Chapter 565: Escape

At Oliver’s call, Child-Second and Fourth emerged from his embrace.

At the same time, the Zombie Puppets Duncan and Durance, who had been miniaturized by magic, sprang out following the preset magic formation.

Ironically, both had originally betrayed their organizations.

However, as Zombie Puppets, they no longer betrayed Oliver’s expectations.

“Huuuh…”

“Huuuup…!”

For a brief moment, Oliver saw it.

When the miniaturization spell was lifted, Duncan and Durance returned to their original forms.

Child-Second and Fourth entered their respective Zombie Puppets Duncan and Durance, taking a deep breath before moving.

The first to move was Second inside Duncan.

The Zombie Puppet, appearing as a beautiful woman in her early thirties, used magic like the mage she once was. She manipulated the ground, creating a huge pillar and climbed atop it to gain the high ground.

Then, using her special ability of body manipulation, two new arms sprouted from each of her shoulders.

Crack-crack-crack-crack!

The sound of bones and flesh being reassembled echoed as her arms transformed into gun barrels.

Six guns quickly formed.

Blue vapor was released from tiny holes in Durance’s body, and the barrels on her arms began emitting blue flames.

Like dozens of machine gunners firing simultaneously, the violent noise shook the air.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

With each round, the air rippled from the shock, and the flesh bullets tore through the air, lodging deep into the approaching creatures, leaving them with large gunshot wounds.

Wet sounds echoed as flesh burst and shredded, leaving massive holes in most of the creatures’ bodies.

Some holes were so large that limbs flew off, bodies split in half, and heads nearly disappeared.

This destructive power was possible because Durance had received the knowledge of the Flesh Cook from the Dean of Loculi University and flesh from The Life School’s Grand Master Theodore.

With the assistance of supporting Zombie Puppets, most creatures were reduced to dust, and those few who survived were dealt with by Duncan.

Duncan, who had received the most of Theodore’s flesh, gathered a huge amount of mana into his legs and then kicked off the ground.

Thoom!

As Duncan kicked off, a shockwave spread out, erasing his figure. He reappeared before the surviving creatures, swinging his tonfa.

Each time the tonfa, crafted from flesh by Ewan, whipped through the air, an indescribable roar followed.

And with each roar, the creatures were literally torn apart, vanishing like smoke.

With the addition of the two Zombie Puppets, hundreds of creatures were annihilated.

Witnessing this, nobles, Holy Knights, guards, and even the boys in animal cloaks were all stunned.

They had expected to be caught, but the situation turned around instantly.

Judging the situation as settled, Oliver tried to move on, leaving the shocked boys behind. But at that moment, a boy in a bear cloak shouted in defiance.

“D-Don’t be scared! Fen is the real prince!!”

He seemed to be one of Fen’s subordinates.

To speak such words after witnessing the annihilation of hundreds of creatures showed utmost bravery-

-or was it foolishness?

Oliver saw through the boy’s emotions.

While it was true bravery to resist even after seeing the massacre of hundreds of creatures, this boy was driven by an even greater fear.

It was like choosing to face a pit bull over entering a lion’s den.

All of these boys feared Fen.

“Aaaaah!”

The boy in the bear cloak infused his club with dark magic and swung it fiercely at Oliver, followed by the boys in fox and raccoon cloaks aiming their air guns and wooden rifles.

These weapons might have looked like toys but had actually killed Wolf-Creatures in an instant.

Oliver quietly observed the scene for a brief moment, as if contemplating what to do.

“Die!!!”

“Die!”

“Die!”

The boys in fox and raccoon cloaks shouted as they fired their guns.

Despite the sincerity of their cries, what struck Oliver as interesting was how little malice there was. It was like a death without murderous intent, a contradiction of sorts.

[Black Shield]

Just before the dark magic-infused bullets hit, Oliver conjured a black barrier to defend himself.

Fortunately, the bullets didn’t seem strong enough to penetrate the shield. But then, the boy in the bear cloak brought his club down hard on it.

“Die!!!”

Bang!

The shield shattered under the force of the boy’s strike.

The boy in the bear cloak raised the club again to strike, but Oliver took advantage of the opportunity and launched the shattered shield fragments at the boys.

Shwik-shwik-shwik!

The sharp fragments cut through, slipping through the gaps in their attacks.

The boys flinched as the fragments grazed their skin.

“…”

Just as the fragments were about to pierce the boys’ fragile flesh, Oliver manipulated them, making the fragments envelop the boys like wax, restraining them instead.

As a result, the boys were immobilized, but at least they avoided being torn apart.

“…?!”

“…?!”

“What the…”

“What’s going on?”

The boys restrained by the shield fragments stared in bewilderment, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

For a moment, they looked just like any other ordinary boys.

“…”

After briefly observing them, Oliver created a new Wolf-Creature and mounted it along with Zombie Puppets Duncan and Durance.

“Huh… You’re not going to kill them?”

As Oliver prepared to move, a familiar yet different voice was heard.

“Fen?”

Oliver turned his head toward the direction of the voice.

There, a boy sat leisurely on a tree branch… though calling him a boy seemed slightly out of place now.

“…It’s been a while.”

Oliver greeted him, barely suppressing the urge to ask, ‘Your appearance has changed?’

Because Fen had indeed changed.

While it wasn’t a drastic transformation, there were subtle yet noticeable differences.

His once orange hair had dulled, his skin had lost its elasticity and started to wrinkle, his voice seemed affected by puberty, and even his overall atmosphere had shifted.

But the most significant change was in his eyes. Fen’s once-confident, playful eyes were now clouded, filled with jealousy and obsession.

Given what he had experienced on the New Continent, it wasn’t entirely surprising. But the shift was so dramatic, so eerie, that it startled Oliver.

“…As weak as ever.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re weak. You were weak there and even weaker now… You couldn’t even kill that child. If it were me, I would’ve done it without hesitation. Do you have some special reason?”

Oliver finally understood what Fen was implying.

‘There’ likely referred to the New Continent. Back then, Oliver had helped one of Fen’s subordinates, a boy who wasn’t quite a child anymore.

He had saved him from an axe swing by a Holy Knight that would have split his head open.

It wasn’t a conscious decision; Oliver had blocked the Holy Knight’s attack almost reflexively.

Yet Fen now called him out on this, reproaching him for sparing the boys here.

Puzzled by Fen’s behavior, Oliver retorted.

“Um… aren’t they your subordinates, Fen?”

“I asked why you didn’t kill them.”

Fen pressed. Oliver looked back at his group.

The nobles who had once been proud were now trembling, and even the Holy Knights and guards were on edge.

After all, they were dealing with Fen, who could summon hundreds of creatures at will.

Only Armand observed the situation with interest.

“What to do…”

Oliver contemplated how to respond. He wanted to talk with Fen, but with so many eyes on them, it felt risky. Ignoring the situation wouldn’t be without consequences either.

Considering Fen’s current unstable emotional state, it was impossible to predict what might happen.

After thinking it over, Oliver decided to engage in the conversation.

“Well… there isn’t any special reason… Aren’t they just… children?”

Oliver was pointing out what seemed obvious to him. Despite his settling in Randa as a solver, he still wanted to maintain some moral boundaries; killing children felt a step too far.

Fen laughed at his answer, although it was a laugh in appearance only.

“Heh heh heh… Are you serious?”

“Probably. You can see it if you look at me, right?”

Oliver invited Fen to read his emotions using a Warlock’s Eye. Fen’s gaze intensified, showing signs of frustration. It seemed he couldn’t read Oliver’s mind.

Yet he pretended as if he had.

“How virtuous… maybe I should give you a reward?”

“No, no. I appreciate the offer, but I don’t deserve it. I’m neither virtuous nor deserving of any reward.”

Even in this tense moment, Oliver responded with genuine humility.

He couldn’t consider himself virtuous, aware of the numerous flaws he possessed.

He wouldn’t share his soup if someone was starving, and though the kill learning dark magic was inevitable, Oliver knew his actions were rooted in selfishness.

He had chosen to become a solver to gain societal advantages, killing when necessary, dismissing the lives of those in the underworld.

In addition to these, Oliver was well aware of his numerous shortcomings.

‘Like the time that, out of emotional rage, I terrified a decent family living underground.’

Was he virtuous? That word felt as uncomfortable as the notion of being special.

“You lack both direction and goals.”

Fen observed, as if criticizing Oliver’s answer and attitude.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You don’t have the desires that a Warlock should have. That’s the most fundamental thing.”

Oliver wasn’t able to refute that. While everyone has desires, dark magic is a field where desire plays an especially crucial role.

Desires like wealth, power, or personal ambitions.

Joseph, refining his warlock abilities after seeing the grandeur of a hotel; Marie, becoming Joseph’s disciple to gain power; Joe, joining the Fighter Crew to survive in the X-District, are prime examples.

“But you don’t have such desires. Nothing at all.”

“…I just found dark magic to be beautiful and fascinating.”

“What a ridiculous answer. I’m talking about goals, and here you are saying it’s beautiful and fascinating. Is beauty and fascination your goal?”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“Of course, there is! That’s just an impression! A goal is something desperate, something inherently human! To want to live like a human, to desire to be better… your attitude is like admiring a pretty flower… That’s not fair, don’t you think?”

Oliver had no rebuttal.

Indeed, Oliver lacked that kind of desperation.

Fen noticed Oliver’s internal agreement.

“Ah! So you do get what I mean! Isn’t it true? Those with direction, will, and desire… they deserve to achieve more than those who lack these things!”

As the somewhat disconnected conversation started to take shape, Oliver began to understand what Fen was aiming for.

He glanced back at his group, then opened his mouth.

“…I think I understand what you’re trying to say. But I’m not interested in what you’re after. So-”

-chring-ring-ring!

From the air, darkness materialized as a spiked chain shot out.

Oliver instinctively blocked it with his quarterstaff.

It was the very same chain he had seen once before on the New Continent.

A chain made from the shadows, creatures, and human souls Fen had used to try and subdue The Burned One.

Although the attempt had eventually failed against The Burned One’s overwhelming power, the chain had still managed to pierce, bind, and restrain him for a time.

It might seem insignificant, but for Oliver, who witnessed the power of The Burned One incinerate people with just his breath, the chain could not be underestimated.

Thoom thoom thoom…

The pressure against Oliver’s quarterstaff from the chain was incredible.

Even for Oliver, who had eaten the palm flesh of the Flesh Cook and gained superhuman strength, it was something he couldn’t ignore.

“Quite strong, isn’t it?”

“I’ve been resting, but I did a little exercise recently.”

“Oh? Let’s see just how much exercise you’ve done!!”

As Fen shouted, darkness condensed in the air, spreading like ink until it swallowed the surroundings.

It resembled a prison constructed of darkness.

Inside this prison, gigantic spikes, skewers, spiked collars, Iron Maidens, and chains with hooks emerged, but just as they did, Oliver awakened his shadow, ordering it to consume the darkness.

Awakened from its slumber, the shadow devoured Fen’s darkness in an instant. Energized, it attempted to launch an attack, but upon seeing Fen’s face, Oliver hesitated.

Despite his attack failing, Fen seemed neither surprised nor disturbed; rather, he appeared as though he had expected this.

It was as if this much was already anticipated.

Fen’s gaze then turned toward something, drawing Oliver’s attention as well.

At that moment, Oliver saw it.

The fish-like creature he had seen near the lake by the mansion.

Astonishingly, the creatures had burrowed through the ground like moles, channeling the lake’s water toward this place.

Could such a thing be possible? But such thoughts vanished when a massive reptilian hand rose from beneath the lake.

As the giant hand, big enough to engulf the sky and create an artificial darkness, approached, Oliver sensed a faint aura of The Burned One.

Oliver instinctively recognized it as the sea monster that had recently appeared in the newspaper.

“Leviathan, strike.”

***

Beeeeeeeeeep…!!

Dust swirled everywhere, the sky and ground flipped, the earth quaked, and Oliver’s ears were filled with a disorienting ringing.

Nothing made sense.

The only things he remembered were the great lake that had formed as the earth collapsed, the massive reptilian hand rising from beneath it, and Fen giving the command to strike.

Strike.

Amazingly, the gigantic arm, larger than a giant’s and substantial enough to block out the sky like a calamity, responded to Fen’s voice.

Though it twitched at first, it eventually moved, as if forced by some external will, and struck the ground where Oliver and his group stood.

Though the attack was slow and not so precise, the massive arm covered in scales like layered steel plates made it a disaster in itself.

The hollowed-out ground, the countless injured bleeding on the ground, the Holy Knights treating them, and the shattered Zombie Puppets that tried to block the reptilian hand were all evidence of this.

Oliver recalled that Duncan had thrown his massive fist, Durance had fired a cannon, and the support Zombie Puppets had bombarded it as well.

Seeing the shattered Zombie Puppets, Oliver remembered what he had done before the reptilian hand struck.

He had ordered the Zombie Puppets to launch their strongest attacks, and he had desperately tried to block the reptilian hand using shadow-creatures.

But they were all overpowered by the sheer size and strength imbued with The Burned One’s aura.

Despite having little time to react, Oliver’s memory brought two questions to mind.

First, why hadn’t the enemy attacked in such a vulnerable situation? And second, where had Jane gone?

“Over here!”

A victorious voice rang out.

Oliver whipped his head around and saw Jane captured by the grotesque hand of a creature, with Fen and the boys in cloaks standing beside her.

While Oliver was trying to fend off the reptilian hand, they had kidnapped Jane.

The sight was so unexpected that Oliver’s eyes widened, and his pupils shrank.

His eyes became inhuman, neither those of a beast nor a person.

Fear gripped the boys, but Fen’s smile only grew wider.

It was a smile of intense satisfaction.

“Now, let’s make you desperate.”

Before Oliver could respond, Fen opened a portal using the darkness as a medium and vanished before Oliver’s eyes, leaving behind only the boy in the raccoon cloak.

Oliver stood there, staring blankly at where they had disappeared.