ALL NOVEL Chapter 254
Chapter 254. Full-scale Battle (3)
As knights from various regions fiercely blocked the Fake Yoon Do-ha.
Since arriving in Kallem, Yoo Ji-han moved as fast as he could on foot.
Kim Si-hu closely followed behind him.
—It’s my mistake…
The Sylph was blaming herself for her error.
There were dolls found near the shelter that hadn’t existed until just before departure.
She had confidently declared she would handle the tracking of Desa and the dolls, so there was nothing to say.
“It’s not your fault.”
Shaking his head at the dejected Sylph, Yoo Ji-han spoke.
The Thread of Truth was mostly concentrated in the outskirts of the Maz mines or city.
Desa’s gathered dolls were invading the residents’ homes from the outside.
Although Yoo Ji-han had prepared accordingly.
‘There were hidden dolls inside the city.’
It seemed Desa had hidden another Yoon Do-ha doll within the city.
This confirmed again that dolls could increase in number without direct intervention.
“I was expecting at least this much.”
“As long as Ji-han hyung is fine, that’s what matters!”
—Ugh…
Yoo Ji-han wasn’t too flustered.
The appearance of more dolls wasn’t surprising since he had already experienced it.
‘Not that many.’
He judged that with just Min Yu-ri and Lee Mi-a, they could handle the dolls near the shelter.
What was more important was something else.
Ping! Ping! Ting!
Amidst the loud, shaking vibrations of the Threads of Truth, one thread remained particularly calm and serene.
He had identified a suspicious entity.
Desa might actually be closer than expected.
—Ugh! For now, follow me!
Whoosh!
Regaining her composure, the Sylph guided Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu to a place where a suspicious presence was detected.
If they caught Desa, all the dolls he was controlling would lose their power.
Eliminating the source of the problem would solve everything.
‘Five of them, huh.’
The location where five Threads of Truth were overlapping.
That meant there were five Fake Yoon Do-ha dolls in one place.
Yet, as Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu gradually closed the distance to them.
The number of shining threads began to increase.
‘…11 threads?’
From 5 to 6, 6 to 8, and then from 8 to 11.
As the number of threads multiplied like cell division, Yoo Ji-han couldn’t believe his eyes.
‘There they are.’
At the same time, a strong conviction emerged.
The target he had longed to meet was right there.
“Hyung, what’s the situation now?”
“At least 11 dolls have gathered.”
“11…”
Desa was controlling no less than 11 Yoon Do-ha dolls right in front of them.
Kim Si-hu, who had experienced firsthand the magic that shattered the solid ground when those dolls used their powers at the same time, narrowed his eyes.
“Can we do it?”
“Of course, we can.”
But when Yoo Ji-han asked his next question.
Kim Si-hu grinned, raising one corner of his mouth.
His relaxed response was a bonus.
“Rank 1 Hero? They’re just dolls anyway.”
“Exactly. Good mindset.”
“Yoon Do-ha isn’t anything special either, when you think about it!”
“Hmm, that might be…”
“Oh, that might be a bit much.”
With smiles on their faces, the two continued to follow the threads.
The distance to what was presumed to be Desa was now narrowed to about 800 meters.
“Stop.”
“…!”
Yoo Ji-han stretched out his right arm to stop Kim Si-hu, who was following behind.
Boom!
Boom!!
The ground shook as a tunnel that could fit one person opened up beneath them.
Following that, more than ten similar-sized tunnels were created alongside it.
Out of there emerged all the Fake Yoon Do-ha dolls.
‘This is creepy.’
One doll came out of each tunnel.
The fake dolls, resembling the original’s face perfectly, stared at Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu with emotionless eyes.
It felt unsettling, like watching moving mannequins.
As he quietly gazed at them, Yoo Ji-han spoke to Kim Si-hu.
“How long do you need?”
“1 minute and 30 seconds without moving from this spot.”
“And if you move?”
“At least 5 minutes, and if my focus breaks in between, more than 10 minutes.”
“Then…”
Swish!
Yoo Ji-han gently drew Qudi from its sheath.
“Just watch from there.”
[Wind Bomb]
Boom—!
The wind, gathered into a small point, was released in an instant, forcefully propelling Yoo Ji-han forward.
Launched like a cannon, he quickly reached in front of one doll.
Thud!
As he swung Qudi at the doll, the pile of earth that rose from the ground twisted its trajectory.
He aimed for the knee, but the attack only grazed the thigh.
‘Left butt?’
The weakness revealed by Qudi was the left butt cheek.
The position of the marks on that particular doll likely indicated its butt.
‘What a peculiar taste…’
Imagining the scene of a grown man tattooing another man’s butt, he felt nauseated.
Boom!
“Agh!”
A high, solid earthen wall surrounded Yoo Ji-han.
Then, something beneath his feet prepared to spring up.
The other dolls were coordinating to attack him.
<—How to escape from this attack>
Swish—!
In a brief moment, two of his own faint afterimages unfolded before him as his sampling activated.
It showed him two of the answers he could choose from.
‘Gonna get hurt, huh.’
One of the afterimages presupposed a small injury to his forearm.
It was a way of sacrificing one arm to dodge the other attacks.
On the other hand, the movement of the other afterimage was quite strange.
‘What is this odd thing?’
Tilting his head about 30 degrees toward the ground, turning his head slightly counterclockwise.
Then bending his waist into an arch and breathing out all the way while drawing his belly inward.
With his right hand wrapping around the back of his neck, elbows pulled close to his chest, and left hand holding Qudi in reverse.
Balancing his body with his right foot atop the bent, 90-degree angled left knee in a bizarre posture.
That was the method to perfectly dodge the attack without sustaining a single injury.
‘Let’s do it now!’
Yoo Ji-han’s choice was the latter.
Following the afterimage’s movement, he twisted his head, bent his waist, and expelled his breath.
Wrapping his hand around his neck, pressing his elbow against his chest, he placed his right foot on his left knee.
Then, a somewhat ridiculous position was completed, but its effectiveness was undeniable.
Shwoosh!!
Sharp earthen spikes shot up from the ground aiming for Yoo Ji-han’s body.
Yet, the spike aimed for his chin narrowly missed underneath it.
The spike intended for his back only grazed the armor he was wearing.
The ones trying to pierce his soles and attack his abdomen did the same.
“Hup!”
In that peculiar stance, Yoo Ji-han managed to evade a total of 16 spears.
With his left hand, he swung Qudi to dispel the magical barriers covering his body.
Boom!
Then, as the Sylph burst the earth wall with wind, he swiftly escaped through the hole that appeared.
The Fake Yoon Do-ha directly in front of him offered one leg to Yoo Ji-han.
Knowing that the core of the doll was ultimately just a regular human, he didn’t kill it.
And at the same time.
Desa, who was watching the scene in real-time, gaped in astonishment.
“How on earth?!”
To cover the lack of magical control in a regular doll.
And to face off against warriors fighting up close, the person controlling Desa had designed the offensive magic carefully.
Especially after the dolls lost to Watanabe, they had undergone further fine-tuning.
In the moment an enemy stepped into range, it was certain one of their bodies would have a hole.
“What a monstrous guy!”
But Yoo Ji-han slipped into that gap.
No, he forced that gap open and threw his body inside.
A move far above the level of warriors or knights that Desa had anticipated.
‘What is that mage up to?’
Mage Kim Si-hu remained still, holding onto his staff.
It was clear he was acting with some intention…
But, because he was protected by Mumu, Yoon Do-ha’s spirit, access wasn’t easy.
Originally, the source of Yoon Do-ha’s powers came from spirits, so Mumu was far superior in handling earth magic.
“I need to kill both of them here.”
The sense of crisis tightening around Desa’s throat grew stronger.
Desa tightened his arm and rotated his wrist to one side.
At that moment, the whites of the eyes of the Fake Yoon Do-ha he had fought with Yoo Ji-han were stained bright red like blood.
[Sand Grind]
—Watch your feet!
“…!”
With the Sylph’s warning, Yoo Ji-han’s foot was sucked into the hole that appeared.
Instantly, his body was covered in goosebumps as he detonated [Wind Bomb] beneath his feet to lift himself up.
As he glanced down, the grains of earth squirmed and moved as if alive.
‘Of all things…’
The magic Yoon Do-ha had once shown when he was trashing food waste.
It was the magic that sealed garbage underground and ground it up like grains of sand.
Though it felt a waste to use on mere waste.
If a person entered it, the outcome was clear.
‘The atmosphere changed.’
The dolls’ whites turned crimson, with blood pouring from their eyes.
Yoo Ji-han recognized that Desa was forcibly making the dolls use their powers.
‘Don’t step on the ground.’
One of the best ways to deal with someone who handles earth magic was to avoid fighting in the ground they stood on.
Yoo Ji-han, with the Sylph’s assistance, somehow leapt away from the ground and floated in the air.
Splat!
A sand grain that he couldn’t quite dodge grazed his hand, leaving a trickle of blood.
The more precise control over magic than before was the cause.
And for a moment, he tried to shake off the sand grains that wanted to cling to his wound.
Simultaneously, 13 Fake Yoon Do-ha dolls made the same gesture, sending a larger number of earth spears flying toward Yoo Ji-han.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth spears created from the ground burst through Qudi in all directions.
With each spray of dirt, minor wounds appeared on Yoo Ji-han’s skin.
However, even in that moment, he did not panic.
“Get out of the way.”
It was because Kim Si-hu’s magic was ready.
Zoom—
The staff enhanced with spirit reinforcement pointed toward the high heavens.
Curves made of green grass and tree branches began to draw arcs in the air.
Those arcs, extending long in both directions, soon met at a falling point to form an oval.
From the completed entrance, a massive object emerged.
[Promise of the Giant]
Dududududududu…!
A form woven from countless trees slowly emerged from the oval.
A wooden giant’s finger resembling a human finger.
With its size, the overwhelming presence was felt.
Everyone beneath it halted all actions.
‘My body’s trembling…!’
A work of Kim Si-hu, who had finally completed a fragment of elf-blood magic based on high magical understanding.
Yoo Ji-han, who wasn’t meeting ‘that’ for the first time, remained a bit tense but composed.
“Hiick!”
“How terrifying is this magic!”
“Has the creator god of Kallem finally grown angry!”
Those who witnessed it for the first time, whether near or far.
Everyone was in chaos, looking up at the sky.