Chapter 564: Escape

A gigantic dark cloud began to form over the villa where the nobles had gathered.

Its size and speed were evident; it was clearly created by some unnatural force. Soon, blue lightning snaked through the clouds.

Rumble. Rumble. Rumble…!!

The sky and ground shook as well, and every time it happened, Fen could feel the creatures lurking around the villa tremble in fear.

It was to be expected.

Though creatures were fake beings created through dark magic, they were still living beings.

And every living being instinctively feels fear when faced with a disaster.

‘Well, not that I’d ever let them run away. Never.’

Fen muttered to himself as if possessed. That’s when it happened.

“Wow… That’s amazing.”

One of the twins standing next to Fen murmured as he looked up at the sky.

It wasn’t strange. The majestic dark clouds and lightning above were mesmerizing. Powerful forces always had a compelling charm.

However, there’s a time and place for everything.

Fen quickly turned his head towards the twin who had spoken, and Slightly, wearing a fox cape, urgently covered the twin’s mouth.

At the same time, Kirby, donning a bear cape, smacked the twin on the head with his fist, shouting in anger.

“How foolish…! What’s so amazing about that!? The Captain is a hundred—no, a thousand times more amazing than that━”

━BOOOOOOOM!!!!

Kirby was cut off mid-sentence as a bolt of black lightning struck the ground, swallowing his voice.

Multiple black lightning bolts struck around the villa,

causing massive explosions and flames so intense that the very air seemed to twist from the shock and heat.

These weren’t ordinary lightning bolts; they were closer to malicious bombardments, and it wasn’t just a feeling.

The hundreds of creatures that had been obliterated by the lightning were proof of that.

Gulp.

The overwhelming sight made even the usually careless twin gulp, as did Kirby, who had just praised Fen, and Slightly. All of them silently looked at Fen.

“C-Captain…?”

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“Amazing, right? That was… amazing, wasn’t it?”

Caught off guard by Fen’s sudden question, the boys blinked, unable to respond.

They couldn’t figure out what kind of answer Fen wanted.

If they answered wrong, who knew what would happen with Fen’s increasingly volatile temperament?

In fact, some boys had already lost their lives because of such mistakes.

Then, Fen spoke up again.

“I asked you… Wasn’t it amazing?!”

When Fen furrowed his brow, the boys jerked as they hastily shook their heads.

The small wrinkles that appeared on Fen’s face only made him look even more terrifying.

“N-No! Captain! It wasn’t amazing at all!! Because you’re way more amazing!!”

“Yeah! Yeah!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Really?”

“Yes!!”

“That’s strange. I thought it was amazing, though.”

It was rare for Fen to commend something so highly.

A rare occurrence. The boys cautiously spoke up.

“Are you, uh, sure?”

“Yeah! There aren’t many who can use magic on that scale. But, do you know why that guy could cast such magic?”

“No…”

“Because that bastard is a fake prince, so authentic he can even fool demons.”

“A fake?”

“Yeah, a fake. Because I’m the real prince, right? So he has to be the fake! Don’t you think?!”

When Fen spoke with the innate cruelty of a child, the boys shuddered and quickly nodded their heads.

“Y-Yeah! The Captain is the prince! The ruler of Neverland and the Prince of Hell!”

“That’s right! I’m the prince! But because of that faker, I’ve been denied!”

“…”

“That’s why today, I’m going to obtain Wendy and strike down that fake too. He’ll regret ever ignoring me! So, you have to do your best.”

“Do you think we can do it?”

“Sure, why not? That bastard has a peculiar weakness.”

Fen smiled with wrinkled cheeks. The wrinkles made his expression look unbelievably grotesque.

***

“Kyahaha—!!”

Dozens of black lightning bolts fell from the sky, literally turning the area around the villa into a barren wasteland.

The ground trembled, the powerful shockwaves and heat shredding and burning countless creatures hiding in the forest.

All that remained was ash and scorched earth.

Even the nobles, guards, and Holy Knights were stunned by the sight.

“Please.”

While everyone was in shock, Oliver, as though it was someone else’s problem, made a request to the wolf-creatures.

As soon as he made his request, the gigantic wolf-creature, larger than a car, leaped forward, swiftly crossing the area struck by lightning.

The speed was so incredible that the previously massive villa now looked like a tiny matchbox from a distance. That was a good sign.

The faster they moved, the sooner they could reach the edge of the space created by Fen, increasing their chances of a safe escape.

Of course, speed alone wouldn’t be enough.

“Please take care of the four o’clock direction.”

Oliver called upon the Zombie Puppet in the four o’clock direction.

Though the sound of the wind might drown out his voice, the Zombie Puppets in the four o’clock direction reacted instantly, preparing their magic.

One Zombie Puppet used Enlil Faction’s wind magic to create a gust, while another added fire to the gust, quickly forming a giant fiery tornado.

Fwooosh!

The sound of the air burning echoed as a giant pillar of flame, mixing orange and red, flew out and intercepted the approaching horde of creatures.

The massive explosion and the creatures’ screams served as evidence.

The creatures had begun their attack.

“Ugh…”

“Oh God.”

When the creatures appeared, some of the nobles groaned or called out to the gods.

“Please take care of the nine o’clock direction.”

Oblivious to this, Oliver continued to do what he had to, surveying the area within a few hundred meters with the Warlock’s Eye.

The creatures approaching from the nine o’clock direction were the Red Ones, men with excessively red skin and large noses who looked straight out of a caricature.

They were approaching fast, riding horses and aiming their arrows in this direction.

Zzzzzzing!

Just as the Red Ones were about to shoot their arrows, the Zombie Puppets in the nine o’clock direction worked together to use ice magic from the Skadi Faction, freezing both the ground and the Red Ones.

Of course, the Red Ones quickly froze solid, but shockingly, flames ignited on their bodies, starting to melt the ice.

It was just as those racially stereotyped jokes about how easily fire would catch on red skin.

Before the Red Ones could completely melt the ice, Oliver used dark magic.

[Freeze Necrosis]

Freeze Necrosis, a disease-based dark magic that destroys the cellular structure of those exposed to extreme cold.

When he added it to the ice created by the Zombie Puppets, the fire on the Red Ones weakened, and one by one, they fell.

Though it seemed they had managed to repel the second wave, a sharp noise from the sky immediately followed.

Screeaaaaaak!!

Screech! Screeeeech!

Skreeeeeee!!

These were Monster Birds—creatures with women’s faces, bird’s bodies, and insect wings.

But before Oliver could even issue a command, the Zombie Puppets shot lightning magic into the sky and struck down the Monster Birds.

“Oooohhhh!!”

Some of the guards and nobles cheered as thunder, flames, ice, and stone pillars erupted non-stop.

Not bad. The excitement diluted people’s fear. Even though endless hordes of creatures were attacking, Oliver was able to fend them off with relatively little difficulty.

In this operation, the most dangerous variable was our own allies succumbing to fear.

“Please take care of the eight o’clock direction.”

Oliver stayed focused on his duties.

He surveyed the surroundings with the Warlock’s Eye and made requests to the Zombie Puppets whenever needed, and the Zombie Puppets obediently followed.

They used wind blades to cut through the creatures hiding in the bushes along with the trees,

fired lightning at the chick soldiers and chicken commanders in military uniforms, cooking them thoroughly,

and sent giant bullets mixed with earth and fire to smash the Nutcrackers charging at them, turning them into firewood.

As expected, high-powered magic was proving effective against Fen’s creatures, but luck also played a part.

If these had been ordinary Zombie Puppets without Theodore’s cell implantation, it might have been difficult to fend off the attacks.

‘Of course, it’s not like we stopped everything perfectly, though.’

“Two have slipped through, Your Highness.”

Perhaps having figured out the attack pattern, two Unicorn-Creatures quickly shifted direction to avoid the attacks and penetrated through the Zombie Puppets.

The Unicorn-Creatures were targeting the nobles.

“I know.”

Armand responded, gesturing orders to the guards.

As soon as he gave the order, the guards used heavy firearms to slow down the Unicorn-Creatures, followed by the Holy Knight who beheaded their thick necks with a sword.

Though the Holy Knight had firearms, he was conserving his limited ammunition.

“Huh?”

Just as one crisis ended, Oliver narrowed his eyes as he looked ahead.

At a glance, there didn’t seem to be anything there, but Oliver, seeing beyond the veil, extracted a large amount of emotion, compressed it into a javelin-like form, and threw it.

Whoosh!

With a sound like a ballista being fired, the emotion-driven javelin flew through the air, and just before it hit its target, it exploded, breaking into dozens of pieces.

Bang!

Multiple black javelins pierced the ground,

prompting a Clown-Creature hiding underground to reappear.

Using its ability to move through walls and floors, it had laid in ambush, but most had been pierced by Black Javelin and fell on the spot.

Nevertheless, some had either evaded the attack or were still advancing, wielding large scythes as they swam through the earth like sharks.

A large scythe approached threateningly like a shark’s fin.

Just as Oliver was about to attack again, Armand steered his wolf-creature past Oliver.

“Pay attention to your surroundings.”

Armand said this, holding a longsword in one hand and a shotgun in the other. He charged at the approaching Clown-Creatures, firing a Holy-Power-infused shotgun for wide area damage.

As the clowns, unable to withstand the pain, emerged from the ground, Armand swiftly beheaded them at an unseen speed.

It was so smooth, like water flowing naturally. And then, as if nothing had happened, Armand returned to his original position.

“Thank you.”

“I’m just doing my job. By the way, how much further do we have to go?”

“There’s still some way to go, but we’re getting closer. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like he can stretch the space itself like in the Sleeping Forest.”

“That’s a relief.”

Armand remarked as he surveyed the changing scenery.

Oliver understood what he meant.

While nothing seemed to change at first, the further they distanced themselves from the villa, the more odd things they started to notice.

A massive flower shaped like a human mouth, a tree bearing lollipops, and even an iron cage barely big enough for a child to fit inside along with a guillotine. These were characteristic features of the space Fen had created.

None of it was directly threatening, but it was definitely unsettling.

Whatever it was, if Fen had made it, it wouldn’t favor them.

‘It feels like the number of creatures isn’t decreasing; it’s actually increasing.’

Oliver thought as he led the Zombie Puppets to fend off the creatures attacking from all sides. He must have killed hundreds of them already.

It was truly puzzling how Fen could create so many creatures. Considering that these creatures were made using human bodies and souls as materials, it should have been difficult.

“May I ask you a question?”

Armand asked as he approached Oliver from behind, commanding the Holy Knight and guards to handle the creatures that the Zombie Puppets missed.

Oliver wondered if something serious had happened since Armand usually only spoke when necessary, but the question that came out was unexpected.

“Why aren’t you using your shadow?”

“Hm?”

“Your Shadow-Creature.”

At first, Oliver didn’t understand, but soon he got what Armand meant.

In the Sleeping Forest, Oliver had used the Shadow-Creature once.

After beheading all the creatures in the Sleeping Forest, mimicking the Flesh Cook’s decapitation, Oliver had used the Shadow-Creature to finish things off.

Armand had also been present at that time.

“From what I saw, shadows seem to be more effective than magic against creatures. Is there a reason you aren’t using it now?”

Oliver internally clicked his tongue.

He never thought Armand could see through the Shadow-Creature’s properties just from seeing it used once.

Armand was clearly well-versed in dark magic, much more than expected.

Oliver replied.

“…It’s not suitable for swift movements like what we’re doing now.”

“Ah, I see.”

Armand quickly agreed. It was somewhat true.

In situations like this where they were moving quickly, it was difficult to use shadows.

Shadows worked best when used in a fixed position with shading.

But that wasn’t the whole truth.

The real reason Oliver wasn’t using his shadow was that he had forcibly put it to sleep.

Having consumed far more creatures in the Verdant Forest than expected, the shadow had grown in power and consciousness to the point where it would move on its own unless directly ordered by Oliver.

So, for safety reasons, Oliver had used dark magic to put his shadow to sleep.

For ordinary creatures, this wouldn’t have been necessary, but shadow creatures made from a caster’s shadow were different; they required more caution because of the material used.

‘After all, the shadow reflects the caster’s traits the most.’

‘Ribbit!’

Just as the hordes of creatures seemed to withdraw, a gigantic toad-creature, the size of a house, leaped high into the air and revealed itself.

It really wasn’t an exaggeration; the creature was massive. As he had done countless times before, Oliver ordered the Zombie Puppets to attack.

With a spark of magical power, a massive explosion engulfed the toad, which, using its tough body, endured and continued advancing. Despite—

[Black Javelin]

—Oliver’s projectile piercing through its body.

‘Ribbit…’

The toad, now with a large hole in its abdomen, let out a final croak, its cheeks swelling as it did.

The croak accumulated and then exploded from its mouth, along with something else.

Three boys wearing bear, fox, and raccoon capes.

Caught by surprise, Oliver almost fired Bullets of Hatred but hesitated.

In that moment of hesitation, the chubby boy with the bear cape transformed into a giant bear using the cape as a medium, lifting a club hanging from his waist and swinging it at Oliver.

The club was tinged with dark magic, but Oliver countered by swinging his quarterstaff, blocking the strike.

Clang━!

As the club and quarterstaff collided, a black shockwave spread through the air.

The boy in his bear form was unnaturally strong for his age, but it was something Oliver could manage.

Just as Oliver pushed the boy away and was about to continue moving, the wolf-creature he was riding on let out a cry.

It was because the twins, one in a raccoon cape and the other in a fox cape, had shot it with wind and wooden rifles.

The rifles looked like toys, but their power was substantial, and the bullets contained severe diseases, causing the wolf-creature Oliver had painstakingly created to crumble away.

Oliver floated in mid-air and then landed on the ground. The others who were following him also had to stop briefly.

“Now! Attack!!”

The boy in the bear cape shouted bravely, and suddenly, more creatures swarmed in from the forest.

These were creatures that hadn’t been detected until now, but appearing when Oliver and his party had to stop even for a moment was fatal.

The onslaught was too much for the Zombie Puppet’s artillery alone.

Oliver let out a short sound of contemplation and said,

“Hmm… Second, Force. Could you please assist?”

At Oliver’s call, Zombie Puppet-Duncan, and Zombie Puppet-Durance flew out from within his coat.