Sung-hun spotted similar gems where the two women were pointing—much like the one on the throne.
“...Not just the one, then.”
Tch—nothing ever went smoothly.
Worse, there could be even more of these devices beyond the three they’d already found.
Yeon Sung-hun furrowed his brow for a moment before speaking calmly.
“So-yul and I will handle the puppet. In the meantime, Yeon-ah-ssi...”
As he continued, Yeon Sung-hun urgently dodged aside.
A single streak of wind shot toward him before he knew it, and he raised his voice while evading it.
“Move now!”
He hadn’t finished explaining, but both women understood perfectly well.
Choi Yeon-ah launched herself forward at once, while Han So-yul circled to Yeon Sung-hun’s opposite side and unleashed a slash of sword energy at the puppet.
The puppet blocked Han So-yul’s attack with mechanical precision, then propelled itself toward Yeon Sung-hun.
Instead of clashing head-on, Yeon Sung-hun hurled an explosion potion and fell back, subtly furrowing his brow.
It’s not going after Yeon-ah-ssi?
He’d assumed it would target Choi Yeon-ah and planned for him and Han So-yul to hold it down together, but the puppet was ignoring her entirely.
As if destroying the emitters wouldn’t matter a bit.
“...External power’s just auxiliary, and it has its own internal source?”
Or maybe the puppet didn’t even know the emitters existed.
But would the ones who built this tomb into a trap really make such a mistake?
I need to account for every possibility.
His mind reeled from the sudden influx of thoughts, but Yeon Sung-hun’s body moved steadily on.
He countered the incoming gusts of wind with tossed potions.
He kept retreating to maintain distance from the closing puppet.
The puppet hounded Yeon Sung-hun more relentlessly than Han So-yul.
It had sized them up and pegged him as the weaker one.
This isn’t good.
Tch—habitually clicking his tongue, Yeon Sung-hun glanced aside.
Choi Yeon-ah had reached the throne and was swinging her sword at the mana emitter.
Bang!
Her full-force strike neatly obliterated it.
Yet the puppet’s movements didn’t change in the slightest.
Of course—at least two emitters remained.
“Hup...!”
Yeon Sung-hun barely evaded the puppet’s sword by a paper-thin margin and pulled back while Han So-yul took over briefly.
He’d avoided a fatal wound by a hair, but the wind cloaking the blade had left a nasty gash anyway.
Grimacing through the pain, he hurriedly downed a potion.
A war of attrition like this won’t end well.
The wound would heal, but the fatigue in his body wouldn’t.
Nothing to do but hope Yeon-ah-ssi hurries.
As Yeon Sung-hun glanced her way without thinking, he could only stare in quiet shock.
Choi Yeon-ah was moments from smashing the third emitter when the ones she’d already destroyed began regenerating.
“...Now I get why it didn’t bother guarding them.”
He didn’t know how many emitters there were in total, but unless they destroyed them all at once, they’d likely keep coming back.
Yeon Sung-hun scanned the interior again.
“One massive ritual array? The whole place is like a giant magic circle.”
Realizing it late, he quietly clicked his tongue.
What had seemed like mere ornate structures now revealed themselves as a precisely arranged apparatus.
The interior was too vast for him to notice sooner.
“Self-repair function, huh?”
Come to think of it, the other structures damaged in the fight had already repaired themselves unnoticed.
He muttered it casually enough, but inside, Yeon Sung-hun was far from calm.
The ritual was viciously designed.
Under normal circumstances, it merely prevented tomb damage, but against intruders, it was downright sadistic.
No matter how much you destroy, it just repairs itself.
The way to break it was simple enough.
Simultaneously destroy every mana emitter along the ritual’s outer edges.
Yeon Sung-hun’s eyes sharpened as he surveyed the interior.
Six emitters total. A hexagram? Typical.
Once he realized the room itself was one giant magic circle, pinpointing the rest was easy.
All he had to do now was destroy them all—but the catch was doing it simultaneously.
Regeneration takes about 30 to 40 seconds?
Could Choi Yeon-ah pull it off in that window?
Yeon Sung-hun shook his head coolly.
If we include So-yul... it’d be tight.
The timing was close, but doable.
Still, could he hold the puppet alone without Han So-yul?
Yeon Sung-hun knew his own limits objectively.
I can manage. Focusing purely on evasion and defense, I could last 40 seconds at least.
Factoring in 40 seconds for regeneration and their mobility, it was possible—barely.
Having made his call, Yeon Sung-hun shouted.
“Six emitters total! Regeneration in about 40 seconds! You have to destroy all six within that window!”
Choi Yeon-ah and Han So-yul, locked in combat with the puppet, nodded gravely at his cry.
It was no easy feat.
With Kim Jun-su and Lee Ha-na, maybe—but they’d been knocked out in the initial clash and hadn’t stirred since.
As their faces hardened at the daunting terms, Yeon Sung-hun spoke again.
“I’ll handle the puppet. You two destroy the emitters.”
Both women’s expressions stiffened at his words.
The puppet was at least A-Rank level.
And in this place, maybe even stronger.
Even Choi Yeon-ah or Han So-yul would struggle against it—let alone fight properly.
For Yeon Sung-hun to take it solo?
They knew it was their only option, but they couldn’t bring themselves to accept it easily.
Yeon Sung-hun yelled at the hesitating pair.
“Get it together! You want to die here?!”
His shout snapped them out of it, steeling their resolve.
Hunters delving into rifts always bet their lives.
No difference for him or them.
What they needed now wasn’t hesitation—it was to move fast and ease his burden.
Confirming their determination, Yeon Sung-hun signaled at once.
No time to dawdle once decided.
He hurled an explosion potion and charged the puppet.
“Go!”
The two women streaked off in opposite directions, crossing paths with him.
“─────.”
The puppet burst through the explosion unscathed and didn’t pursue them.
Just like before, it targeted Yeon Sung-hun without hesitation—the easier prey.
Yeon Sung-hun chuckled and tossed another potion.
“For a puppet, you’re underestimating me way too much.”
Utterly oblivious to the mess it was about to become because of that underestimate.
“Kuh...!”
The puppet pressed Yeon Sung-hun mercilessly.
It looked brute-force at first glance, but accounting for their power gap, it was maximally efficient.
Yeon Sung-hun abandoned counterattacks entirely, focusing solely on evasion.
Body enhancement potions, agility boosters, and sensory awakening potions to heighten every sense.
Combinations that should never mix—but he bore the risks.
No room to worry about later consequences in a life-or-death pinch.
Whish—
Yeon Sung-hun barely dodged the sword itself, but the wind it unleashed was another story.
Blood sprayed with every swing.
Maximizing his senses amplified his pain receptors too.
This agony far exceeded normal bounds, and he gritted his teeth.
At the same time, Lee Ha-na and Han So-yul smashed their respective emitters almost in sync.
Without pause, they dashed to the next.
“Two down.”
“────────.”
The puppet muttered something at Yeon Sung-hun’s gritted whisper.
No time to decipher it, just like before.
Probably threatening punishment for intruders again.
Dismissing it, Yeon Sung-hun dodged and tossed a potion.
Another explosion potion.
At this range, without dialing back the power, even he’d take damage—but he didn’t care.
If he came out scarred, so would it from the close blast.
And between life and wounds, life came first.
Any loss short of death could be healed eventually.
Crash—
As the potion bottle shattered, Yeon Sung-hun popped a recovery potion into his mouth.
Kaboom—
Fierce flames erupted.
Shielding vital spots with his sword and arm, he wrapped himself in mana.
The blast hurled his body back violently.
“Kuhak—!”
Even for Yeon Sung-hun, the pain was nearly unbearable.
Burns and wounds healed fast, but the sheer agony sent him rolling, twitching faintly.
“Ugh...”
Trembling, he forced himself up.
Too early to fall.
The puppet wouldn’t go down unscathed either, but it wouldn’t collapse.
Downing another potion, he fixed his gaze ahead.
Unlike the prepared Yeon Sung-hun, the puppet had no defenses—half its shoulder was gone.
But like before, it was already regenerating.
Staring blankly, Yeon Sung-hun muttered.
“Four down.”
Han So-yul and Choi Yeon-ah had smashed theirs simultaneously again and were sprinting to the last ones.
Not far now.
This fight was theirs.
Creak—did the puppet sense its disadvantage at Yeon Sung-hun’s smirk?
It muttered something.
“──────. ────. ──────.”
Too distant to hear clearly, but he caught fragments.
‘Danger detected. Abandoning tomb preservation to eliminate intruders? Releasing limiter’?
Was it saying that wasn’t even full power?
Yeon Sung-hun recalled the sword’s ferocity and steeled himself amid shock.
Too late—the tide had turned.
Before the last two emitters fell, maybe—but now?
No reversing this...
“...!”
Mid-thought, Yeon Sung-hun jolted.
The puppet’s aura—no, its sword’s—had turned savagely murderous.
As if confirming it had held back to spare the tomb, the wind now was on another level entirely.
A massive storm, shredding everything around it.
If it had started like this, could Yeon Sung-hun have lasted?
He swallowed involuntarily as the fully regenerated puppet lunged.
In that instant, it vanished from his hypersharp senses.
“Kuh...!”
Insane speed—even his maxed senses missed it for a split second.
Suddenly in his face, the puppet swung.
He barely raised his sword, but the backlash sent him flying.
Before he recovered, another merciless storm slash came.
No chance to block properly.
Sacrifice an arm?
Normal wounds were fine, but losing a limb? Even he couldn’t fix that now.
If the cut was clean, maybe—but this wind would shred it messy. Might be a one-armed life until he brewed an elixir.
After a split-second debate, he resolved.
Better a missing arm than death.
Calmly committing to sacrifice it, he thrust out his mana-wrapped arm.
Whoooosh—
The storm-cloaked sword approached slowly.
Beyond it, Choi Yeon-ah bringing her blade down on the final emitters.
Han So-yul’s urgent face as she raced over, her own emitter already done.
His heightened senses captured it all crystal clear.
Gotta ask Yeon-ah-ssi where she got her prosthetic.
With his arm surely gone, he thought flatly.
And then.
“Sung-hun-ssi!”
A shout—and slowed time snapped back to normal.
Whish—
A flying sword suddenly clashed with the puppet’s.
The blade’s trajectory warped wildly.
The storm left scratches, but his extended arm stayed intact.
Stunned by the unexpected aid, Yeon Sung-hun’s eyes widened.
“Ha-na-ssi?”
Glancing over, Lee Ha-na stood staggering in her sword-throwing stance.
Before he could say more, the puppet targeted him again.
“Kuh...”
Caught off-guard, he retreated hastily.
This strike even fiercer, hell-bent on finishing him.
Its bland mannequin face glared as it swung.
Then—abruptly halted.
The raging wind vanished like a lie.
Yeon Sung-hun spoke quietly at the sight.
“...Six down.”
Confirming the puppet’s total shutdown with his dwindling mana, he collapsed on the spot.
At last, the monstrous thing had stopped for good.