ALL NOVEL Chapter 253
Chapter 253. Full-scale Battle (2)
Yoo Ji-han suddenly examined Grun, who had appeared out of nowhere in front of him.
It wasn’t that the one who had guided him through the mine had transformed into Yoon Do-ha.
They were different in physique and many other aspects.
But that small amount of magic felt eerily similar to Yoon Do-ha’s.
‘Is that kid under Desa’s control too?’
His eyes looked dull and lifeless, like a dead fish.
Grun’s drooling condition was far from normal.
Thud!
Yoo Ji-han lightly struck Grun, knocking him unconscious, just like he’d done with the man he’d met earlier.
Then, using Mumu’s power, he buried him underground, leaving just enough space for him to breathe.
If he became a puppet and started running wild, someone would surely get hurt.
Since he had a slight acquaintance, he didn’t leave him to die.
—J-Ji-han! The thread keeps increasing!
“Hmm?!”
The Thread of Truth began to gradually increase from various regions.
While the two spirits were flustered, Yoo Ji-han quickly scanned them with his eyes.
‘The threads are overlapping.’
It appeared that a considerable amount of the Truth threads were intertwining.
This meant that new threads had appeared in similar positions to where existing ones were connected.
‘Can they generate puppets remotely?’
An irresistible challenge had been sent by the opponent.
Yoo Ji-han quickly turned his body back and returned to his party.
*
Now reunited with his party members, Yoo Ji-han increased his speed.
Although he hadn’t heard any news of an attack from the outside yet.
It was only a matter of time before the puppets began attacking Maz.
“How’s it going on your end?”
—The knights have been dispatched to each region. They said they will arrive at the locations you indicated within an hour.
Yoo Ji-han was communicating with Watanabe through the Dimension Phone.
Thanks to the active cooperation of the Rulers who dominated Maz, the dispatch of knights was proceeding swiftly.
About 20 knights were assigned for every thread of Truth.
—But can the local knights really stop that giant’s replica?
Watanabe doubted whether Maz’s knights could hold back Yoon Do-ha’s puppet.
While there were quite a few capable knights among them, not all were exceptional.
Even though they were weaker compared to the main body, they were beings possessing Yoon Do-ha’s magic.
It didn’t seem easy for ordinary knights to block them.
And Yoo Ji-han’s reply was straightforward.
“If the puppet has a similar strength to the one we encountered, it’s possible for each Commander of the Knight Order to handle it. However, most of them are clinging to the Ruler’s side without deploying.”
—So that means…
“The knights won’t be able to stop Yoon Do-ha’s puppets. Especially in places where two or more puppets are gathered, it will be difficult to approach properly.”
Ordinary knights couldn’t handle Yoon Do-ha’s puppets.
From the beginning, Yoo Ji-han was already convinced of that.
—Knowing that, sending out the knights was to buy time.
“That’s right.”
The purpose of dispatching the knights was to buy time.
While the knights of Maz somehow faced Yoon Do-ha’s puppets.
Yoo Ji-han thought to find out where Desa and Yoon Do-ha’s main body were hiding.
“Ji-han! I’m ready.”
Min Yu-ri called out to Yoo Ji-han, who had just finished his call with Watanabe.
“How’s it looking?”
“Fantastic.”
Min Yu-ri’s bow, firmly fixed on the ground, had transformed into a much thinner form and grown three times larger than when she held it.
It could shoot massive spears instead of mere arrows.
“This is your first time using it in a real battle, right?”
“Yeah. But I’ve practiced a lot.”
“Just do as well as you practiced.”
The artifact bow crafted by Nam Ho-yeol had a hidden function.
While it had the disadvantage of needing to be fixed somewhere due to its size,
it tremendously increased the range and destructive power of the arrows.
As she was entrusted the role of a sniper in this battle, her responsibilities were significant.
“I’m counting on you. Chilla.”
“Chilla! Leave it to me!”
Thump! Thump!
Chilla confidently thumped his shield.
Since the bow was in such a conspicuous form, its location could only be pinpointed.
Thus, he was designated to protect only Min Yu-ri as a tanker.
Thud!
Yoo Ji-han grabbed Min Yu-ri’s shoulder.
Startled by the sudden contact, she flinched.
Yoo Ji-han looked at her with a very serious face.
“I won’t be able to protect you this time. If it gets dangerous, run away immediately.”
“Don’t worry! You know how fast I am!”
“……”
Yoo Ji-han stared intently at Min Yu-ri’s face.
In the party, it was usually his role as a warrior to move solo.
Min Yu-ri and Kim Si-hu always supported from the back while launching powerful attacks.
This was the first time she had been entrusted with solo action as a long-range dealer in the party,
so he couldn’t help but worry more than usual.
‘I should have trained for individual action beforehand.’
As the party leader directing the field, his preparation was very lacking.
While they had harmonized well since their first meeting in battle…
“Haa…”
Lost in thought, Yoo Ji-han couldn’t take his eyes off Min Yu-ri.
He even contemplated whether it would be better to reconsider the plan at this point.
But then:
“Stop!”
“Yes?”
Thud!
Min Yu-ri slapped Yoo Ji-han’s arm.
“Stop staring at me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Making people feel embarrassed…”
“Embarrassed?”
“No, it’s just that anyone would feel that way if you look like that!”
Min Yu-ri turned abruptly and walked towards her fixed bow on the ground.
Meanwhile, Yoo Ji-han scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Chirp…”
During this, Chilla, with half-open eyes, looked back and forth between the two.
Then he opened his mouth.
“Chirp! Master.”
“Uh?”
“It’s frustrating. Chirp!”
“……?”
“Chirp! If it were me, I would have…!”
Bang!
Chilla hugged his shield tightly with both arms.
Min Yu-ri looked at him perplexed.
“What do you mean….”
A loud explosion sound followed at that moment.
Boom—!!
It sounded like a large bomb exploding.
The sound, heard from quite afar, was accompanied by vibrations from the ground.
“Master!”
“……!”
Chilla hurriedly covered Min Yu-ri’s body with his wide shield.
While everyone around looked panicked and scanned their surroundings, Yoo Ji-han put a hand to the ground.
He soon spoke to Mumu, whose head was only poking out from underground.
“Where’s it coming from?”
“Hmm… That way.”
Mumu pointed toward the presumed source of the loud noise and vibrations.
In that direction, several glowing threads trembled lightly.
*
Not long after the first loud noise had echoed, high-pitched screams rang out from all around.
Desa’s attack aimed at the fall of Maz had begun.
“I had hoped it was a lie!”
“Damn Puppeteer!”
As the seemingly impossible news became reality, both Yoo Ji-han’s party and the Rulers hiding in their location were tearing their hair out.
At the same time, they were busy cursing Desa, who controlled the puppets.
“What’s the damage so far?”
“The guards are leading the citizens to take shelter inside, and the knights are clashing with a mysterious enemy.”
“That’s at least a relief.”
“It’s probably thanks to the preparations we hastily set up.”
Kruba, one of the Rulers of Maz, looked at Yoo Ji-han with renewed eyes.
He had ordered the nearby citizens and dwarves to refrain from going outside today and commanded that the visitors be limited to one-fifth or less than usual.
Had they not made advance plans following Yoo Ji-han’s intentions, numerous casualties would likely have occurred by now.
“From this moment on, you are to stay inside this shelter at all costs.”
“Got it!”
The Rulers vigorously nodded at Yoo Ji-han’s words.
In the moment Desa’s attack began, his words carried great weight.
“What will you do?”
“We need to find that guy.”
“Hyung! Let’s go!”
The ones tasked with protecting the Rulers were Min Yu-ri, Lee Mi-a, and the knights of Maz.
Yoo Ji-han set out from the shelter with only Kim Si-hu.
“Where are we going?”
“Just wait.”
While walking quickly, Yoo Ji-han looked up at the long threads.
Ziiing—
The various strands of the Truth threads tangled in the sky trembled slightly.
The puppets’ movements were affecting the threads as well.
‘There’s definitely a pattern there too.’
Puppets are entities that move according to commands.
To control the movements of each puppet one by one complicates things significantly.
Especially when trying to manipulate so many puppets simultaneously, the difficulty level rises even further.
No matter how great a magician Desa was, being human meant he would have established a certain pattern to maneuver the puppets more comfortably.
“Sylph!”
—Wait! I’m looking right now.
But alongside Yoo Ji-han was a being that wasn’t human.
Among the two spirits with earth and wind attributes, the wind spirit had a very free-spirited nature.
If a Sylph, excellent at multitasking and enjoying disorder, were around,
Yoo Ji-han believed they could distinguish even the fine magic patterns of humans.
‘I never thought I’d find myself trusting someone else this much.’
In the past with Kim Hyun-tae’s party, Yoo Ji-han always acted trusting in himself.
Although he didn’t show it outwardly, there were many moments he trusted the probabilities calculated through sampling over the party members.
But now, he trusted the Sylph as much as he did himself.
This marked a significant change for Yoo Ji-han.
—Beep! I found something suspicious!
“Lead the way.”
—Hehehe!
*
“Something’s falling from above!!”
“Protect the Rulers!”
“Throw yourself in front to block it!”
Large stones falling from the sky.
As they faced a meteor-like attack, the knights of Maz were thrown into chaos.
Thud!
At that moment, Lee Mi-a jumped up and swung her fists upwards, shattering the stones that rained down.
The knight from Maz, witnessing the scene right below, dropped his jaw in shock.
“What kind of girl has that kind of strength…?”
“Stop making a fuss and hold your position.”
“Yes, sir!”
Meanwhile, loud screams echoed from the area where the stones had flown from.
“Graaah!”
Crash!
The dirt mound that had ricocheted off the ground struck a knight.
The silver armor crumpled inward as it absorbed the impact.
The knight, who barely survived, struggled for breath due to the dented armor.
“Ugh!”
And just as the fake Yoon Do-ha was about to strike the knight again.
Boom—!!
A blue beam that had flown from far away landed at his feet.
The fake Yoon Do-ha turned his head to look at the direction the beam came from but saw nothing particular.
Thwack!
Then another beam flew in, striking the fake Yoon Do-ha directly in the leg.
That beam was a Magic Arrow shot by Min Yu-ri.
“Seems a bit far…”
Click! Click!
Wearing the glasses artifact created by Nam Ho-yeol, Min Yu-ri turned the small gears attached to the frames.
Doing so allowed her to see objects at a distance that were hard to see with the naked eye as if they were very close to her.
[Invisibility]
Mumu had raised the height on the building and used [Invisibility] to conceal herself.
Compared to her normal Magic Arrows, it had transformed into arrows several times larger.
Boom—!!
The arrow flew out with a fierce spark of magic around it.
With each attempt at aiming and shooting, Min Yu-ri saved at least one life.
Even after consecutively launching massive arrows, Min Yu-ri felt composed.
“Chirp! Where are the captain and the mage?”
“They’re over there.”
Adjusting her glasses, Min Yu-ri kept her eyes on Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu, who were running.
The two of them were darting between buildings, appearing and disappearing in turns.
Having moved quite a distance, they looked tiny, even through her glasses.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu came to a halt.
The two, who had been spacing out for a moment, turned around and hurriedly ran back.
“……What went wrong?”
Feeling something strange, Min Yu-ri pressed herself tightly against Chilla.
Just a few seconds later.
Rumble…!
Close to the Rulers’ shelter, which had never been exposed to the outside,
the beginnings of a small earthquake could be sensed.