The Puppet Master's Test

John Doe's eyelids twitched faintly.

'I knew it was a trap... but it's even worse than I expected.'

The desert had been transformed into an otherworld.

All his stats had plummeted, and even the power of his elemental magic had been severely weakened.

While it was true that his magic had become useless against the unidentified barrier, he couldn't ignore the drop in his overall abilities.

The stat reduction was a massive penalty on its own, but the steadily increasing forces of the Klyphoth were equally terrifying.

They stood roughly seven meters tall, with muscular builds far more menacing than an ogre's, and demonic wings sprouting from their backs.

The Hell Wardens were simply too much for the Black Network to handle.

"Reform the formation," John Doe ordered, his hands moving swiftly.

The surfaces of the four puppets were dyed a deep blue.

Scattering azure particles.

This was a puppetry technique that artificially overclocked the cores—the heart of the puppet weapons.

Crackle!

The aura blades wrapped around their weapons doubled in length.

Thanks to the cores operating far beyond their limits, the combat power of the puppet weapons had tripled.

'I need to clean up the battlefield within three minutes.'

Once the duration ended, the aftereffects of core overclocking would cut all the puppets' stats in half.

Stabilizing an overclocked core would allow them to regain full output quickly, but repairing puppet weapons in the middle of a frantic battlefield was impossible.

Just as the puppet weapons were about to clash with the horde of Hell Wardens—

"Old man, you handle the cleanup."

Yu Jinho appeared.

Between the puppet weapons and the swarm of Hell Wardens.

John Doe hadn't even sensed him move.

It was the space-folding Taoist technique known as Shrink.

"You..."

"I'm an executive director now. I should at least earn my keep, shouldn't I?"

Jinho raised his arm upward.

The four puppet weapons rattled in perfect sync with his motion.

The cause was John Doe's fingers, which were trembling as they controlled the puppets.

'I'm... trembling?'

It was pure instinct.

Thanks to the wisdom accumulated over decades of life, John Doe instinctively realized just how dangerous Jinho was.

His mind simply hadn't caught up yet.

The moment Jinho's hand came down—

John Doe witnessed the true nature of the unease he'd felt moments ago.

The distorted space tore apart.

The Hell Wardens, who had been giving the Black Network players such a hard time, collapsed while spraying fountains of blood.

He blinked at the surreal sight, but the fact remained: the Hell Wardens that even his puppet weapons couldn't easily defeat had been turned into chunks of meat.

"He took down those monsters in a single strike?"

"As expected of the boss. He recruited a real powerhouse in advance."

"Reorganize! Fall back!"

The Black Network players gladly began to retreat.

John Doe quickly composed his bewilderment.

'So now I'm the one being tested.'

The timing of Jinho's intervention had been incredibly precise.

Right before the Black Network began suffering serious losses.

At the same time, it had been the most dangerous moment.

By stepping forward, Jinho had restored balance to the tilting scales of battle.

He had asked the question with his actions.

'Prove the value of the Black Network.'

John Doe let out a soft chuckle.

Ever since becoming the leader of the Black Network, he had always been the one testing others.

It had been a long time since someone had handed him an exam sheet like this.

Clang!

The puppet weapons' movements grew sharper.

They moved toward the Black Network players who were retreating after launching a pincer attack.

They easily parried the assaults from the Fel Beasts and Hell Wardens.

'No need to kill them. Right now, cleanup comes first.'

John Doe's hands moved with dazzling speed.

Having witnessed the new executive director's power firsthand, there was no longer any confusion or hesitation in his actions.

'Heh heh heh. I wonder where Madam found a friend like him.'

Thinking of Madam, who was providing support from the rear, John Doe smiled.

Tsk. I clicked my tongue.

-Heh heh heh. Your blade is wavering.

"Looks like I'm still not ready for real combat."

-Isn't the destructive power quite decent?

"It's not suited for chaotic melee."

Fatigue pressed down on my body.

The latter half of the Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts consumed enormous amounts of internal energy, stamina, and mental strength.

My current realm would be considered the peak of the pinnacle for a martial artist.

Only after reaching the supreme pinnacle could I wield the latter forms freely.

Just using Yellow Dragon Fang had consumed a significant portion of my internal energy.

It was only thanks to the True Yeouiju absorbing mana and converting it into internal energy that I could endure.

At my original level, I wouldn't have been able to use the latter forms multiple times.

"Grr! Grr!"

Dozens of Fel Beasts circled around the village.

With mobility that rivaled a light-body technique, they targeted both the retreating players and me at the same time.

A pincer attack.

Not bad for a beast, but...

Crimson wings burst out with explosive momentum, sweeping through the pack of Fel Beasts.

With a loud crash, the monsters rolled across the otherworldly ground, pushed back by the Dragon's Wings.

The damage wasn't significant.

I had only used it to blunt their momentum, after all.

The real attack was this.

I briefly bound the thousands of thorns formed on the Dragon's Wings.

Then I wrapped them in Dark Fighting Spirit.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

The Thorns Missiles flew with ferocious speed.

The Fel Beasts' tough hides were torn apart by the dark-energy-coated thorns.

Mana Burn

Grade: ★★★

Type: Active

Burns the mana of any opponent it touches.

I had also completely devoured the remaining Fel Beast essence that hadn't been fully absorbed before.

Mana Burn.

It was the skill that made Fel Beasts the natural enemy of magic-type players.

If I devoured a Dark Mimic's essence on top ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of this, I could gain a synergistic skill similar to the Absorption Great Law that Ping Lei had learned—one that would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drain the opponent's magic power.

"Grrrr, not bad for a mere human."

"The enemy's attack range is wide. We'll break through with a single point of focus."

The Hell Wardens saw the Dragon's Wings and charged in formation.

A plan to minimize their exposure area.

Their adaptability was quite impressive, but...

"I just happen to know a lot of techniques."

If they came at me in a straight line, it was actually more convenient for me.

I rotated my straightened arms, amplifying the power of my qi, then thrust my left arm forward.

A lightning-infused energy blast erupted with a brilliant flash.

The stance I took when using Kirin Kill looked ridiculous, but its power was exceptional.

As the Kirin-shaped energy blast charged forward, the Hell Wardens slammed their shields into the ground with a heavy thud.

Dark Fighting Spirit covered the entire face of their shields.

The Kirin let out a ferocious roar as it tore apart both the shields and the Dark Fighting Spirit.

My arms felt numb.

Having used both arms as the spear shaft, the recoil had struck my entire body.

"There's an opening. Kill him."

A newly summoned Hell Warden raised its greatsword high.

I lightly stomped the ground.

I had secretly gathered Seon energy while executing my martial arts.

Using a latter-form technique from the Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts while simultaneously deploying Seon Magic made my head throb, but the effect was undeniable.

The Earth Dragon bit into the Hell Warden that had been aiming for my back.

The number of otherworldly monsters summoned by tearing through distorted space had been cut down by nearly half.

Since they were being constantly reinforced, I couldn't let my guard down for even a moment or they would quickly replenish their numbers. I continued to restrain them steadily with the Dragon's Wings.

"Not bad at all, Easterner."

A clear, resonant voice brushed against my ears.

Rene Davis's right hand.

Nadia Cassel looked down at me with cold eyes.

Those arrogant eyes.

Whether in the past or now, they were equally unpleasant.

Actually, this was perfect.

In my previous life, I'd gone through a lot of trouble to eliminate Nadia Cassel. Now the work had been reduced.

Clap clap!

The sound of applause rang out.

The distorted world began to reassemble itself.

The Void Realm Otherworld Temple didn't merely synchronize with the reverse side of the world like the previous Refined Formation or the Phase Seal Otherworld Temple.

It had the ability to reassemble space according to the user's will.

The village where the hostages were held rose dozens of meters into the air, and a deep moat was dug beneath it.

From the sunken moat, hundreds of tentacles as thick as ancient trees rose up.

The summoning positions of the demons had also been changed.

Above the village, now in full battle formation.

The Hell Wardens lined up behind the moat, raising their shields high.

The sky split in two.

From the gap, a massive eyeball suddenly protruded.

Its diameter was about fifty meters.

A terrifying red pupil gleamed within its yellowish sclera.

The eyeball fixed in the sky stared directly at me.

"Kyaaaak!"

"Ugh, uuurgh..."

"Please... save us..."

The people kidnapped by the Klyphoth screamed in terror.

-How cowardly. Resorting to taking hostages.

"It's not exactly a hostage situation. They're sacrifices to amplify the Refined Formation."

-Then are they all fated to die?

"If we don't destroy the formation within two hours..."

The Harab Serapel Refined Formation didn't rapidly drain life force.

It subtly absorbed vitality from the ley lines flowing beneath the installation site, or from living beings within its range, to increase its power.

This particular formation was infused with the power of the Gaagshebla sect, which specialized in human sacrifice.

That was how they had activated such a powerful formation as the Void Realm.

Even that giant eyeball floating in the sky was proof enough.

"It's a demon imitating Baal. Simply manifesting a fragment of it is already a miraculous feat."

-Baal? Isn't that the unpleasant constellation?

"Yeah. Since the Klyphoth created ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠concepts that don't exist, they borrowed quite a bit from real demons."

The entity worshipped by the Harab Serapel sect was Bael.

It shared the same concept as Baal, but it wasn't a real demon god from Pandemonium. It was an artificial 'god' created by the followers of the reverse side of the world.

A demiurge.

A manufactured god and constellation.

While it lacked the dignity of true constellations revered by countless mortals, it was still a formidable enemy that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't be ignored with just an eyeball.

"Meet your end."

With Nadia's solemn declaration, Bael's Eye scattered an eerie light.

Thump— Thump—

My instincts screamed a warning.