Chapter 59

Chapter 59

The Bishop of the Downfall Order, who had introduced himself as Jurgen, kept smiling.

His face said he was confident he would definitely get rid of me here.

“You are not afraid. Has reality not sunk in yet?”

“No. With this much, it would be difficult for White Cloud Castle to win.”

There were not many high-ranking Adventurers stationed in White Cloud Castle, and even those few had all been flung outside the Barrier when 「Night of Downfall」 was deployed.

Only those at 4-Star or below remained, and even they were being overwhelmed in numbers because of the monsters that had poured out.

“There are people outside too, right? To stop anyone from breaking in this way.”

“You understand quickly. Will you let yourself be captured quietly? I promise you a painless death.”

“I do not want that.”

This was not a situation I could win.

If I had not prepared anything, that is.

“Are you trying to act recklessly……?”

Jurgen’s voice, which had been continuing, trailed off.

The Mana in the surroundings began to fluctuate, and I felt someone walking this way.

STEP- STEP-

At the slow sound of footsteps, a freezing pressure began weighing down on my body.

Only then did the Bishop’s expression begin to stiffen.

“I am sick and tired of you people suddenly appearing out of nowhere.”

“He” had come here.

“So this time, I prepared too.”

The smile disappeared from the Bishop’s face.

I gave a short greeting to “him,” who had arrived here before I knew it.

“I was waiting for─”

[Insect. Do not further provoke my displeasure.]

What a temper.

“He,” who had taken over Lavina’s body, looked around with a deep frown.

[The stench of trash is piercing my nose. It is so disgusting that bile is about to rise.]

A faint killing intent covered the surroundings.

Bishop Jurgen, the monsters, and the warriors and Adventurers of White Cloud Castle who had been fighting them.

Everyone held their breath and looked this way.

Their faces were all filled with tension.

Because the pressure emitted by the being possessing Lavina’s body was truly murderous.

[Tsk…… 「Night of Downfall」. They have done something troublesome.]

The request I had made to Lavina was to help me protect White Cloud Castle.

In other words, because the people’s safety had to be secured, the Barrier had to be undone first.

[I will remove only that.]

“I would be grateful if you dealt with the monsters too.”

[Why should I? Once the Barrier is removed, they can each save themselves, whether by leaving the city or digging into the ground and hiding.]

So he would not help that far after all.

It seemed he intended to consider their safety secured once an escape route was created by removing the Barrier.

The Bishop’s expression turned strange as he listened.

“Could Your Excellency possibly be─”

[Shut up.]

CRUUUUSH!

In that instant, an immense pressure began crushing the surroundings.

In “his” eyes as he looked at the Bishop, there was a truly nauseated light.

More than anything else, his reaction showed that he found it deeply unpleasant that the Downfall Order had called him.

[How dare filth worse than insects speak to me?]

“He” flew forward and seized Bishop Jurgen’s face.

It was truly like lightning.

It was so fast I could not even follow the movement with my eyes.

[I will kill you a thousand times.]

“W-Wait…….”

“He” did not listen any further and shot up into the sky while clutching the Bishop’s head.

The two of them broke through the Barrier just like that and disappeared.

Was that thing really something that could be pierced so easily……?

‘Aura sure is convenient.’

Thinking that I absolutely had to learn it later, I looked to the side.

Persica was looking up with a strange expression at “him,” who had just disappeared…… no, at Lavina, who had been possessed by “him.”

“It is about time we moved too.”

“Understood. Be careful.”

Persica left her position.

Currently, Jin Sohwi was gathering forces and facing the monsters, so Persica would gather the residents and evacuate them.

“Then my opponent is you.”

I aimed my sword at the Puppet before my eyes.

The Bishop had disappeared, but the order he had given had not.

It quietly looked at me, then clenched its fist and charged.

***

“Do not panic!”

“Adventurers, come this way! We have to join forces and drive them back!”

Jin Sohwi led the warriors and Adventurers against the swarm of monsters.

The monsters had far greater numbers, but most of them were lower entities, so as long as they coordinated properly, they could deal with them.

“Residents, this way!”

Meanwhile, Persica evacuated the residents of White Cloud Castle who could not fight to the Jin Clan’s residence.

Among them were nobles who had been visiting White Cloud Castle.

“We will not forget the grace of House Ortanis!”

“Thank you, Young Lady!”

“Do not speak. Just hurry and follow me!”

People, regardless of status, were moved by Persica, who took the initiative and stepped forward.

However, Persica herself bit her lip hard and swallowed her frustration.

If it had been Hildegard.

If it had been her mother, she would have faced that Puppet in Isran’s place.

Because she was that strong.

But Persica was not as strong as her.

She had said she would follow in her mother’s footsteps, but the vast difference in realm between them could not be filled.

‘Was I…… always this powerless?’

Jin Sohwi was the grandson of the Lord of White Cloud Castle.

He was used to leading people, and that was why he was most suited to taking on the role of stopping the Downfall Order.

Isran was strong.

He also possessed the strategy to predict the Bishop’s arrival and lay down insurance, and now, using his innate martial power, he was facing that unknown woman.

But Persica.

She could do none of those things.

‘Was I always this weak……?’

When she was in the house, there had been nothing to fear.

She had thought that once she finished the Selection Grounds, she could immediately gather companions and head downward.

But,

after meeting Ishara, and after meeting Isran,

she learned how much of a frog in a well she had been.

She had neither the martial power to proudly face an enemy, nor the leadership to gather and guide people.

She had thought she was humble and calm before skill.

But she was more full of flaws than she had thought.

“Ugh…….”

It was frustrating. So frustrating that she felt she might die.

She wanted to help Isran right away and seize the role of the main actor.

But Persica did not do that.

Because none other than she herself thought this was right.

─What does Persica Ortanis want to do?

The words Isran had spoken circled in her ears.

She clenched her teeth.

She gripped her sword tightly.

It was frustrating, painfully frustrating, but this was her role.

Now was the time to do not what she wanted to do, but what was right.

If she was Persica and not Hildegard…… that would be correct.

“……I have to become stronger.”

She wiped her stinging eyes and steeled her resolve.

***

The “Puppet” had no exact name.

Its function was a replica of a human.

It could learn Skills or be designated as a target in place of a human, and it could also be brought around like a Party Member.

Perhaps it could be called something like a kind of clone.

And the Puppet before my eyes was one into which the Downfall Order had implanted Skills.

‘They built it ridiculously well.’

The fist strike the Puppet unleashed was bounced off by Parrying and slammed into the wall of a building.

The wall struck directly by it vanished into ash as though burned, along with a bright yellow flash.

That light was the Skill called 「Lābes」.

It was a Divinity-Type Curse Skill, and its effect was “Matter Disintegration,” which burned and disintegrated whatever it touched.

Since it shaved away durability or Health by percentage, it had almost no weaknesses except for its range.

‘And what covers that weakness is the Martial Technique that thing is using.’

「Divine Strike Fist」.

As a Skill of the same Divinity-Type, it was a martial combat Skill with a style of closing distance and rushing forward quickly.

Its weakness was that its Attack Power was low in exchange for its high speed.

And if these two were learned together, their weaknesses canceled each other out.

The range of 「Lābes」 was covered by the mobility of 「Divine Strike Fist」, and conversely, the lacking Attack Power of 「Divine Strike Fist」 was compensated for by the effect of 「Lābes」.

‘On top of that, both of those are obtained through Synthesis.’

Those were Synthesis Skills that came from combining two or more Rare Skills.

In other words, they did not drop.

It was already surprising that they had obtained them, but how had they filled the Proficiency too? A Puppet’s Proficiency should rise incredibly slowly.

Whatever else might be true, I could tell that the Downfall Order had put considerable effort into this Puppet.

‘Besides, Puppets do not get tired.’

Unless its weak point, the power source, was destroyed, it had no limit to its Health.

Even its stored Mana Quantity was at a considerable level.

Although it seemed to have only those two Skills, just from those alone, it was Late Stage 4-Star…… perhaps even bordering on 5-Star.

BANG!

I raised my sword and blocked the attack that had suddenly thrust in.

Its build was similar to Persica’s, yet its strength was so immense that my body was pushed back.

However, the one who tilted its head at the current attack was actually the Puppet.

I grinned while looking at it.

“Does something seem strange?”

“…….”

“It is because my sword is fine, right?”

「Lābes」 shaved away Health and durability by percentage, and unless one raised attribute resistance, it could not be blocked.

Naturally, I should not have such a thing, so it must have seemed strange that my sword was unharmed.

There had even been a few times when I blocked without using Parrying.

“Ishara is invincible.”

A Starting Weapon was an indestructible object with no durability.

It was a sword that would remain fine even if a meteor fell on it, so even if that sort of Skill struck it for a hundred days and nights, it would not gain even a hairline crack.

The Puppet charged again and thrust out its fist.

In response, I raised Mysticism and initiated Parrying.

[Secret Art: Ethrana]

[Chapter One – Fate]

KAGANG!

As fist and sword collided, violet flashes burst out one after another.

The sword, tracing arcs as though dancing, intertwined with the Puppet’s martial combat and gorgeously embroidered the air.

Certainly, the Puppet was faster. It also attacked more frequently.

However, the exchange that followed was locked in a tense stalemate, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Every time the light of Parrying flashed, my sword occupied space, and each time it did, the Puppet’s range of movement narrowed.

I blocked one space and opened another.

I guided its actions and countered at the moment I wanted.

KAKAGANG! KAGANG! KWAAANG!

Before I knew it, I was clashing evenly with the Puppet.

Its base specs were higher, but in terms of the realm of swordsmanship, I was far above it.

‘If I had fully mastered my Cultivation Method, I might have already won.’

Myriad Currents Bond Cultivation had only been developed, and had not yet been fully integrated with my swordsmanship.

Because there was a need to unfold each technique one by one and adjust it.

Originally, I had planned to rest for just one day and start right away, but the Downfall Order invaded as soon as I completed the Cultivation Method, so there had been no time for that.

If I had only had one more week, I might have been able to greet them with my techniques completed. That was unfortunate.

BANG!

The Puppet was pushed back in a slide.

The arm that had blocked the 10-Stack 「Counterattack」 was trembling faintly.

Not only that, but I could see the joints throughout its body creaking.

“As long as you are a Puppet, you cannot beat me at your current level.”

“…….”

Although a Puppet had unlimited Health, it could not perform anything beyond its entered commands.

Since it could not use petty tricks or lay traps, the effort I had to spend considering other possible moves was reduced.

It was actually fortunate that “he” had taken the Bishop away instead of the Puppet.

If it had been the Bishop, I would not know what schemes he was hiding, so I would have had to fight while maintaining as much tension as possible.

But the Puppet had none of that, so from that point onward, my victory was─

“Body damage rate at 30% confirmed. In accordance with the command, use of the ‘Fragment’ will be unlocked.”

“What?”

The Puppet stretched out its hand.

Then a flash burst from its hand─

“You have got to be kidding me─”

A single beam of light shot out.

***

At that time.

Outside the Barrier.

“The sound of fighting beside us is noisy. Are you that worried about the children inside?”

Zenom spoke to Jin Baek.

“I am not worried about those children.”

Jin Baek answered calmly.

He always spoke harshly to Jin Sohwi, but at the very least, he trusted the boy’s skills.

There was nothing to criticize about Persica’s skills, and Isran was rather astonishing.

“If it is those children, they will overcome it.”

“Hehe, is that so? Perhaps they will…….”

“Hm?”

But Zenom unexpectedly agreed easily.

He looked inside the Barrier, at the Puppet clashing with the Great Master.

“If the Puppet I brought had merely been a Puppet, that is…….”

“What are you talking about?”

Jin Baek realized that something was unusual.

He had a premonition that something ominous had been brought inside.

“Do you know about the ‘Authority of Awakening’?”

“I asked what nonsense you were talking about!”

“Kihihi…….”

The Fragment of the Golden Rule.

Among them, the Authority of Awakening was a power that awakened a “possibility” that originally should not exist.

What would happen if that was applied to a Puppet, and to the Skills granted to it?

“I am curious, so curious……!”

He pressed his face against the wall of the Barrier.

The viewing continued.

***

“……This is a bit.”

Is this not too much?

I turned my head and looked at the trace of the strike I had barely dodged, almost in horror.

The buildings behind me…… had collapsed as though they had been sliced apart by something.

HISSSS─

The Puppet’s hand was emitting scorching heat and steam.

What had happened was obvious.

Just now, that thing had fired the Matter Disintegration ability of 「Lābes」 like a beam.

[What is that? I have never heard of such a technique existing.]

“…….”

Even if he asked, I did not know either.

That Skill did not have a Ranged Attack function.

How had it used a function that did not even exist?

I realized that the cause of the anomaly was the Puppet’s power source.

“That is…….”

From the chest area where the Puppet’s heart would be, a clear blue light was leaking out.

That energy was something I had felt before.

“A Fragment?”

A Fragment of the Golden Rule had been embedded in the Puppet.

CLACK, CLACK-

And Ishara began to react.