Chapter 150

RMSBS – Episode 150 . The King of Puppets (1)

Kei firmly grasped his sword as he stepped back to take in the change of conditions . His eyes settled on the Homunculus .

The Homunculus stared back at Kei, instinctively aware that Kei was the most dangerous person here .

Feeling the Homunculus was an unusual being, Kei took his time to size up his opponent, rather than rush forward blindly .

“That monster seems to be something quite dangerous . ”

Desir replied .

“That’s a monster made through Alchemy . I dealt with a Homunculus when I fought off an evil Alchemist in the Desert-Flower City . But, that thing in front of us… it looks even more powerful than the one that I fought . ”

Standing next to the Prophet, the Homunculus looked rather human, unlike the incomplete Homunculus manufactured by Pureus .

It had distinct facial features and its skin and skeleton did not seem to be much different from that of any other human .

‘Most importantly, the mana I can feel from it is at the Second-Circle level . ’

Pureus’ Homunculus wielded monstrous ability with just First-Circle mana . Given that, he could reasonably expect that the Homunculus in front of him would be many times stronger than that one .

“I have an idea on how to get rid of it . ”

“Really?”

“While I’m fighting with it, I want you to deal with the Prophet . ”

The ability that the Prophet had displayed in just the brief skirmish earlier proved that he was no ordinary being .

Desir speculated that he still had a hidden trump card or two and decided to leave handling him to Kei . Kei surely had the power to prevail in a straight-up duel .

Kei nodded .

“Okay, then I’ll handle the Prophet . ”

Kei bowed lightly, then approached the Prophet .

*Rumble*

A thunderclap rang out from the Brionac, which circled the Prophet .

“Hmm, I see . So you are the one who decided to die at my hands?”

“It will be clear in a little while, just who will die . ”

Kei once again pointed his sword at the Prophet .

*Clash*

For the second time, Kei’s sword was blocked by the invisible barrier, but the Prophet’s brooch, which was likely an artifact, couldn’t overcome Kei’s power and shattered as it disintegrated .

Kei and the Prophet made their move before the debris of the brooch could even hit the ground . Kei kicked harshly against the ground, while the shards of light hovering around the Prophet formed a spear and shot towards Kei .

*Baaam*

A multitude of clashes ensued . The Homunculus launched an attack at Kei, in defense of its master, and the building trembled in response . No matter how strong Kei was, it was too much for any person to face off against both the Prophet and Homunculus at the same time .

Desir and his party rushed into action .

“I’ll give you instructions . ”

Desir hastily commanded Kei’s men .

“Commander believes in you, so we will also place our trust in you and follow your orders . ”

“Romantica . ”

Romantica used her rifle to launch several sniping spells at the Homunculus, as if she had been waiting for Desir’s signal .

*Bang*

It sounded like iron colliding with iron . Romantica’s magic couldn’t penetrate the Homunculus’ skin at all . Although she hadn’t put her full might into that attack, things did not look good .

Romantica was shocked at what she had just witnessed .

With its head bent at a strange angle, the Homunculus looked away from Kei and focused on Desir’s party . While it didn’t suffer any damage, the attack was enough to draw its animosity .

The Homunculus judged Desir’s party as being an immediate threat, and engaged them . It had not yet had a chance to adapt to its body, so its speed was still very slow . It slowly started to lift itself off of the ground it had fallen on to after attacking Kei .

In the meantime, Desir shared what information he had on the Homunculus with Kei’s men and his party .

“We shouldn’t attack it rashly . The Homunculus I fought before had the power to recover all of its wounds . Its recovery functions completely differently to regeneration, so it’s no use just destroying its body… even if we destroyed its entire body in a single strike . ”

As Desir finished his explanation, one of Kei’s men spoke up, his face showing a quizzical expression .

“Then that means this thing can’t be killed!”

“I thought so, too . ”

Desir also thought the power was invincible when he first confronted the Homunculus .

“But if you just follow my directions, we can win . Please don’t do anything rash in the meantime . ”

*Thump*

The Homunculus suddenly kicked against the ground and sprung towards the party, apparently somewhat more comfortable moving around . The speed of its movement was now beyond the level of a Bishop Class .

Perhaps because it still hadn’t fully grasped its capabilities yet, the Homunculus’ charge seemed somewhat reckless, but none-the-less remained extremely threatening . Desir gave his first command while looking at the approaching Homunculus .

“Block it, Pram . ”

Pram was a swordsman at the level of a Rook Class . His eyes were able to catch the movement of the Homunculus without difficulty . Pram’s sword pierced its shoulder . Pram’s strong aura prevented the Homunculus from using that arm anymore .

It didn’t take long, however, before it invoked the force of causality and returned to its former condition .

“Chase it, Adjest . ”

Adjest kicked against the ground while spreading a spell along her sword .

[Magic Sword: Ice Wave]

As her frosty sword sliced deeply into the body of the Homunculus, it gradually began to freeze .

“Now!”

Desir signalled Kei’s men .

They didn't miss the opportunity . They used their aura and immobilised the Homunculus by cutting off one of its legs . But it took three men rushing in together to only break one leg .

As expected, the being in front of them was far more powerful than the Homunculus he had previously dealt with .

The Homunculus once again invoked the force of causality .

But, this was Desir’s intention .

Desir realized that the force of causality was limited to returning the Homunculus to its best condition, based on the amount of mana it had left .

There was no time for the Homunculus to run away . As soon as its body was restored, its hand was cut off at the wrist before it even knew it by the approaching Pram .

The cycle of restoration and destruction continued several times .

Cut .

Restore .

Cut .

Restore .

On and on it went, as a barrage of attacks landed on it .

“Don’t give it a break!”

Another scary thing about Homunculus was that they quickly learnt how to fully utilize their abilities, even while being pummelled . The Homunculus in front of them was not yet able to fully utilize all of its abilities, so now was the best and only opportunity for Desir and his party .

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Desir was distinctly aware of this and desperately attempted to settle things as quickly as possible .

‘Even its ability to control the force of causality is limited right now . ’

This was the keystone of his plan .

The Homunculus used its accumulated mana whenever it empowered itself to deal or defend against an attack .

‘So the key is not how much damage it takes, but how much we get it to reinforce itself . ’

Desir and his party were able to accurately figure out how much damage they needed to inflict as the battle continued . With minimal effort, they induced the Homunculus to reinforce itself using its limited power .

Desir’s strategy worked . He could feel the mana inside the Homunculus gradually decreasing .

* * *

Brionac . An artifact belonging to the mythological age . It was a weapon that separated into several strands, moving freely in all directions as if each had their own will . Seeing it in action, one would feel that they were looking at a large army of lights . Even the material it was composed of was Blankšum, a metal considered to be the best of the best for weapons on this continent .

Each spear blade emitted an immensely sharp energy before firing at a person each in unison .

Sword Master, Kei Hajmaryun .

The most powerful swordsmen of this age .

Kei’s sword was a thing of legends, enough even to be referred to as a ‘Great Sword’ . However, it was not made from material as good as Blankšum .

It was easy to predict that if Kei’s ‘Great Sword’ and the Brionac made out of Blankšum were to collide, Kei’s sword would shatter .

*Kaang*

However, his sword was fine even after confronting Brionac head-on . The blade shone brightly and warped the air around it; due to Kei’s strong aura, the sword blade was unharmed

His movement was graceful yet sharp; a paradox of something that was beautiful and rough .

Countless sparks scattered everywhere like an afterglow, as the tip of his sword moved .

The spear of light divided itself into dozens of shards, but more than half of them had to be used to just defend against the sword wielded by Kei .

The remaining spears were free to press Kei little by little .

Instead of just being flung as projectiles, each and every one of these shards continuously fired beams of light powered by mana .

The problem was that unlike ordinary magic, their attacks fired nonstop . The shards seemingly gathered their own mana .

When an insurmountable number of beams poured down on Kei, he finally took a firm step and spread his aura around himself .

Following the trajectory of his sword, the now dispersed aura hung in the air before soon forming into a certain shape .

Their form started to resemble flowers in full bloom .

The whole building vibrated once again when the reformed spear of light collided with Kei’s flower-shaped aura .

Their fight was a transcendent battle beyond the comprehension of most human beings .

“Your swordsmanship has really reached the top level . ”

The Prophet did not stop moving while expressing his admiration of Kei’s swordsmanship .

*Ka-ang*

*Ka-ang*

“But why do you still wield your sword? Your king is dead, and your soldiers will all be hanged as rebels . Even if you succeed in this rebellion, no one will pardon you . ”

There was no break in fighting as he talked .

“Maybe you have a purpose I’m not aware of . ”

*Ka-ang*

The fight between the two was even .

Neither side had the upper hand, as they both fought while concealing their trump card, not daring to reveal their real skills .

It was the Homunculus who changed the circumstances of the battle .

“Kraaaaaaaaaaaa!”

It shrieked loudly and all present felt something change imperceptibly .

Somehow, it felt like time had slowed down for just a moment . This wasn’t just the imagination of one or two people . Everyone gathered here felt it .

—-

Chapter brought to you by the Patrons .

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ED2: Purplemen101

TLC: N/A (this could be you!)

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