Chapter 88: Puppet (4)
As the black flames lit up, the darkness in the room was dispelled.
It could be called ironic, really.
However, instead of indulging in such thoughts, Oliver looked around.
The room, made of bricks and neither too big nor too small, reminded him of Joseph’s secret altar from the past, with piles of dismembered corpses scattered around.
In the center of the wall, there was an unknown pattern carved.
Two crescent moons and an X mark inside a circular symbol, accompanied by candlesticks and crosses.
It was the exact same pattern he had seen when he first fell into this place.
But the most striking thing among all was none other than the Puppet.
"It's nice to see you in person like this."
The Puppet was a man in his early to mid-forties, exceptionally tall.
His skin was pale, his nose hooked, and his prominent cheekbones gave him the appearance of a skeleton.
Oliver stared at this bizarre figure and asked,
"I'm glad to meet you too... You have quite an unusual body, don't you?"
The Puppet smiled faintly. Then, he stood up and slightly moved his bony hand, which looked skeletal.
With that movement, some of the corpse remnants scattered around the room shifted, blocking the only entrance Oliver had used to enter.
It wasn’t just blocked, though. The teeth, jaws, and skulls in the air snapped together with a clack! clack!, showing clear intent to bite and attack anything that came near, like the entrance to hell described by the mine overseers.
Oliver calmly remarked,
"Impressive. You’ve built such a barrier based on hunger and greed, using it as a meat shield."
"Free-thinking is the essence of black magic... Still, it’s remarkable. You’ve grasped it after seeing it just once. You look barely twenty... Who did you learn from?"
"That's interesting."
"What’s interesting?"
"Your disciple said something similar. A man named Glyp, the Puppet Master."
Oliver deliberately mentioned this.
Maybe he could unsettle the Puppet.
However, the Puppet's emotions remained as calm as ever.
“Hmm... I don’t know who that is. Sorry, but I’ve lived for hundreds of years and taught countless disciples. It’s hard to remember every single one. If I don’t remember him, he must not have been very noteworthy.”
At that moment, Oliver recalled his past conversation with Glyp, the Puppet Master.
He didn’t remember much else, but there was one thing he clearly recalled: the pride Glyp had when he said he was the Puppet's disciple.
Two contrasting emotions.
Oliver unconsciously spoke.
"...That’s a bit sad."
"Sad? What is?"
"Glyp really respected you. But you don’t remember him, and somehow... that makes me a little sad."
The Puppet stared at Oliver before slowly approaching.
"Interesting. You say it’s sad, but you don’t even know what sadness is. You’re very strange... like an animal imitating a human. What exactly are you?"
What am I... Oliver didn’t know how to respond to that question.
"...I’m Dave, a fixer from the T-District."
"Is that so? Well, I’ll find out soon enough."
With those words, the Puppet extended his hand, filled with a sinister black emotion.
[Thrust]
Fortunately, Oliver reacted faster.
He quickly converted emotions into a shockwave, casting a black magic thrust to push back and destroy the opponent, maximizing its output.
He instinctively knew that this was no ordinary opponent.
And his instincts were correct.
"That body... What exactly is it?"
Oliver asked as he observed the Puppet, whose body had rapidly recovered from being torn apart.
An immense vitality, beyond what could be expected from a single person, poured out from within, healing the wounds. It was truly bizarre.
But even more bizarre were the countless people beneath the Puppet’s skin.
“Aaaaargh——!!!”
"Help me! Let me out! Kill me!!"
"Kehahahaha!!!"
"Killkillkillkillkillkill!!!!!!"
"Kuweeeeeck——!!"
"Mom! Mom! Mom!"
"Kuweeeeeeeck———!! Kuweeeeeeeck———!!"
They pushed against the Puppet’s belly with countless hands and faces, as if desperate to escape from within him.
But no matter how much they pushed, they couldn’t break free.
The scene evoked an otherworldly sense of discomfort.
For an ordinary person, it would have been enough to provoke a deep sense of repulsion just from looking at it.
Of course, Oliver felt more curiosity than disgust.
No matter how he looked at it, what was in front of him was far beyond the realm of normal black magic.
He was purely curious as to how such a thing was even possible.
"What is that body? Did you combine a corpse puppet with a greedy pouch?"
The Puppet looked over his body before answering.
"Half right, I’d say."
With those words, the Puppet pulled out a large amount of emotion from inside his body.
Unlike any black magician Oliver had encountered before, the Puppet extracted emotions directly from his own body... No, perhaps that’s not the right way to say it.
It wasn’t exactly his body but rather emotions forcibly extracted from the countless people trapped inside him.
It was an astonishing concept.
To combine a corpse puppet and a greedy pouch to imprison people inside and extract their emotions...
It was definitely beyond the realm of typical black magic.
"What exactly are you?"
"I could ask the same of you. You don’t seem to be fazed at all by ‘this’... But I suppose I’ll find out slowly."
As the Puppet spoke leisurely, transforming emotions into black magic, Oliver didn’t miss the timing and fired a Hate Bullet.
The accumulating emotions were destroyed by Oliver’s swift attack.
In terms of firepower, the Puppet had an overwhelming advantage due to his vast store of emotions. Therefore, Oliver had to press the attack whenever there was an opening.
The Puppet raised an eyebrow and remarked,
"Oh, you’ve got a decent sense for this..."
Thunk!
Papapapapapapapapapat——!
Oliver’s Shadow Spike pierced through the Puppet’s body.
Not only that, spikes sprouted from the center, dealing additional internal damage, but it didn’t seem to cause much harm to the Puppet.
Despite being skewered by spikes, the Puppet didn’t scream or even flinch. He merely shattered the Shadow Spike and freed himself, healing once again.
And every time, the people inside his body let out terrible screams.
Kyaaaaaaaaaargh———!
"Oh... It seems you didn’t just trap people inside physically."
"Correct... But is that all you’ve got?"
"No."
As Oliver said that, he tapped his Quarterstaff on the floor.
With the sound of tap tap, a Black Cube surrounded the Puppet. It didn’t just trap the Puppet, though.
Inside the Black Cube, along with the Puppet, was a Minion.
It was a Minion that had been fed to the brim with Wrath Bomb and Explosion Fury.
"Minion, please."
At that command, the Minion, trapped together with the Puppet inside the Black Cube, exploded.
It was an enormous explosion, and had it not been confined by the Black Cube, even Oliver would have been caught in it.
Due to the explosion’s aftermath and the ensuing smoke, Oliver couldn’t see inside the Black Cube, but he was confident that he had defeated the Puppet.
He couldn’t feel any emotions, after all.
But that was a misconception.
Something pierced through the Black Cube and flew towards Oliver.
Oliver instinctively shot a Hate Bullet to intercept it, but to his surprise, it went right through the Hate Bullet and even penetrated his Black Suit, striking his shoulder.
Thwack!
This was the first time Oliver had been directly injured since leaving the family.
Oliver pulled out the object embedded in his shoulder to check.
It was none other than a finger.
The Puppet had imbued black magic into his finger and fired it at him, but before Oliver could fully process that, he sensed another surge of black magic.
Looking ahead, he saw that the corpse remnants scattered around the room had gathered together to form a massive claw.
A claw made of rotten flesh and rib bones rushed toward Oliver.
In a hurry, Oliver fired his Hate Bullet at full power, but it barely had any effect against the enormous size, and he was caught instead.
Bang——!!!
The claw, made of rotten flesh and rib bones, grabbed Oliver and slammed him into the wall, causing cracks to spread through it with a loud noise.
As if that weren’t enough, the rib bones tightened around him, and if he hadn’t been wearing his Black Suit, he would have been crushed into pulp already.
His spine cracked, ribs fractured, and his internal organs were crushed...
Oh, this was quite dangerous.
He could hear the sound of his Black Suit cracking...
"...How did you do that?"
"What?"
The Puppet, who had emerged from the shattered Black Cube, asked in return.
Although he had been burned by the explosion and much of his body had been destroyed, he was already recovering. It was as if it was nothing to him.
"For a moment, I couldn’t see any emotions. Not from up above, and not from this basement either... How did you do that?"
"Hmph, normally I wouldn’t tell, but I’ll answer since I appreciate your curiosity even in this situation. It’s a technique I learned to deal with black magicians like you who have good eyes. It works surprisingly well in fights between black magicians. Those with keen eyesight tend to rely on their eyes alone."
"You learned it?... Did you, by any chance, learn it from a demon?"
"Oh... You catch on quickly."
"I couldn’t help but notice. Hiding emotions like that, and that body of yours... It doesn’t seem like ordinary black magic. Did you gain it by worshiping demons?"
Oliver recalled how Joseph had gained his power and talent through demons, and asked the question.
He had no intention of insulting him, but for some reason, the Puppet’s face twisted suddenly.
It seemed Oliver had unintentionally touched a sensitive nerve.
"...Watch your words."
The Puppet stepped forward with a measured pace.
For the first time, Oliver could see the Puppet’s once-calm and composed emotions now stirred with displeasure.
"I don’t serve demons... I just make deals with them. When conducting research, sometimes you hit roadblocks... So, occasionally... just occasionally, I make deals."
"...Ah, I see."
As Oliver replied, he detonated the emotions he had been holding in his hand.
It reminded him of his previous battle with the magic tower magicians, and he mimicked their technique, causing a chain of emotional explosions that shattered the corpse arm holding him.
The Puppet, unflustered, flicked his fingers to reassemble the scattered corpse remnants.
But it didn’t matter. This time, Oliver was faster.
He locked onto the Puppet’s body, then cast additional black magic on the rib bones and teeth around him.
Rib bones, shin bones, teeth, and jawbones all embedded themselves into the Puppet’s body, as if bullets were fired from every direction.
Papapapapapapapapat———!!!
As a result, the Puppet’s body was riddled with bones, temporarily halting his movements.
"Your technique is good, but in the end, it’s just a trick. Such trivial attacks won’t work on me-"
[Wrath Bullet]
Oliver fired a concentrated Wrath Bomb, aimed at the cracks in the Puppet’s body.
With bones stuck all over him, the Puppet couldn’t defend himself properly... or perhaps, he chose not to.
Boom———!
Although the explosion wasn’t as powerful as the first one, it was still strong. Moreover, since it erupted inside the Puppet’s body, it had even more impact.
As the smoke cleared, Oliver could see the Puppet’s state. Half of his upper body had been blown away by the explosion.
However, it didn’t matter.
Even though his upper body had been blasted apart, he was already recovering.
‘No... That recovery isn’t free.’
Indeed, that was the case.
The damage was significant, and the Puppet was drawing a huge amount of life force from the people inside him. That meant there was definitely a limit.
If Oliver kept attacking like this, he could wear him down.
But the problem was...
Crack!
The Puppet extended his arm, stretching it long enough to grab Oliver by the neck.
His grip was strong, and Oliver’s weakened Black Suit shattered instantly, leaving him as vulnerable as a turtle without its shell.
"Looks like you’re running out of emotions... Isn’t that right?"
Oliver remained silent, confirming the truth. The grip around his neck tightened.
"It’s a pity. Well, black magicians always have a limit to their firepower. You were... somewhat entertaining, but ultimately, you're just another talented person in a sea of talent. This is the end."
With that, the Puppet pulled Oliver close, opening his mouth wide.
His mouth opened so wide that he could swallow a person whole...
And at that moment, Oliver saw something inside the Puppet's mouth that wasn’t human. It was...
"This is the entrance to hell. I’ll swallow you whole."
With a red-tinted black mouth, the Puppet attempted to devour Oliver.
Whether it was truly hell or not, Oliver wasn’t sure. But for some reason, he found himself mesmerized by the scene in front of him, as if something familiar drew him in.
It felt as if he were returning home...
And perhaps that’s why, without realizing it, Oliver reached out toward it.
And then, he extracted the emotions that surged within the entrance to hell.