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Chapter 286 part 1

The puppets that galloped across the earth needed no rest. They needed no food or sleep. A convenient advantage that posed a great hindrance to enemies. Their invasion speed never slackened, and there was no need to transport rations to sustain their survival. Even after seven days and nights of marching, the puppets would fight in perfect condition, without the slightest traces of fatigue. 

Above all, these puppets could not feel fear. Vengitta was a living puppet with emotions, but she had eliminated them from these puppets, deeming such emotions unnecessary on such a battlefield. Rather, she had imbued them with functions tailored for combat. 

They did not rest; they did not eat; they did not sleep; they did not fear. An army led by a single will. Certainly, this was a threatening existence to behold. 

Vengitta, along with these puppets, were so intricately crafted that even meticulous observation would not reveal their true nature. They traversed the wilderness in search of Christina and her earth-shaking beauty that shook the core of their existence. 

That being said, Vengitta remained aware that she was a mere vassal of Mundus Carnus—a part of the demon lord’s army. She had not forgotten that the destruction of Bern’s troops was the first step in the attack on Arkrest Kingdom. Though, Christina’s position as the lord of Bern certainly played a part in Vengitta’s motivation. 

The fastest of Vengitta’s troops streaked forward, passing a plump middle-aged man in a white apron and a woman with red hair that framed her bosom. They leaped over an old man who looked like a withered tree with a walking stick and sprinted ahead.

「Oh, our very selves. Go forth and feast your eyes on Christina before us.」　

A male centaur puppet in a metal breastplate and a five-man bow in hand hollered, as though desperately seeking out someone dear to him up ahead. 

This very physique was a miraculous harmony of a robust human body gifted with innate strength and mettled by relentless training, and the body of a horse with shimmering fur; it was the ideal form of his race. With such an appearance, it would be impossible for anyone to identify him as a mere puppet.

「Oh, dear me. Look, behold, the pinnacle of beauty in the world. My soul was once shaken like never before by such a sight. The impetus that elevated my existence to a new plane. Oh, I shall cradle it in our hands.」　

A leopard woman had sprung forth ahead of the rest like the centaur. She yelled passionately like a raging fire, her words burning with enthusiasm. 

The woman’s limbs were covered in black fur spotted with white. Just like a panther, her limbs were surprisingly thick and plump, but the skin that peeked out from her short-sleeved and knee-length scaled armor revealed defined muscles. This very sight was enough to suggest that she was also a female puppet designed for combat. 

「What shall we do with those who stand in our way? Shall we twist their slim necks, yank out their delicate intestines, and slice their flesh from their bones? Shall we weave robes for Christina out of mountains of flesh, bones, skin, and steaming entrails? Or shall we craft a necklace to adorn her? Perhaps forge a musical instrument dedicated to her?」　

A wolf waxed poetic about the merciless plights of those who stood in their way. In appearance, it looked no different from a living and breathing wolf.

These 3,000 troops stood out from the pack of 50,000 as they began a chorus of madness, pledging their unyielding devotion and horrifying madness to do whatever it took for their goal. As their speed picked up, they widened the distance between them and the remaining 47,000 troops. 

It sounded so entrancing that those who heard it were glad to be alive even on this very day, before they entered their slumbers. 

It narrated such horrifying and selfish desires that those who heard it wished from the bottom of their hearts to erase this tune from their memories. 

A contradiction of beauty and foulness coexisted at that moment. Mesmerizing yet horrid, horrid yet mesmerizing. But this very contradiction was the essence of humanity, was it not?

「Let us move forward. We will steal the lives of thousands, millions just to obtain you. We will save the lives of thousands and millions just to obtain you. Beauty, great beauty, be ours…?!」　

A woman with enthralling golden locks and pearly skin had been singing loudly. Her cheeks had been flushed red in her speech. Yet, the moment her feet touched the ground, an explosion resounded and blew her feet off up to her chest mercilessly.

She was not the only victim of such a fate. The other puppets running ahead met with a chain of explosions that left no trace of their original forms. In moments, this area of the wilderness was colored with black smoke, flames, and lightning. 

Bern was skilled at setting traps and strategic preparations underground along anticipated routes and engagement points for defensive battles and interception. This time, they had left countless mines in the ground. Some of them were even autonomous “self-burying” mine golems. This idea came from Dran’s personal experience during his time as an Ancient-Celestial Dragon, as with the missile golems. 

These mines used a special blend of processed Fire Spirit Stones, Lightning Spirit Stones, and magic crystals, along with commonly used black gunpowder. Composites of these items were also utilized, some of which were crystallized from magic power extracted from the dragons of Mores Mountains. 

The power of these mines was demonstrated clearly by the plights of Vengitta and the rest whose bullet-proof toughness and magic defense failed as they were ruthlessly blown to bits. 

「Oh, my. Mines, classic but effective. But our feet shall not stop. Our passion will not dissipate. Our thirst cannot be satisfied. We shall march on! On, forward we go!!!」　

A female elven puppet proclaimed in a cracked and sputtering voice despite having lost her body from the waist down and the right half of her eye blown out. The other puppets followed her as they sprinted on without any concern for the hidden minefield that stretched out before them. 

Their feet never halted once. Instead, they reshuffled their positions vertically from their wide horizontal formation. The fastest led the way into the minefield one after the other. 

These puppets were not plunging into the minefield without any countermeasures. Rather, the puppets equipped with bows, arrows, and firearms were firing consecutively at the ground behind them in a bid to trigger the mines and eliminate as many of the explosives as possible. 

Despite such efforts, the autonomous mine golems were moving with other mines in tow and changing positions on their own. A number of puppets were caught up in the mine explosions and the puppet formation was dispersing quickly. Moreover, the exploded mines released a special powder that interfered with magic detection, significantly reducing the detection abilities of Vengitta’s puppets. 

As usual, Bern pulled off an extraordinary task of preparing and burying countless mines in such a short period of time. That being said, two land warships from the fleet that had trailed behind Vengitta and her troops were starting to speed after the puppets. 

Unlike the Megyn-class warships and Yuun-class warships, these two had streamlined hulls with three box-shaped fixtures on either side of the ships. The most eye-catching features were the huge heads at the bows. One was a beautiful woman with long white hair, the envy of shipowners all over the world. The other was a wrinkled old man with a long beard, reminiscent of a stubborn old craftsman. 

These two ships were not under the command of Malahau or Quince. Rather, they were under Vengitta’s direct command, like the countless puppets of the puppet troupe. They were land warship puppets that moved at Vengitta’s will. 

These land warships were powered by built-in Earth Spirit Stones to mitigate gravity and Wind Spirit Stones to provide thrust. They moved quickly as they rose above the ground and sped to the area sprawled with bits of Vengitta’s puppets—the aftermath of being blown apart by the mines. 

Some of the puppets scattered on the ground called out to the faces of the warship, heads that looked so huge they were almost comical. These puppets could no longer move, but they retained their ability to speak.

「My, oh my, everything from the waist down is gone.」　

「I’ve been reduced to dust from the neck down! How could they do something so horrible to me?」　

「Gwop, wop, wop…」　

「I’m missing the left half of my body. I can crawl and hop on one foot, but there ain’t no way to go fast in this state.」　

The puppets varied in tone and personality depending on their appearance and the roles they were assigned. Hence, the speech and voices that left their mouths as they spoke to the others on the warships differed as well. 

Some had charming voices fit for grand theater performances, while others cracked out of tune and could only be perceived as stuttering drunk fathers hollering a broken melody. Faced with the multitude of staggered demands, Vengitta’s female-faced warship—Artelier-Vengitta, or Artelietta for short—responded with an initial comment. 

「Now, now, folks. If you desire me to restore you to the way you were, stop chirping like baby birds seeking food. Each word that leaves your mouth resounds in your parts and worsens the damage. Your chipped parts will only spill out!」

The sides of the boxes lining Artelietta’s sides opened, and countless arms emerged from them. Each of these arms, with their spherical joints, was so beautifully crafted that it was impossible to avoid admiring. 

Even a single scratch of a needle or a rough spot from plumbing would spark exclamations of sorrow from all. However, Artelietta was not the only strange looking human-faced warship with hundreds of arms sprouting from it. 

The other warship with the face of the old craftsman—Smith-Vengitta, or Smitta for short—was no different. Delicate hands and fingers stretched out of the boxes along its sides, disharmonious with the old man’s face. They picked up the parts and fragments strewn on the ground with great care and frightening speed. 

The hands held a variety of tools—planers, chisels, and knives of different sizes; brushes and sewing needles; metal hammers and anvils; wooden hammers and nails; glue and other adhesives; countless jars containing a myriad of paints. Threads of various colors and materials, fabrics, and even jewels were in hand. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires; iron, copper, gold, and silver too. These were the materials for the puppets’ parts, clothing, and ornaments. 

Smitta looked at the puppets that it had picked up and let out the sigh characteristic of a bull-headed craftsman. 

「Good lord, do you know how much work it will take me to restore these? But I have no choice but to press on and do so until we have the beautiful Christina, the enthralling Christina in our hands.」　

Over thousands of hands from Artelietta and Smitta moved in unison at a speed untraceable to the human eye. They checked each part for damage. If the damage could be fixed with existing parts, they worked on restoration immediately. For parts that were not available, they made use of the tools at hand. Planers and chisels thudded away softly yet firmly to shape parts. Nails, sewing needles, glue, and paints were also put to good use.