Chapter 127

Chapter 127
Chapter 127: The Giant Beetle Puppet

A massive entity, bearing the likeness of a colossal stag beetle but possessing a presence so ghostly it was nearly impossible to detect without sharpening one’s focus, retreated into the earth.

“Just a moment ago, thank you…”

I gave Han Sang-ah a small shake of my head, signaling for her to remain quiet. She offered a subtle nod in return, lifting her blade to finish off the surrounding ghouls.

During the lull, I gripped the crown, which pulsed with a brilliant white radiance, and surveyed the area.

“Right, these bothersome things are nothing but vermin.”

The spectral knight I had encountered within the Unique Trait hadn’t been particularly formidable. If we were to engage in a direct, open confrontation, I held every advantage.

“And in that state, it isn’t even a true member of the restless dead.”

Judging by its aesthetics, it was easily one of the most repulsive undead specimens imaginable—truly bottom-of-the-barrel.

Despite the light pouring from the crown, the aura of the creature that had submerged into the soil did not become any clearer. That indicated the light wasn’t dampening its power in the slightest.

“Hiding in the dirt, are we?”

The gnomes I’d dealt with previously were fond of this tactic. They would lurk beneath the surface, waiting for a lapse in concentration to snap a throat in a flash.

It was a functional strategy. After all, when a head-on clash is a losing game, assassination is the premier alternative.

“Pitiable fools.”

However, employing the ‘best’ method didn’t always result in a win. I flooded my perceptions with mana, tracing the vibrations of the entity beneath the frost.

Though faint, I could distinctly track the squirming of that elderly stag beetle beneath the sediment.

“Gliding through the earth as if it were liquid.”

That was a feat even gnomes couldn’t replicate. The beetle moved with eerie silence and stealth, yet maintained a startling velocity.

—How does it look? Do you require assistance?

I sent a mental reply to Jeong Oh-hoon’s telepathic inquiry immediately.

“Negative. Focus your cover fire on Han Sang-ah instead.”

Upon my command, the crimson beams of light emitted by Jeong Oh-hoon pivoted toward her. Meanwhile, I kept my focus razor-sharp, shadowing the thing under the ground.

A few of the jagged protrusions on its back lengthened, stabbing toward the surface. Those spikes were locked onto my position.

“Good grief, a dying man’s final wheeze would have more of a presence than this.”

Its talent for masking itself was, admittedly, quite high. It was peak-level concealment.

“A specialist, then.”

In all honesty, once you identified the counter to that specific gimmick, these specialized combatants lost most of their lethality.

Just like this.

I calculated my jump perfectly, and several thick barbs burst from the ground exactly where I had been standing. A narrow miss. Before the spikes could retreat into the depths, I pressed the point of my spear against one.

“Farewell.”

The dark embers flickering at the tip of my weapon surged onto the barb. Infused with the Paradox Flame, the fire traveled down the spike as it withdrew toward its host.

The creature made a smart move by not wasting energy on a magical shield that wouldn’t hold up.

Still, it should have devised a plan for my Paradox Flame. Then again, one doesn’t simply manifest a counter-strategy for that on a whim.

“If you’re so enamored with the underground, you can rot there.”

The Paradox Flame latched onto the spine would eventually consume the body hiding in the dark.

Right then, the stag beetle hag—having been flushed out of her hiding spot—erupted from the soil. The Paradox Flame was already eating away at her back.

“Shedding your skin? You certainly have a full bag of tricks.”

With a sickening snapping sound, the beetle hag cast off her scorched outer shell and sprang forward.

The hollow carapace left on the dirt continued to incinerate under the black fire.

Fresh armor began to harden over the raw, exposed flesh. Seeing this, I clicked my tongue and snuffed out the Paradox Flame. There was no sense in burning a discarded husk.

—You dare to belittle my lord! And you slaughtered my comrade who stood by my side?! You wretched insect!

“Listen, ask anyone. It’s pretty clear who the bug is in this conversation.”

Calling me an insect? That was rich.

—I shall feast upon your skin and grind your bones to powder. I’ll pluck out your beating heart and crush it. I’ll split your head, scoop out your mind, and mash it. I’ll pull your spine from your back and drain the marrow. Yes, every bit of it.

The massive beetle hissed these threats while shivering with rage. The face of an old woman, poking out from its open mandibles, twisted around, spraying saliva and letting out a bone-chilling cackle.

“So you fight with your tongue as much as your claws. It’s a pleasure to meet a fellow loudmouth.”

I lunged forward, driving my spear toward it. The creature scurried on its six limbs, frantically evading the strike. It moved with surprising grace for its bulk.

Suddenly, its thick hide began to glow with a strange light and started to become see-through.

“Fading from sight won’t keep me from knowing your location.”

I hunted the invisible target without a moment’s pause, my eyes darting to track its path.

This wasn’t the primary body of this pest. The true consciousness was tucked away elsewhere. This creature was merely a remote-controlled drone.

“Wow, that’s quite a distance.”

It was dozens of miles away. Following the thread of mana control, it seemed to be stationed around Pyongyang.

There were signs everywhere of attempts to mask the mana connection—intentional distortion and scattering of the signal.

Regardless, remote operation via mana required one specific setup.

“A sender and a receiver.”

The sender was likely in Pyongyang. Therefore, the receiver catching that signal had to be integrated somewhere into this beetle’s form. It was buried deep.

Locating the specific component was going to take a bit of effort.

—…You are no ordinary mortal.

“I don’t need to hear that from a freak like you.”

The protrusions on its back fired toward me. Each time I parried with my spear, the black fire tried to use the spikes as a fuse to reach the main body, but the creature snapped the spikes off before the fire could travel.

New spines grew back instantly. It flickered between being visible and invisible while continuing its assault.

“Hey, lady, keep your face to yourself.”

The hag’s head extended from the beetle’s mouth, her neck stretching like a snake as she snapped at me. I caught the head in my grip and tore it away.

With a wet, bubbling noise, a duplicate face grew from the stump of the neck. The head cackled as a translucent spike lunged at my chest.

That wasn’t the concern, though.

“Where is that damn receiver? This is becoming tedious.”

Even if I attempted to incinerate the whole thing, the moment the Paradox Flame made contact, the creature would simply molt and grow a fresh exoskeleton.

—You are nothing special! You are a non-entity!

I scoffed at its taunt. Nothing special?

“I’m simply preoccupied with finding that little receiver you’ve got tucked away inside.”

—I didn’t make it easy for a piece of trash like you to uncover! No chance! None!

I twirled my spear, and the Paradox Flame at the tip left a trail like a dark firework, carving a wide arc in the air.

“To be honest, I caught a glimpse of it a second ago. But it moved. It looks like it changes its coordinates inside you every few seconds.”

—…

The creature went silent. If a beetle was capable of a shocked expression, I was certain it would be wearing one now.

“I just haven’t cracked the movement code yet. Once I do…”

I looked toward the horizon in the direction of Pyongyang and added,

“Your plaything is finished.”

Go cry to your parents for a replacement. Or if you built it yourself, get to work on another. Though I’ll probably pay the owner a visit before the next one is finished.

If you work hard, maybe you’ll manage.

—You will never find it. You people haven’t reached that stage of power yet…!

I didn’t bother with a verbal retort; I just smirked. It probably thought my grasp of mana wasn’t sophisticated enough. My apologies, but you really should have accounted for an outlier like me.

The world is only interesting because of the exceptions, isn’t it?

*Thud.* The tip of my spear pierced through its back and sank into its guts. I hadn’t hit it yet. But I would.

“Now.”

I gripped the shaft firmly, extending the spear’s length as the blade drove deeper into the beetle’s anatomy.

The point reached the exact coordinate at the perfect interval. Right when the receiver within the giant beetle was transitionary between positions.

A sensation akin to grinding bone traveled up the spear and into my palm.

“A totem? How uninspired.”

Constructed from the remains of the dead. It could have been far more imaginative.

What I had pulverized was an X-shaped totem made of human bone and braided tendons. At the junction where the bones met sat a deer’s cranium.

The spear had successfully shattered that skull. The moment it broke, the thrashing stag beetle went rigid.

—You… We shall be waiting for you.

“Don’t bother waiting. I’ll be coming for you regardless.”

With that final word, the receiver was obliterated. I pulled my spear free, kicked the massive beetle carcass a good distance away, and touched down on the ground.

“‘We,’ huh?”

I wondered how many subordinates this Varea character actually had.

Ideally, no more than three. Dealing with them individually was a simple task, but if they grouped up, the nature of the fight would shift completely.

“Time to pull down the obelisk.”

Upon hearing me, Han Sang-ah drove her blade into the torso of a three-headed monstrosity that was lunging at her, incinerating it with a surge of lightning.

With several wet pops, the heads exploded. She wiped the gore from her face with a rough hand and gave a nod.

“I want a bath the second we’re done here.”

I gestured toward the river behind us.

“Feel free to dive in once the job’s finished.”

But there was no time for hygiene yet. After planting a tracking chip near the remains of the giant beetle that had been sent flying, we prepared to take down the obelisk.

“Jeong Oh-hoon, can your beams crack that thing?”

A sequence of lasers slammed into the obelisk in response. However, the structure remained remarkably intact despite the concentrated fire.

—Purely mana-based strikes aren’t very effective.

Understood. No shortcuts then.

“Continue providing cover, then.”

I turned my attention to Han Sang-ah.

“I’ll handle two, you take the last one.”

She was more than capable of that. Han Sang-ah gave a short nod and sprinted toward the nearest pillar.

“Good grief, there are so many of them. At least tens of thousands.”

It wasn’t just about the sheer volume. I looked down at the crown glowing in my hand.

“If I didn’t have this and my ring, the numbers would have actually been an issue.”

There was a logical reason why Taebaek and Zanabi had failed to launch a counter-offensive. If I had relied solely on the ring, this ocean of undead would have eventually pushed through the cold.

They would have been sluggish, but the three of us—myself, Jeong Oh-hoon, and Han Sang-ah—wouldn’t have been able to wipe out tens of thousands so cleanly.

However, the crown sapped the strength of the dead, allowing the ring’s power to transition from merely slowing them down to freezing them solid.

Thanks to the synergy between the crown and the ring, we moved through the corpses like a knife through soft meat, and once again, we systematically demolished all three obelisks.