Chapter 626: Sound of the Pipe

Kwaaaaaaaaah━━━━!!!!

In the heart of Randa, surrounded by a forest of skyscrapers, an unseasonable inferno erupted.

The fire was so immense that despite the surge of rats across the City and the reanimation of corpses, people were helplessly fixated on the blaze.

This was true for the City Councilors residing in prestigious areas, the City officials in middle-class zones, and even the head of a charity in the lower districts.

It was almost natural.

The fire boasted an overwhelming power, reaching up to the sky.

It was like a disaster.

A calamity that turned man-made distinctions of wealth or status into mere ash, so fearsome that approach was impossible.

However, in the middle of this disaster stood two men, one of whom asked in the same voice and tone as always.

“I’ll ask again. Who are you?”

Oliver was quietly astonished at the sight.

Despite using [Devouring Fire], a complex technique that mixed emotion and magical power, reducing the Verdant Forest to mere kindling, it couldn’t touch the Pied Piper.

This was not a joke or exaggeration. It literally didn’t reach him.

As proof, the Pied Piper stood unharmed in the flames. Not a single thread of his clothing was singed.

It was as though he were in another world.

Oliver had expected it to have some effect, at least.

He couldn’t just leave things as they were. Oliver immediately took action.

He began to control the black flames under his command, manipulating the [Devouring Fire].

Oliver concentrated the flame inward, preventing it from spreading to the surroundings.

Rumble, rumble, rumble······!!!

As he forcibly compressed the flames, the density increased, along with the fire’s heat and pressure.

It was to the extent that even the minimum emotion and magical power necessary to trigger a spell would be burned away.

This created an environment inside the flames where no spell could be activated.

‘Not that I know how this might affect the Pied Piper.’

Oliver worried inwardly, uncertain if this would be enough to stop the Pied Piper.

But he couldn’t just sit there and worry.

Oliver applied pressure to the flames, compressing them to restrict the Pied Piper’s movement; he then transformed part of the flames into claws and fangs of a beast and directed them to physically attack the Pied Piper.

The greedy nature of [Devouring Fire] lashed out at the Pied Piper like a ravenous beast, but the Pied Piper easily blocked it with an invisible barrier.

Oliver was holding his own only because of his resistance to flames and his command over the [Devouring Fire], but the Pied Piper was defending effortlessly.

It was a sight that was hard to believe, even though he was seeing it with his own eyes.

As if responding to Oliver’s thoughts, the Pied Piper spoke.

“It seems you don’t want to answer. No matter.”

His voice sounded as if he had made a decision. Oliver felt a shiver run down his spine as the Pied Piper’s sound echoed ominously.

Fwaaaash!

As the sound rang out, it felt as if the very air… No, the space itself was being torn apart, shattering the [Devouring Fire] into pieces.

In an instant, one of Oliver’s most powerful techniques was rendered useless.

Before he could even realize what had happened, the Pied Piper, who had been far away, suddenly appeared right in front of him.

“If you won’t answer, I’ll just make you speak.”

With a casual remark, the Pied Piper moved his arm.

Whoosh━!!!

It wasn’t a punch. He merely reached out to grab Oliver.

But that simple motion caused a terrifying sound as the air seemed to tear apart.

Oliver hurriedly activated one of the wooden sticks scattered around, marked with spatial magic, to create distance and avoid being caught.

The danger of the Pied Piper’s strength was clear.

Even though it wasn’t a deathly blow, just an attempt to grab him, the force was deadly.

The Pied Piper then turned to Oliver, who had gained some distance, and instead of approaching directly, brought the flute to his lips.

An incomprehensible action.

The flute neither assisted in the casting of dark magic nor amplified its power, and yet the Pied Piper played it.

But regardless of Oliver’s thoughts, the flute’s sound rang out, and suddenly Oliver found his surroundings beginning to distort in ghastly ways.

Geeeeek······!

The already-ruined ground trembled and split open; hills began to rise.

Buildings reassembled themselves into structures resembling the tentacles of a Kraken, slamming down onto the ground and causing tremors.

It was a nightmarish and bizarre scene.

Between the shifting, chaotic Cityscape, a swarm of zombies, now entirely pitch-black, encircled Oliver like a flickering swarm of lights.

The Pied Piper had reinforced the zombies, and they now held weapons that weren’t there before.

‘Weapons… forged from corpses.’

Oliver instantly discerned their nature by observing the weapons made of flesh and bone.

Scrreeeech!!!

The zombies surrounding Oliver swung their weapons in unison, launching an assault on him.

The giant scythes, tridents, long swords, and maces of flesh collided, creating an explosion of sound, spreading disease, and causing bone spikes to shoot up from the ground.

Luckily, Oliver managed to evade by deploying spatial magic just in time when he saw the zombies.

“Kyahahahahahk!!”

“Krrrrrrrrrrrrk!!”

“Khaaaah━━!!!!”

But there was no time to relax.

As soon as Oliver evaded, the zombies let out a hateful wail and immediately pursued him.

Soon after, an endless horde of zombies joined the chase, surrounding Oliver completely.

It was as if an undead army had emerged out of nowhere in the City.

Oliver quickly used the wooden sticks inscribed with spatial magic repeatedly to escape from the zombies, but they relentlessly pursued him, using their enhanced bodies.

It was like a game of tag between beams of light.

Every time the lights clashed, a powerful shockwave accompanied by blue magic light and black smoke exploded, scattering the zombies.

Oliver steadily reduced the number of approaching zombies as he destroyed them.

But each time he reduced their numbers, more zombies appeared to press in on him.

How many people had died in this City today?

The problem was that it didn’t end there. As the chase continued, the supply of wooden sticks Oliver had spread out dwindled, gradually limiting his ability to evade.

To make matters worse, the changing terrain, moving according to the Piper’s music, also worked against Oliver.

Crash!

As soon as he thought that, the terrain twisted, creating a massive wall that disrupted the path of Oliver’s spatial magic.

His speed naturally slowed. The zombies let out hideous screeches and charged at Oliver.

Pow pow pow!!

Without hesitation, Oliver pulled out a large number of papers from his chest, throwing them at the oncoming zombies and activating his spatial magic.

Whirrrrr······!!

A small but clear sound like a bug’s wings, and a violet portal formed, slicing through the incoming zombies.

“Kyaaaaaa!!!”

“Guroooooong!!”

“Krrrrrrrrrr━!”

But the endless zombies kept pressing in. However, Oliver now had reinforcements of his own.

“Kyaaaaah!!!”

“Tat-tat-tat-tat-!”

“Khhkhkhkhk······!”

From the violet portal in the paper appeared numerous Zombie Puppets Oliver had created previously.

These were not the ones possessed by the Childs. Just training Zombie Puppets, but they were still controlled by Creature-Pi Puppets, made using [Memory of Blood].

Creature-Pi Puppets, created based on memories stored in blood, to control Zombie Puppets.

The summoned Zombie Puppets slowly raised their firearms, firing upon any zombies that came close.

They pulled out concealed chainsaws to cut the zombies into pieces.

Using the magic contained in the blood, they engaged in vicious battles, using both magic and dark magic to reduce the zombies to ashes.

A scene worthy of being called a war of the dead.

Just as Oliver was about to use the corpses for another ritual, a shadow fell over him, and a building, newly remade into a Kraken-like structure, began slamming into the ground relentlessly.

The massive weight struck down, overturning the ground and causing it to shake as if an earthquake had hit.

Oliver barely escaped, but the undead and Zombie Puppets in the midst of battle weren’t so fortunate. They were crushed like ants under the overwhelming mass and destroyed.

In an instant, the battlefield became a wasteland, and from the rubble, the Pied Piper suddenly appeared.

“This is strange.”

The Pied Piper swung his fist, and Oliver countered by drawing and slashing with his Dagger.

Sliiiiiiiiice━━━━━!

A sharp sound cut through the air as Oliver barely managed to defend against the Pied Piper’s punch.

“It doesn’t seem like you don’t know who you are.”

The Pied Piper continued attacking Oliver with one hand.

Each time, Oliver swung his dagger and unleashed various attack spells to twist the trajectory of the Pied Piper’s attacks.

It was an ironic situation where he had to attack to defend.

And yet, the Pied Piper continued to speak calmly.

“Ah… Perhaps you just don’t want to admit it? Who you really are?”

“……”

“Well, I can understand. My situation was different, but it’s similar in some ways.”

Amid the relentless onslaught that could cost Oliver his life, the Pied Piper’s words somehow cut even deeper.

“You thought if you believed everything would be okay, it really would be okay.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you are in denial.”

The Pied Piper concluded on his own.

As soon as Oliver heard this, he activated all the wooden sticks marked with spatial magic that he’d scattered around.

The spell, obeying the caster’s command, began to pull in everything within its range.

Shwiiiiiish!!

The Pied Piper was no exception.

Thanks to Oliver’s deadly trap, the Pied Piper, who was standing at the intersection of multiple spatial magic points, was forced to stop as the surrounding forces pulled him in all directions.

The space itself moved, and this was the inevitable result.

‘Originally, the plan was to tear him apart, not just restrain him.’

Although his finishing move only managed to slow things down, Oliver wasn’t discouraged and was about to launch his next attack. But at that moment, the ground trembled, and the surroundings began to shift.

Despite being bound by space, the Pied Piper managed to exert control over the surrounding terrain. Oliver had a good guess as to what he was trying to do.

If the terrain itself twisted, the spots where the wooden sticks were planted would also twist, naturally freeing him from the restraint.

Despite the sudden phenomenon, the Pied Piper remained calm as he figured out the principles at play.

Just as the Pied Piper was regaining his freedom of movement, some of the zombies and Zombie Puppets lying around suddenly clapped their hands together.

············!!!

They let out a bizarre sound, part scream, part prayer.

It was [Lamentation], a dark ritual used by the Swan Prince, which Oliver had copied. As soon as the ritual activated, the surroundings stopped moving.

It seemed to have worked on the Pied Piper.

At that very moment, with the Pied Piper’s body and techniques subdued, Oliver adjusted his hold on the Dagger in his left hand and swung it.

His target was the Pied Piper’s neck.

The blade of the Dagger, which could expose the victim to countless deadly diseases with even a light touch, drew a crimson line as it flew toward its mark, stopping just as it was about to hit.

Creaking sounds… then SNAP!

The Pied Piper had shattered the space locking him down and grabbed Oliver’s hand.

“Is this your final move?”

As Oliver dropped the Dagger, unable to withstand the Pied Piper’s grip, the Piper asked.

Oliver responded:

“No.”

At the same time, Oliver swung his bandaged right arm. The bandage had already been loosened in preparation.

As the loosened bandage fluttered, it revealed the severely burned skin beneath. A brilliant [White Flame] then ignited on his exposed skin, glowing brightly.

Sizzle!!

Just as the [White Flame] was about to explode, the Pied Piper grabbed Oliver’s right arm and extinguished the flame.

An inferno feared as the devil’s fire was doused.

As the horrifying scene unfolded, Oliver hesitated, and then the Pied Piper’s fist slammed into his face.