A black-light lit up and lifted the darkness in the room.
It was ironic indeed, but instead of dwelling on that, Oliver looked around.
The brick room, not too big or small, reminded Oliver of Joseph's secret altar, which also had piles of dismantled bodies scattered around the room.
Like Joseph’s secret altar, an unknown pattern was engraved in the center of the room.
Two crescent moons and X marks were drawn in a circle, along with a candlestick and a cross.
It was the same pattern as the one Oliver saw in the room where he first fell.
But the most noticeable of everything inside the room was none other than Puppet.
“Huhuhuhu… It’s nice to see you in person.”
Puppet was a very tall man in his early to mid-40s. His skin was pale, his nose was hooked, and had prominent cheekbones which gave the impression of a skeleton.
Oliver stared at him and asked.
"It's nice to meet you, too… You have a very unusual body, don't you, Mr. Puppet?"
Puppet smiled slightly.
Then he got up from his seat and moved his skinny hand like a skeleton.
Along with him, some of the body debris scattered around the room moved, completely blocking the only entrance of the room through which Oliver entered.
The entrance was not simply blocked. The teeth, jawbones, and skeletons that were blocking the entrance showed intent to attack and tear anything that approach its way.
To Oliver, the figure felt similar to the entrance to hell that the mine supervisors used to about.
Oliver said calmly.
"That’s brilliant. Using emotions of hunger and greed on the meatshield, you created such an amazing obstacle."
"After all imagination is the basis of black magic… But it's you that's amazing. You understood it as soon as you saw it. I think you're about 20 years old at most… Who’s your Master?"
"That's fascinating."
"What's?"
"Your disciple asked the same thing. A warlock named Puppeteer Glyph."
Oliver said deliberately. He wondered if that could sway Puppet. However, Puppet's emotions were just as calm as they were at the beginning.
"Well… I don't know who it is. I'm sorry, I've lived for hundreds of years and taught countless disciples. It's hard to remember every single one. Since I can't remember, I'm sure he's a worthless guy."
As soon as he heard those words, Oliver recalled the conversation he had with Puppeteer Glyph.
Oliver didn't remember much, but he clearly remembered the pride Glyph had when he said he was the disciple of Puppet.
Thinking about the contradictory nature of the emotions between the two, Oliver said.
“… That’s a little sad.”
"Sad? What?"
“Puppeteer Glyph had a lot of respect for Mr. Puppet. But, Mr. Puppet doesn't even remember him, it's… a little sad.”
Puppet stared at Oliver as he slowly approached him.
"Huhuhuhu… Interesting. Looking at you, it seems like you don’t even know what the emotion sad feel like, but still, you’re saying it’s sad…Very interesting. It’s like seeing an animal that mimics humans… What is your true identity?"
What is your identity?
Oliver didn't know how to answer this question, so he pondered for a while before answering.
"… I'm Dave, a Solver from District T."
"So, you won’t tell me? Well, I'll know once I check you out."
With those words, Puppet lifted his hand, the hand that was engulfed with creepy black emotions.
[Thrust]
Fortunately, Oliver's actions were quicker.
He fired [Thrust], by converting emotions into shockwaves that results in knocking and destroying the opponent.
Oliver fired [Thrust] with its maximum output. He knew instinctively that his opponent wasn't someone he could deal with in moderation.
And, that prediction was correct.
"Um… That body… what is that?"
Oliver asked as he watched Puppet recovering his shattered body in an instant.
Life-force that could not be thought of as a single person's, emanated from within Puppet’s body, and the wound healed, it was a truly bizarre sight.
But what was even more bizarre was the countless people that popped out from Puppet’s body.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
"Help me! Get me out! Kill me!"
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha"
"KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL!!!!!"
"Hehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahaha!!"
"Ohhhhhhhh! Let’s kill! Let’s kill!！"
"Mom! Mom! Mom!"
"Gueeeeek! Gueeeeeeeeeeee!
They howled as if they wanted to get out of Puppet's body. Countless faces and hands protruded from Puppet’s belly, and all they could do was just that and they couldn’t get out of his body.
This scene created a strange unpleasantness that could not be expressed with just the word ‘creepy'. It was at a level that would cause pathological disgust in ordinary people just by looking at it.
Of course, Oliver was more curious than disgusted.
No matter how much he looked at it, the thing in front of him was a different level of black magic from what he had experienced so far.
Oliver was curious as to how such a thing was possible.
"What's that body? Is it a combination of a Corpse Doll and Glutton bag?"
Puppet looked at his body and answered.
“Let’s say that half of your answer is correct.”
With those words, Puppet drew a large amount of emotion from his body.
Unlike the warlocks Oliver had met so far, Puppet extracted emotions directly from his own body… No, that word may be misleading.
Rather than from his own body, he forcefully extracted emotions from countless people trapped inside his body.
Oliver felt the idea pretty surprising – the idea of combining a Corpse doll and glutton bag to trap people and extract their emotions.
It felt like something that was outside the scope of common black magic.
"What is it?"
"Huhuhuhu…. I'm really curious about your identity. You're not even agitated after watching ‘This'… Well, I guess I'll just have to figure it out slowly from now on, right?"
Puppet chattered and slowly turned his emotions into black magic, but without missing the timing, Oliver fired [Hate Bullet].
The gathered emotions were destroyed by Oliver's swift attack.
When it comes to firepower battles, the victory goes to Puppet, who had an overwhelming amount of emotion, so Oliver had to push him as hard as he could whenever there was a gap.
Puppet, whose attack got counterattacked, said, raising one eyebrow.
"Huhuhuhu… You’ve quite the sense…"
———SHIK!
CHURRRRR——!
Oliver's shadow spikes pierced Puppet's body.
It did not end with that, more thorns sprouted around the pierced spikes, giving another blow from the inside of the body, but… it didn't seem like there was any damage to Puppet.
Even though his whole body got pierced, he did not scream, but rather broke the shadow spike and escaped on his own, and was recovering again.
Each time, the people inside the body screamed horribly.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh————!
"Um… It's not simply physically locking a person in your body."
"Correct… Is this the end of your attack?"
"no."
Oliver said as he pounded his quarterstaff to the floor.
A black cube surrounded Puppet, and on the inside of the black cube, it wasn't just Puppet.
In addition to Puppet, there was a minion inside the black cube.
A minion that was fed [Las Bomb] and [Explosion Fury] to the max.
“Minion, please.”
At those words, the minion that was trapped along with Puppet exploded inside the black cube.
It was a huge explosion, and perhaps Oliver would have been swept away with it if he hadn't limited the firepower by wrapping it in a black cube.
The smoke that emanated due to the aftermath of the explosion made it impossible to see inside the Black Cube, but Oliver was sure he had knocked down Puppet.
Because he couldn't see any emotions.
However, that was just an illusion.
Something flew toward Oliver passing through the black cube.
Oliver reflexively fired a bullet of hate and hit it, but to his surprise, it pierced through the bullet of hatred, it even pierced his black suit and hit his shoulder.
BAM!
This was the first time Oliver had gotten injured after leaving Joseph family.
Oliver pulled out what was stuck in his shoulder and checked.
It was none other than a finger.
Puppet had shot his finger that was filled with black magic, and before Oliver could even think about it, he felt another black magic.
As Oliver turned his gaze straight ahead, the remains of corpses lying in the corner of the room suddenly gathered together to form a giant claw arm.
An arm that was made of rotten flesh and fingers made of ribs rushed toward Oliver.
Oliver hurriedly raised the output of the [Hate Bullet] to the maximum and shot it, but it did not do much damage to the giant arm due to its overwhelming size.
BANG—-!!!
Claws made of rotten flesh and ribs grabbed Oliver and then slammed him against the wall as hard as they could, causing the wall to crack with a loud noise.
In addition, the ribbed fingers of the giant arm were so sharp that if Oliver hadn't worn the black suit he would have been a lump of chopped meat.
Oliver’s spine got broken, his ribs were shattered, and his intestines were crushed.
His condition was pretty dangerous, and he could hear the sound of the black suit cracking.
"…how did you do it?"
"What?"
Puppet, who broke the black cube asked.
He suffered burns in the aftermath of the explosion and was recovering surprisingly fast, although much of his body was destroyed.
Puppet stood as if nothing had happened.
"I couldn't see any emotions for a moment. Whether it’s up there or in the basement here… How did you do it?"
"Well, I wouldn't answer it if it was normal, but I’ll answer it this time because your attitude of asking questions even in this situation amazes me. It's a skill I learned to deal with warlocks with good eyes like you. Surprisingly, it works well in battles between warlocks. Since they mostly rely only on their eyes.”
"You learned?… Did you learn it from Demon?”
“Oh… you’re smart.”
"You can hide your emotions, and your body can't be seen with normal black magic… Did you get it by worshiping the Demon?"
Oliver asked, recalling Joseph's power and talents that were acquired through the Demon.
Oliver had no intention of insulting, but for some reason, Puppet's face suddenly distorted.
It was as if Oliver had unintentionally touched his sensitive part.
“…. It’s wrong.”
Puppet came closer and Oliver could see his emotions, which had always been calm and relaxed, wavered with displeasure.
"I'm not serving the Demon… It's just a deal. When I do a lot of research, I sometimes get stuck….. So sometimes….. It's just a deal from time to time. ”
“… Um, I see."
Oliver answered, exploding the emotions in his hands.
It was an imitation of the explosion caused by the Explosion Wizard he fought at Murphy’s warehouse. It caused a series of explosions and shattered the giant arm that grabbed Oliver.
Without panicking, Puppet flicked his finger and put the shattered corpses back together again.
But it didn't matter. Because Oliver was faster this time.
He cast [Targeting] on Puppet's body and on the ribs and teeth that scattered around.
Soon, ribs, bones, and teeth came rushing from all directions and pierced various parts of Puppet's body, like gunshots that came from all directions.
PAP PAP PA APAP——!!!
Thanks to the bones densely embedded in Puppet's body, Puppet’s movement was sealed for a moment.
"Technique is good, but in the end, it isn’t enough. For me, these are small attacks…."
[Las Bullet]
Oliver fired a bullet of hatred mounted with Las Boom that was compressed as much as possible, at the crack in the puppet's body.
Puppet, whose movements got slowed down due to the bones stuck in his body couldn't defend himself.…. Or, maybe he just didn't defend himself.
BANG————!
It was less powerful than the previous Las Bomb, but there was a strong explosion, and it was more effective because it exploded inside Puppet's body.
The smoke soon got cleared and Puppet's condition became visible, his upper body had got half blown away due to the explosion.
However, it made no sense. His upper body which got shattered by the explosion was recovering at the same time.
‘No..…. That recovery is not without cost.’
Oliver was indeed right.
Since the damage was so great, Puppet used the Life-force of the people inside his body to a great extent, which meant that there was definitely a limit.
If Oliver could constantly attack him like this, he could knock him down. However, the problem was…
—BAM!
Puppet's arms stretched out and grabbed Oliver's neck.
The grip was so strong that the weakened black suit broke at once, making Oliver look like a tortoise that had lost its shell.
"I guess you are running out of emotions… Right?”
Oliver affirmed Puppet’s question with silence.
The grip on Oliver’s neck got stronger.
"It's a pity. Well, basically, this is the weakness of being a warlock. You…it's kind of fun, but that's all. You’re just another genius that comes once in a while. Goodbye Genius Warlock.”
With those words, Puppet brought Oliver in front of his face and opened his mouth.
He opened his mouth so wide that it could swallow a whole man, and at that moment, Oliver saw something that could not be found in a human body in Puppet’s mouth. It was…
"This is the entrance to Hell. I’ll swallow you as a whole."
With his reddish-black mouth, Puppet tried to swallow Oliver.
It was not known whether it was real hell or not, but Oliver was engrossed by it as if he was fascinated by the sight that unfolded before his eyes.
He even felt something nostalgic.
Oliver felt like he was back in his hometown… And maybe that was why he reached out to it without realizing it himself.
And soon, he extracted the fluctuating emotions that were at the entrance of Hell.
(To be Continued)
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