Chapter 265 Part 1
《Puppets dance》
《People as well, manipulated by fate, are mere puppets》
《Or perhaps beasts who follow their instincts?》
《Become an innocent puppet》
《Or else here you shall rot》
In the center of the arena, a human soul.
And the message that resonates around is as disturbing as ever.
I don’t care about that.
What are we up against?
Iron Golem Slave Lv.1
Event Monster Demon
Enemy Target Active
Battle Position: Ground ???
Iron Mask Lv.2
Event Monster ???
Enemy Target Active
Battle Position: Ground ???
Ironclad Soldier Lv.5
Event Monster ???
Enemy Target Active
Battle Position: Ground ???
Here’s a question.
Which one’s the boss?
Well, the eight Ironclad Soldiers seem to be some kind of companions.
Iron Mask, I wonder what it is.
Iron Golem Slave, based on its name, it’s probably a subordinate.
There are two Iron Golems.
There’s one Iron Mask.
There are eight Ironclad Soldiers.
The Iron Golem seems to have a design similar to the Bronze Golem.
Their size doesn’t seem that different, but the weight of the Iron Golem is indeed different.
The way its movements seem light despite that is mysterious.
As the name suggests, the Ironclad Soldier is a heavily armored soldier.
Their weapons are all different.
Those also look heavy.
I guess the one that looks the lightest is the Morning Star?
For one-handed weapons it could be a mace, a war hammer, or a battle axe?
The armor also looks heavy.
So, I guess I should assume that they are slow moving?
The problem is the Iron Mask.
Only this one, I don’t know his weapon.
I know he’s equipped with a masked iron helmet, but he’s wearing a black coat that covers his entire body.
It’s almost as if he’s playing something, like an actor.
Only this guy seems to be moving quickly.
And with the Iron Mask in the center, two Iron Golems flank him on both sides.
It seems that four Ironclad Soldiers are following behind each Iron Golem.
Should I take them head on?
If Jericho and Senki were here then I might have that kind of option?
I’ll start by splitting up their forces here.
I’ll use Pitfall.
But it doesn’t seem to work.
It’s a dud.
Like the Valley of the Cross, huh?
I ride horseback to avoid the approaching enemies and monitor the situation.
Volff, Helix, Oma, and Kyokuya all go for the Iron Mask.
But.
I’m not sure what to make of this.
It’s not that all of the summoned monsters’ attacks didn’t reach them.
How is the decrease to Iron Mask’s HP?
It’s not good.
He took Kyokuya’s Breath attack, but he took even less damage than the Ironclad Soldiers.
The rock lumps that Helix pelted him with dissipated in mid-air.
The same goes for his wind blades.
Oh dang.
Attack spells are ineffective?
Shit.
It’s not just attack spells.
Defensive fall is also ineffective.
But there’s a different discovery.
The range of cancelling.
It’s just the surroundings of the guy with the iron mask.
Things seem to work on the Iron Golems and Ironclad Soldiers who were moving away to chase me.
The pitfall worked.
The Iron Golems and Ironclad Soldiers will be writhing in a hole.
But the Iron Mask moves.
He is heading for the Pitfall hole.
Then Pitfall is forcibly released.
Hey.
That, can happen?
Thank god we move quickly, right?
And it’s a good thing our enchantments aren’t disabled.
Helix’s aerial attack seems to be a challenge for the Iron Mask.
The Ironclad Soldiers are struggling to intercept the Helix, but it’s pointless.
In fact, it’s more gratifying for me.
The problem is the guy with the shield.
They move as if they are protecting the Iron Mask with their shield.
Well, they can’t defend against all of Helix’s attacks.
Even so, Iron Mask’s HP bar is still over 90%.
Damn it!
Too annoying!
The Iron Mask is the key.
I know that.
But I can’t get close enough.
Not only the Ironclad Soldiers, but even the Iron Golems are on the defensive.
I have a suspicion.
We haven’t taken that much damage either.
If we take our time and pick away at the number of Ironclad Soldiers, can we win?
The Iron Mask pulls out an arm from inside his robe.
His hand seems to be covered with a tough armguard.
What’s in his hand?
A wand.
Oh no!
With my Sense Magic-enhanced eyes I can see that the wand has powerful magic in it.
The other side properly had its own means of attack.
What is it?
Shock.
He seemed to just flicked off the magic, but the range was directed all around.
How much damage?
Not fatal.
But it can’t be ignored.
And the Iron Mask?
The wand in his hand seems to have fallen apart.
Oi.
It’s a disposable attack item!?
At last, we’ve defeated two of the Ironclad Soldier guards.
Only six left.
The Iron Golems?
We’ll deal with them later.
Taking them down would be too much trouble.
What about the Iron Mask’s attack?
I’ve decided to counter it by applying Regenerate to everyone.
If it comes to this I’ll respond head on.
Even the two Iron Golems have joined the escort, even further strengthening the Iron Mask’s defense.
What the hell, you’re going to go all out on me!
Anyways, Mr. Iron Mask.
How many disposable wands do you have in your possession?
If I remember correctly, the one he’s holding now should be the fifth.
I wonder how much time has passed.
The number of ironclad soldiers has been reduced to two.
Both of the Iron Golems are still alive and well.
At this point it seems that Kyokuya can’t even afford to use Breath anymore.
In addition, the Iron Golem’s counterattack gave it abnormal status.
It’s pretty serious.
I used Change Monster to switch him out with Shishiku.
I matched my timing with Shishiku’s Breath to slip through the Golems’ gap and approach the Iron Mask.
The risk to me and Zangetsu is high.
But at this rate we’re not getting anywhere.
「Lance Charge Burst!」
A direct hit to the mask.
In exchange, an Iron Golem’s fist grazes my shoulder.
Just from that 30% of my HP was eliminated.
Does it hurt?
It’s a sort of numbing feeling.
You’ll pay for that later, okay?
But for now disposing of the Iron Mask comes first.
The iron mask fell quickly.
If he could move after taking a direct hit to the face it’d be a problem!
If he could do that, he wouldn’t be human.
It’d be a demon.
No, I don’t mind if it’s a demon.
Besides, it’s doubtful whether the Ironclad Soldiers are really human.
How can they move with such heavy armament?
What about spells?
They’ve started working.
Things are starting to look up.
An Iron Golem emerges from the bottom of the Pitfall hole.
How?
Do it’s hands reach the edge of the pit?
It looks like two Iron Golems are working together.
「Force Bullet!」
I give it a few Force Bullets and then a charge to top it off and have them return to the bottom of the pit.
And then Gravity Prison.
But these guys seem powerful.
Their movements were slow to begin with, so it doesn’t feel like the spell has slowed them down that much.
Defensive Fall and Acid Shower.
Magma Field and Heat Body.
As the Iron Golems struggle, the Ironclad Soldier with the lowest HP bar went an died.
Oi Oi Oi.
Immediately after the Iron Mask disappeared, this?
But the Iron Golems are trouble.
They still have plenty of HP.
My MP seems on the verge of running out.
I tried a lot of things, but it seems that spells weren’t really strong against Iron Golems from the start.
That’s a problem, but it’s also hard to keep them in the hole.
But.
That was solved in an unexpected way.
Magnetic Force.
Iron Golems entangle with each other.
They seem to damage each other just by struggling to pull themselves apart.
A modest amount, but.
The effect of Pitfall wore off just as it was getting good.
The Iron Golems are still stuck to each other.
As a result, the last Ironclad Soldier is also unable to move.
Then.
Should I beat them one-sidedly?
No, let’s charge in.
But it was really a lot of work to finish them off.
Even if Defense Fall works, it’s hard.
And tough.
But with the use of Magnetic Force a few more times, I managed to defeat them.
In the end, wasn’t the damage from the Acid Shower and Magma Field the most effective?
Hm, maybe it would have been good if I had fought with a Petrified Wood Staff or a Snow Beast
Mace from the start?
Things like stabbing or slashing don’t seem to go well against them.
I’m too careless.
I guess I was too conscious of fighting on Zangetsu.
And did I make a mistake by choosing Shishiku for Change Monster?
It probably should have been Senki or Jericho.
More destructive power was needed.
Well, that’s also if I had known in advance that Magnetic Force would work.
Magnetic force, huh.
Was Magnetic Field the upgraded version of that?
Next time, I’ll make use of this combat experience.
If there is a next time, that is.
The second Iron Golem was finished off by Oma.
Bite didn’t seem to work so well, so he beat it until the end.
But wow, I really appreciate everyone’s hard work.
《The puppet’s thread has been severe》
《But even so, the thread of fate has not been severed》
《Seek the Principle of humanity》
《A tainted puppet is also good》
《He who moves on cannot do so without sacrifice》
Okay.
I got the notifications, which means I won.
Was it long?
Hmm.
I couldn’t tell you how long it took.
Maybe, no, it was definitely long.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Summoner is Going
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 Hours
Thanks for the treat.