ALL NOVEL Chapter 247
Chapter 247. Replica (6)
“Mumu!”
The ground spirit Mumu, resembling a small mole.
Yoo Ji-han hastily slid underground and approached the fallen Park Jae-kyung.
First, he checked if she was breathing properly and then assessed the condition of the unconscious members.
“Everyone’s alive.”
Yoo Ji-han let out a sigh of relief.
They all had various wounds, but none were fatal.
Their lives were not immediately at stake.
‘Yoon Do-ha’s puppet must have drawn on Mumu’s power.’
Five threads of truth descended from the sky, all connected to Mumu.
The source of the power possessed by Yoon Do-ha originally derived from spirits.
Therefore, the puppets created through Yoon Do-ha would also start from Mumu.
However, there was an immediate problem.
The most important person was not here.
“Where’s Yoon Do-ha?”
“Do-ha. He’s not here.”
“Where did he go? And why are you alone?”
“Do-ha sent me. To protect the people.”
Mumu had separated from the group to guard Team 2 under Yoon Do-ha’s orders.
Mumu’s shoulders drooped as he explained the situation.
“Where is Yoon Do-ha right now?”
A contracted spirit must know the contractor’s location.
Until the contract was completely nullified, most information, from his survival to his whereabouts, would be shared.
“I don’t know. I also don’t know.”
But Mumu had lost track of the contractor’s location.
Seeing the confusion in Mumu’s behavior, the Sylph spoke.
—Is there a problem with the contract?
“……”
Mumu nodded silently.
“Chilla. Are you okay?”
“I feel a bit dizzy. Squeak!”
Chilla, who had exerted all his strength to dig, stumbled.
Min Yu-ri supported Chilla from the side.
“Everyone, just a moment.”
“……?”
At that moment, Lee Mi-a, investigating the unconscious Team 2, called everyone.
With a stern face, she pointed at Park Jae-kyung.
“Look at this.”
Park Jae-kyung’s arm had turned pitch black.
Only the part that Lee Mi-a was holding had changed color.
Seeing that, Kim Si-hu sighed, while Min Yu-ri covered her mouth with her hand.
“Huh, Magic Discoloration Syndrome?”
“How could this happen to them…!”
Heroes usually come into contact with magic from a young age, big or small.
They are the most familiar with magic in the world.
Especially those who participated in the Kallem Expedition had magic that exceeded the average of heroes.
It was unbelievable that such individuals had contracted Magic Discoloration Syndrome.
“There’s no magic in their bodies.”
As if all the water in a bucket had been emptied.
There wasn’t a handful of magic energy within the heroes of Team 2.
Considering the time they had been unconscious, natural recovery wasn’t to be expected either.
“Someone is clearly spreading this illness on purpose!”
Kim Si-hu realized that the assumption he had contemplated in his mind was confirmed.
It was someone spreading the incurable Magic Discoloration Syndrome.
The most likely suspect was the puppet-master mage Desa.
“It seems to be a condition for making puppets.”
Yoo Ji-han had watched as something was being performed through the memories of the party being controlled by Desa.
When making living puppets, he used the bodies of humans.
To handle humans like puppets, one had to be inflicted with that incurable disease.
“First, we need to get out of here.”
“I’ll help.”
Thud thud thud!
The unconscious bodies of Team 2 were lifted onto the flat soil that had risen from the ground.
Mumu was able to freely move them according to his will.
Putting aside confused thoughts, he focused on the immediate situation.
Just as they were about to escape underground,
—Ji-han! Up above!
A shout from the Sylph alerted him to the danger.
Yoo Ji-han instinctively looked up at the sky.
A large sphere of flame was targeting the ground they had excavated.
“Squeak!”
As soon as he spotted the offensive magic,
Chilla jumped up and raised his shield.
Boom!!
The attack magic exploded violently as it hit the shield.
At the same moment, flames swept across Chilla’s body.
However, the flame-resistant armor protected Chilla from the fiery magic.
“Come out, you hidden fools! Squeak!”
Chilla, landing on the ground from the rebound, quickly readied himself.
His bright eyes were fixed on the direction from which the attack had come.
Step by step.
The assailants slowly revealed themselves.
They grimaced at the sight of Chilla, who seemed unharmed.
“You blocked that.”
“You should be ashamed. Can’t even get through a single hamster?”
“Shut up!”
Except for the one who had used magic, they conversed with playful banter.
Then, they turned to see Yoo Ji-han emerging above ground.
“I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
“Same here.”
“What were you doing in Kabuum? Yoo Ji-han, your name reached here.”
They were heroes from Earth who had deserted the Kallem Expedition during the camp.
Yoo Ji-han pointed his weapon at those who had only recently shown him courtesy.
“Why did you betray us?”
The reason humans born on Earth conspired in Kallem, a place with no connection to them, remained a mystery to Yoo Ji-han.
He knew they were criminals who had committed heinous acts through Yang Ji-cheol.
However, the fact that they had openly tried to disrupt the expedition was shocking.
“Want to know? Should I tell you?”
The deserters glanced at each other and chuckled.
“To prevent you from returning to Earth.”
“So that no Earthlings come back to Kallem anymore.”
If Earth’s heroes were unable to return home and died in Kallem, resentment towards the other world would increase significantly.
For the criminals who had made it to another world, it was an opportunity to sever the connection to Earth.
Moreover, to eliminate any possible pursuers, the deserters aimed to sabotage the expedition.
“Hehehehe!”
The deserters pulled out weapons stained with red blood.
Not bothering to clean them, the dried blood allowed Yoo Ji-han to infer their nature.
‘One of them.’
Behind them waited a replica of Yoon Do-ha.
A fake Yoon Do-ha, resembling him down to the last detail, was following the deserters.
Fwoosh!
At that moment, thanks to Mumu’s help, Lee Mi-a, who had been hiding underground, sprang up with a mound of dirt.
Without engaging in conversation with the enemy, she charged straight ahead.
“It’s Lee Mi-a!”
“Be careful! She’s kind of nuts!”
Lee Mi-a’s ruthless reputation was well-known through Kim Hyun-tae’s party.
Standing face to face with her carried great risk.
Instead of stepping forward, they pushed the fake Yoon Do-ha to the front.
Thud!
Lee Mi-a’s kick, filled with unexpected power, was hard to believe came from such slender legs.
The thick dirt wall that had risen from the ground easily blocked her attack.
But, as if expecting that, Lee Mi-a reached out her fist toward the earthy wall protecting the fake Yoon Do-ha.
Boom boom boom!
Clumps of dirt erupted in tight clusters, dirtying the surroundings repeatedly.
Her physical abilities were almost weapon-like, rendering any weapon unnecessary!
The speed at which the earthen wall regenerated was in a contest with her flurry of punches.
And just at the moment when all eyes were on Lee Mi-a’s attack,
Bang!
“Oops.”
One of the deserters knocked away a surprise arrow from Min Yu-ri with an axe.
The magical arrow disintegrated into powder, failing to maintain its form due to the aura on the axe blade.
The deserter laughed easily at the blocked attack, but Min Yu-ri also chuckled in response.
[Shape Change – Glue]
Swish!
A small amount of magic stuck to the axe blade that had deflected the arrow.
Even though the entire axe was surrounded by aura, Min Yu-ri’s magic did not disappear.
Normally, aura would cause one’s magic to vanish upon clashing with another’s, but this time it was different.
“Hmm?”
The deserter swung his axe wildly at the empty air.
He was attempting to dislodge the magic by using inertia.
Yet, like a leech, Min Yu-ri’s power clung on tight and showed no signs of falling off.
Bang!
He quickly struck away another incoming magical arrow with his axe, but the area covered by magic continued to increase.
‘The area of the aura is shrinking.’
As the manifestation of aura through his weapon became increasingly unstable, annoyance brewed in the deserter.
While he could scrape the magic off with his hands, he had no time to spare for that now.
“I’ll kill you!”
Fwoosh!
The deserter came charging, scattering wild magic.
However, without moving an inch, Chilla stepped forward in front of Min Yu-ri, who was aiming her bow again.
“Arrogant hamster!”
“Squeak! I’m a chinchilla!”
Boom!
The collision between the large shield and the large axe!
To think that this pathetic pet had stepped up as a tanker!
The deserter believed without a doubt he could overwhelm Chilla.
“Squeak!”
But Chilla easily blocked the attack.
Not only did he not fall, but the magic-enhanced shield even deflected the axe back.
[Woodcutter’s Pride]
A powerful attack skill that focuses aura on a single point, striking down with immense force.
It was a difficult skill requiring precise positioning and timing to unleash its true power.
Despite that, the deserter struck the shield with great proficiency.
Clang!
“Squeak—!”
Chilla was pushed back, his paws sliding on the ground.
The weight of the attack was heavy enough for his fur to stand on end like cactus thorns.
Yet, thanks to Min Yu-ri’s magic adhering to the axe, the impact was significantly reduced, causing no substantial harm.
“Hey! Someone help me!”
Unable to break through the tanker, the deserter called for help from other distant allies.
Yet,
“Cough!”
The allies he called for help were in no position to assist him.
Yoo Ji-han looked at the deserter clutching his lightly wounded hand.
“Where did that earlier momentum go?”
“……!”
The deserter’s face flushed red at Yoo Ji-han’s provocation.
At the moment he gripped his sword with his injured hand and tried to charge forward.
“Hey there!”
[Wind Freeze]
Kim Si-hu formed an invisible prison of wind, halting the enemy’s movements.
Even as a criminal, the power to forcibly stop a Rank 2 hero was significant.
Of course, the time the opponent was immobilized was only around 2 seconds.
‘That’s enough.’
For Yoo Ji-han, that was more than sufficient time to take him down.
Thud!
Qudi’s sword pierced the deserter’s abdomen, emerging from his back.
The blade of Drimium pierced through the sturdy plate armor wrapped around his torso like an egg.
The deserter gaped in shock.
“My artifact has been pierced…?”
“My sword is a bit special.”
“Ugh!”
As he twisted his body out of instinct for survival, he collapsed forward, pouring blood everywhere.
It was a clean death, leaving no chance of survival.
In that moment, the laughter vanished from the faces of the other deserters.
‘Huh?’
‘Kuril is dead.’
‘He wasn’t supposed to die this easily?’
These were heroes from a small country, Korea.
The only thing that had annoyed them from afar was the variable that was Lee Mi-a.
Though her name had spread through movies, they thought of her as just an inexperienced rookie.
‘Are we losing to them?’
‘To mere rookies?!’
But now they had no choice but to acknowledge it.
They were being overwhelmed purely by the strength of those rookies.