ALL NOVEL Chapter 246
Chapter 246: Duplicate (5)
“Uwaack!”
“What’s happening?!”
Dudududududu!
Dudududududu!
A powerful earthquake so strong that it was hard to stand on solid ground.
The dwarves couldn’t keep their balance and fell to the floor.
“Th-the ground is splitting!”
They gazed in horror at the ground splitting into several cracks.
What they had expected upon entering the Space Distortion was somewhat different.
Meanwhile, Yoo Ji-han’s party maintained their balance without falling.
“Chirp chirp! Are you all okay?”
“This is no big deal now.”
Chilla and Kim Si-hu were surprisingly calm on the shaking ground.
Min Yu-ri jumped to safety, avoiding the cracking ground beneath her legs.
Their balance, honed through training with the Giant Cat’s whiskers, made them unfazed by such quakes.
“Lee Mi-a! Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Lee Mi-a, who had experienced the Giant Cat’s whiskers in Kim Hyun-tae’s party, was also relaxed.
The Watanabe party, in a similar situation, looked around with raised heads.
“I never thought there would be such a space inside the mine.”
“Watanabe-nim!”
“What?”
“I smell blood over there!”
One of Watanabe’s party members, possessing a keen sense of smell, detected the scent of blood from afar.
Exchanging glances with Yoo Ji-han, Watanabe forcibly picked up a nearby dwarf and headed in the direction where the scent was coming from.
Yoo Ji-han also grabbed a dwarf and followed behind Watanabe.
‘This is…’
Pools of blood and fragments of broken weapons littered the floor.
The signs of a fierce battle extended even here.
Confirming the area was safe, Yoo Ji-han set the kidnapped dwarf down and asked, “From your outfit, you look like a worker from this mine. What are you doing here at this hour?”
“…”
“Answer me?”
“We can’t say anything.”
The three kidnapped dwarves all firmly shut their mouths.
They held an attitude of refusing to share anything.
After silently observing them, Yoo Ji-han said, “Gadan said there would be no one here today.”
“Gadan-nim?”
“Why do you know Gadan-nim?”
At the sound of the work supervisor Gadan’s name, the dwarves flinched.
Gadan held significant influence over the dwarves who worked in this mine.
Then Yoo Ji-han calmly continued, “I’m a friend of Gadan.”
“A friend of Gadan? You’re just a human?”
“I’m not from this place. I’m fundamentally different from the humans of Maz that you hate.”
“…”
“Do you know the name Fran?”
“Fran Fager! Gadan-nim’s deceased son!”
“Fran is not dead.”
A dwarf, well-acquainted with Gadan, also knew of Fran Fager’s existence.
Displaying Fran’s recorded voice to one of the dwarves who had seen Fran since childhood, he looked extremely surprised.
“Th-that’s really Fran’s voice.”
“Now, do you believe me?”
“But…”
Just when the dwarves were hesitating to respond, Lee Mi-a slammed her fist into the ground.
Kwaaaang!!
The ground sunk in where Lee Mi-a’s fist landed.
The impact was so massive that it felt as if another earthquake had struck.
“Hoergh!”
“Hik!”
The dwarves looked at Lee Mi-a with fear in their eyes.
She was a pure powerhouse who could intimidate an opponent with sheer strength.
Pulling her fist from the shattered ground, she brushed her hand lightly.
“There was a bug sitting on the ground.”
“…”
“Just keep going without worrying about me.”
Lee Mi-a scanned the faces of the dwarves with an expressionless gaze.
The dwarf who met her eyes immediately looked down at the ground.
[If you don’t open your mouth when I’m being considerate, I’ll squish you like this bug.]
No one here failed to understand her intent.
In the tense atmosphere among the dwarves, Yoo Ji-han continued the conversation.
“With no magic, how did you enter the Space Distortion?”
The dwarves who had followed them lacked any magical ability.
They were merely part of the working class laborers.
It was suspicious enough that they directly entered the Space Distortion.
“What should we do?”
“Should we just say it?”
“It might be okay since we’re not from here…”
“But…”
As the dwarves exchanged opinions, they soon looked up at Yoo Ji-han.
*
The conversation with the dwarves lasted about 15 minutes.
To sum it up:
[Team 2 and Yoon Do-ha are all here.]
It was clear that the missing heroes were all present within this Space Distortion.
After all, there were eyewitnesses who had seen them captured.
They had no idea how it had been done.
Meanwhile, Watanabe muttered with a serious expression.
“So the dwarves were trying to stage a rebellion against humans.”
Thirty dwarves had entered through the Space Distortion tonight.
In addition to those, over 5,000 dwarves were planning a rebellion against Maz.
It turned out that it was the dwarves, not the rulers of Maz, who were about to initiate war.
As the long-suppressed anger of the dwarves reached its breaking point, the Kallem Expeditionary Force had just reached Maz.
“Chirp chirp. A rebellion? They’re terrifying!”
“No matter how scary, can they outmatch humans?”
“Chirp?”
Kim Si-hu answered Chilla with a wry smile.
It was a well-known tale that many rebellious dwarves had perished in Maz.
The discrimination had been so severe that thinking about revenge was not unreasonable.
Yoo Ji-han’s party had no desire to get deeply involved in their circumstances.
——The wizard Desa said he would help us.
The one assisting the dwarves from behind was the former royal magician of Leron, Desa.
He was also the one who had suggested treatment for Alo’s father in the past.
The lingering question was why Desa would choose to help the dwarves, but…
“I’ll shoot!”
That would soon be revealed.
Fabababababak!
Min Yu-ri’s Magic Arrows decorated the sky.
It wasn’t just one; many arrows were fired simultaneously.
As she infused magic into the bow she was holding, the enhanced magic was transmitted to the arrows.
[Shape Change – Megaton Ball]
Shuuuu!
The user’s magic greedily swallowed and enlarged the arrow size infinitely.
The slender arrows quickly grew into an enormous sphere that far surpassed their original volume.
The direction in which this intimidating magical sphere fell was towards the building, where the Thread of Truth visible from the Space Distortion led.
Kwagagagagagagwang—!!
The magical sphere struck the building perfectly.
The building, hit by the skill, crumbled down like a demolished structure.
“Guh! What the hell?!”
“Is everyone safe?!”
As humans rose from the rubble of the fallen building, Yoo Ji-han sensed a sound and moving objects coming from the front and leaped forward.
Swish!
“Cough!”
Mages in robes collapsed under his sword attack.
They seemed to be accompanying Desa.
“Go down, you small fry!”
“Uwaack!”
“Nuhahaha!”
Screams began to echo from the opposing side, thanks to Watanabe and Yoo Ji-han.
But then—
Kugugugugugugung!
A huge tremor emanated from the debris of the collapsed building, and soon all the remnants soared into the sky.
The previously flat ground suddenly rose high, flinging the debris upwards.
“They’ve come.”
It was Yoon Do-ha, manipulating the ground as if it were his own body, removing obstacles.
There were seven beings with the face of Yoon Do-ha, stretching the Threads of Truth above them.
‘Emotionless puppets.’
Living dolls created by copying the abilities of the real Yoon Do-ha.
They were duplicates forcibly infused with his abilities by bringing in humans with similar physical conditions.
[Earth Quake]
[Earth Quake]
[Earth Quake]
[Earth Quake]
…
…
The seven Yoon Do-has simultaneously unleashed the magic of the earth.
But contrary to everyone’s expectations, there was no shaking.
Pssssss……
In an instant, the previously still ground cracked wide as if a tremendous drought had occurred.
Splitting apart, again splitting, until it shattered into tiny pieces.
The originally large landmass was becoming as small as a grain of sand.
It was akin to a phenomenon of grinding the earth with a blender.
The magical disaster, almost a natural catastrophe, had been stacked seven times over.
“I’m going to sink!”
“Chirp chirp! Save the chinchilla!”
The ground that had become a sandy beach surged like waves.
The bodies of people standing on the ground were being forcibly dragged beneath the swirling sand.
Struggling to escape the swamp only tightened the sand’s grip.
Crunch crackle!
As Lee Mi-a tensed her legs, distinct muscle definition was visible on her thighs.
She was utilizing her incredible strength to escape.
However, that didn’t help her avoid being pulled deeper into the ground.
“This annoying magic!”
“Sylph!”
At that moment, both Watanabe and Yoo Ji-han jumped up to avoid the sand.
—Don’t worry, just step on it!
As Yoo Ji-han stepped onto the sand with one foot, about 600 grains of sand wrapped around the sole of his foot.
The Sylph used the wind to push all the sand grains back to the ground.
A task that required immense calculations every second.
The Sylph, resting on Yoo Ji-han’s shoulder, managed to handle it effortlessly.
—Wooheehee!
Still smiling with plenty of energy remaining under the Sylph’s protection, Yoo Ji-han pulled his party members up, ignoring the sand tightening around his legs.
“Catch!”
“Uwaack!”
Woosh!
Kim Si-hu was pulled up out of the sand.
Just nearly losing his staff, he let out a sigh of relief.
“Chirp chirp! Hop on my back!”
Kim Si-hu climbed onto Chilla, who was under the Sylph’s protection along with Yoo Ji-han.
Following that, Yoo Ji-han rescued Lee Mi-a and Min Yu-ri from the sand.
Pow!
As if not wanting to let them go easily, the sand that had been wriggling on the ground surged into the sky.
“Hang on tight.”
“Wuaah!”
[Wind Jump]
Yoo Ji-han, with Lee Mi-a in his left arm and Min Yu-ri around his right waist, jumped high into the air.
The sand controlled by the fake Yoon Do-ha also rose to chase after him.
“Guh!”
At that moment, Kim Si-hu confirmed that everyone from the party had been rescued.
He scattered the rain of magic around him, moistening the entire sand.
[Ice Field]
Soaked in water, the sand froze instantly upon the use of the ice magic.
Only then did Yoo Ji-han, who had landed back on the ground, focus on the seven fake Yoon Do-has.
Their heads connected with the Threads of Truth could be seen.
“Hurry and go. We’ll handle this.”
“Y-yes?”
“Aren’t you noticing something?”
“……!”
Watanabe pointed to his own eyes with his finger.
During their time together, he had vaguely grasped Yoo Ji-han’s abilities.
“It’ll be tough.”
Even Team 2, with their considerable skills, had been outmatched by the opponents.
Yoo Ji-han was uneasy about leaving his party behind against beings on par with Rank 1 Heroes.
“Those giants are just fakes.”
“……Then I’m counting on you.”
Finally, Yoo Ji-han ran with his party members toward the side opposite where the Threads of Truth connected.
The fake Yoon Do-has attempted to pursue him, but—
Swish!
The Watanabe party, with drawn swords, blocked their approach.
“Guys, get ready!”
“Understood!”
“Nuhahaha!!”
A fight that could never be experienced if this were Earth.
Feeling like he was back in the position of a challenger standing at the pinnacle of Japan.
Watanabe bared his teeth and smiled broadly.
*
Thud!
A prickling shockwave was felt in the air behind Yoo Ji-han’s party as they dashed forward.
The battle between Watanabe’s party and the fake Yoon Do-has had begun.
‘That way.’
It was the section where the truth thread emitted from the five Yoon Do-has converged into one.
Taking advantage of Watanabe’s consideration, Yoo Ji-han sprinted toward their destination.
—Ah! It’s Mumu’s magic!
Close enough to sense the magic of Yoon Do-ha’s spirit, Mumu.
Yoo Ji-han shouted out as he looked at the truth thread leading underground.
“Dig into that ground!”
“Leave it to me! Chirp!”
Chilla confidently raised a large shield and thrust the edge into the earth.
[Shield Spin]
Pang! Pang! Pang! Pang! Pang!
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
The shield stuck in the ground spun rapidly with Chilla and began to scoop up the earth.
Next to the spinning shield, Yoo Ji-han directed from every angle.
Every time a rock or solid object was unearthed, he worked with Kim Si-hu to remove it.
“Hmmmm?!”
He had found the fallen Park Jae-kyung and the heroes from Team 2.
And also, the spirit Mumu, who was protecting them alone.