Would anyone like to come with me to fight Puppet?

Everyone looked at Oliver with surprise at that question.

It was like witnessing a dog trying to attack a tiger.

And, maybe that was the correct expression.

Oliver, who had just become a Solver, was nothing more than a puppy when compared to Puppet.

Seeing everyones reaction Oliver suddenly remembered something Kent once told him about Puppet.

Eternal Puppet.

One of the greatest warlocks of this time and one of the executives of the Black Hand.

It was said that it is impossible to even estimate how long he has lived and some even say that his lifespan was longer than that of the empire.

Because of that, there were no fields he left untouched such as drugs, weapons, mercenaries, and illegal medicine, and it was said that he had connections with high-ranking people in every country.

All of them were rumors without substance, so half of them were treated as false rumors, but anyway, right now, Oliver asked for a duel with such a person.

Are you insane? said one solver, who was terrified and at the same time desperate.

Yes? What?

Who makes a bet like that! Your opponent is Puppet!? And you bet with our lives?!

Oliver looked at the man and said.

Um. I think you didnt hear the conversation before, he was planning on killing us anyway. He just wanted to make us fight among ourselves and take us apart.

Youyou cant know that for sure?

No. Im sure. There was absolutely no intention of releasing us.

The man, frightened by Olivers calm and composed attitude couldnt say anything back. It was the same with other solvers.

Oliver opened his mouth, checking the flask he had in his arms.

Im sorry if you got offended by my behavior. But if I had stayed still, Puppet would have instigated a fight between us, and in the end, we would have fought each other without any purpose. So please understand I dont want to fight or kill anyone without any reason.

As if Olivers persuasion had worked, no one complained after that.

But still, they seemed to be reluctant to fight with Puppet, and Oliver didnt really care about it. He was planning on moving alone from the beginning.

Just as he was about to move, Knuckle Joe spoke up.

Hey..

? Yes, Mr. Joe.

Dont keep adding those honorifics, its creepy. Just call me Joe..

Um.. Yes, I understand. Did you call me to say that?

Sam grabbed Joes shoulder, but Joe pushed back Sams hand and spoke again.

Are you going to fight Puppet?

Yes, because I made a promise? If I break it, maybe hell send all the zombies here right away.

.Is it true that if you win, hell release us?

Yes. What he said was true, at least when he answered. Didnt you see his emotions?

No, with my level I couldnt see it. Only you saw it. Are you confident of winning?

Oliver thought for a while before answering the question.

Um well. I cant honestly say for sure, because hes kind of a person Ive never seen before.

A kind you never saw?

Yes, usually everyone is interested in winning against the opponent, but Puppet seemed different. He seems to be interested in some other thing. I dont know what that is.

Then, someone muttered.

Ah, in rumors Ive heard that Puppet was said to be interested in immortality.

Um Immortality?

The murmurer carefully answered Olivers question.

Well, its just a rumor

Immortality

It seemed like a plausible reason for Oliver.

According to Josephs book, there were quite a lot of warlocks who were obsessed with that part.

He had also seen in books that even non-warlocks research or invest in immortality, and of course, there has never been a single case of success.

However, even if it was a plausible story, in Olivers eyes, Puppet didnt seem like a person who was just obsessed with immortality.

Oliver felt like the scattered puzzles in his head dont fit together.

While Oliver was in the midst of deep thought, Joe interrupted.

Hey, sorry to interrupt the conversation, but answer my question first. Can you win? If you cant win, wed rather take you down and negotiate with the Puppet.

At Joes words, the fellow solvers and mercenaries took a stance.

His words were sincere to some degree.

Well I dont know if I can win or not, but I will fight with the intention of winning.

okay? All right, then I will come with you.

Pardon?

I said Im coming with you to fight Puppet.

Oliver went into the basement passageway to keep his promise to Puppet.

In addition to Oliver, Knuckle Joe, Dual-Pistol Sam, and Solver Stonefist Arthur also joined.

Joe said he would follow him, and Sam followed because he couldnt let Joe go alone, but why Arthur followed him, even Oliver did not know the answer.

When Oliver asked about this, Arthur answered.

The reason? Its better to be with a real man who wants to fight than to be with bastards who tried to sell me.

Um...

Oliver groaned.

He understood why Arthur felt that way. Even though it was for a moment, they fell for the Puppets trick.

And of course, Oliver couldnt blame them for that, because each word Puppet uttered had something that shook peoples hearts for some reason.

His words had something that digs into a persons weak spots.

Hey Can I ask you something?

Sam with a pistol in both hands intervened and asked.

Yes, tell me.

Sam looked at Oliver and spoke with a troubled look.

Ugh There are so many things I want to ask you, but Ill ask you the thing Im most curious about. How did you find out?

What?

How did you find out Jaby was a corpse doll .. I didnt recognize it, even though I have good eyes.

Oliver went silent, not knowing how to respond.

Puppets Corpse doll certainly belongs to the well-made category. It looked like a living person even though it pretended to be one, and it felt natural because it was well synchronized.

However, when Oliver looked a little closer, he was able to differentiate them.

Oliver want to say it was because of the difference in skills, but he felt that it would not be an answer that would convince Sam, given his emotional state.

So he answered in a roundabout way.

I once met a person who was a disciple of Puppet.

Disciple?

Yes, his name was Puppeteer Glyph, he said he was Puppets disciple, and Ive seen him pretend to be a human using a Corpse doll. So I could tell the difference.

.Where did you meet him?

At the place where I stayed before, unfortunately, we disagreed on something and fought.

Did you win?

Um, yes.

Ill ask you again. You knocked down Puppets disciple?

Yes.. I was lucky.

Sam, Joe, and Arthur looked surprised.

Oliver didnt quite understand why they were surprised.

Then do you have any concrete plans to take down the Puppet? Id like to hear it because weve been following you this far?

Theres no plan. Just meet Puppet and try to take him down? If I kill him, it will naturally neutralize the zombies outside.

Joe, Sam, and Arthurs expressions got distorted as if they did not like Olivers plan. But, they couldnt say anything. There was no other way for them to do this on their own.

Arthur, who had been silent for a while, spoke, as the conversation between Sam and Oliver came to an end.

I dont know whether this will work, but from the warlocks Ive seen, they are a kind that was weak in direct combat.

Everyones eyes turned to Arthur.

Do you know something?

No, I dont know. Ive met some warlocks on the battlefield a few times.

A warlock? Were they a mercenary?

There were mercenaries, and there were warlocks who just came to pick up the corpses. Even while collecting the corpses, there were those who sometimes tried to kidnap living people.

Have you ever fought with them?

I have It was when one of our squad members got kidnapped. It wasnt a very pleasant memory. There were a lot of traps, and I think this time too there will be multiple traps And by the way, Why did you guys come?

Arthur suddenly asked, looking at Joe and Sam.

What do you mean?

No, as for me, I followed this guy because I was pointed out by Puppet along with him, but I dont know why you guys are coming. Especially, the guy with the knuckles there.

Arthur asked, pointing to Knuckle Joe.

Sam replied in a displeased tone instead of Joe.

What? Are you asking whether were up to something?

Well.. All I know is rumors, and there are rumors that Puppet had a lot of disciples. So, huh?

Sam grinned displeasedly, tightening his pistol, but Joe stopped him and calmed him down. And then he turned to Arthur and said.

Dont worry. Its definitely not like that.

is it?

Yeah, unfortunately, I couldnt find a good teacher like Puppet. I, too, have to take risks to live. In my experience, its most dangerous to stay still, so I just followed.

Joes words were half sincere, and Sam added one more word to Joes.

Well, if we fight Puppet and survive, the value of our name will increase.

Soon, the quarrel subsided, but the fear still prevailed.

Everyone didnt express it, but they were anxious. Even though it had been a while since they entered the basement, they couldnt see anything.

Since Puppet accepted Olivers offer, they thought hed come out soon, but they hadnt even seen a single trace of life since they started walking in the passageway.

They wondered if Puppet had changed his mind, but there was nothing they could do right away, so the anxiety within them kept increasing.

Oliver, who understood that everyone was getting anxious when there was nothing to talk about, brought up a topic to speak about.

Um the basement here is very well-maintained than I thought.

Oliver said as he looked around. As a matter of fact, the basement passageway they were walking through was in a neat condition built with cement and bricks.

At that moment, someone said.

Originally, the basement passageway was built by the owners of this city, Wizards. It cost them some huge chunks of money.

It was an unfamiliar voice.

Everyone got startled and turned their heads in the direction the sound was heard.

There stood a man with a saber on his waist.

Puppet . But how?

Oliver thought for a moment.

He had been using the warlocks eyes and had been browsing around the area since they entered, yet he didnt notice.

While Oliver was bewildered by the situation he was experiencing for the first time, Arthur, Joe, and Sam moved first.

Arthur gathered magic into the Golem prosthetic arm and then slammed his fist at Puppet who suddenly appeared.

The golem prosthetic made of stone and magical power flew like a cannon, and it was as menacing as a huge boulder.

However, surprisingly, Puppet swung the saber only once to cut off the Golem prosthetic arm.

Arthur said in amazement as he looked at his flying arm.

Huh Even though those hands crushed a golem they cant handle a corpse doll!!

Huhuhuhu.. Even though Golem is a B-class weapon, its a little sad that you compared my work to such a thing, dont you think so? How about calming yourself guys? Im just here to talk-

Joe.

Saying those words Sam pointed his guns at Puppet and shot him.

The bullets filled with black magic flew piercing the air toward Puppet.

Oliver was surprised by the unfamiliar but creative attack method but was even more surprised to see Puppets action of slashing the bullets using the saber and avoiding them.

The fighting power increased incomparable to that of Jabys time, and it seemed that the combat power as well as the fighting style differs depending on the corpse doll.

DUDUDUDUUDUDUDUDUDUDUDDUUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU.

Sam kept firing the bullets, but Puppet avoided every single one of them and dug closer to him in an instant.

Maybe if at least one person dies, youll listen to me?

Yes. And thats gonna be YOU.

With those words Knuckle Joe cut between his colleague and Puppet.

He fortified his body with black magic and attacked Puppet with sharper movements than when he had fought with Oliver in the past.

But the problem was Puppets attacks were sharper than his.

Not only did he lightly dodge Joes fists, but he also did a surprise lower kick, and then swung his saber again, which went straight toward Joes head.

BAM!

Just before Joes head got decapitated, Oliver in a black suit blocked Puppets blade with his quarterstaff.

The blade was not strengthened with emotions so Oliver was able to block it, and if it had been strengthened, the quarterstaff would have got cut like a loaf of bread.

HuhuhuhuIts you. Can you move away, I dont want to kill you yet.

I dont want to die either.

Along with his reply, Oliver swung his quarterstaff.

Puppet skillfully stepped back, and his body movements were completely different from when he was inside Jaby.

Oliver wondered if that could be possible just by simply changing the Corpse doll, but for now, he decided to put the question aside.

Oliver used [Hate Bullet] while targetting Puppet.

Puppet cut every bullet of hate that came his way with his saber, then he said as if he finished analyzing it.

Not only do you use manipulation and disease-type black magic, but you also use firearms skillfully. What is your true identity?

BANG!

Oliver quickly closed the distance and spoke while swinging his quarterstaff.

Im also amazed. I also have a lot of questions about Mr. Puppet. How did you erase your presence a while ago, how can you use different attack styles, and where is your main body?

Huhuhuhu. My main body?

Puppet said with a laugh.

We have a lot of questions for each other. Then, shall we talk for a moment?

Yes, thats fine with me.

Oliver said while pushing away Puppets saber and trying to stab him with his quarterstaff.

Puppet skillfully stopped Olivers quarterstaff that tried to stab him with his saber, but that was not enough to stop Oliver.

[Las Bomb]

BOOM

A [Las boom] that was formed at the end of Olivers quarterstaff exploded and shattered Puppets Corpse doll.

Processed skin, flesh, bones, and springs got scattered on the floor. But it didnt bring any change to Puppets emotional state, he was as relaxed as when he was inside the shattered Corpse doll Jaby.

Huhuhuhu, even if I had lost two Corpse dolls in one day, this is the first time in a while that I lost to the same person twice.

Oliver asked, pointing the quarterstaff at the Corpse doll.

Shall we talk now?

Yes, but not here, lets change location.

As soon as he finished speaking, Puppet placed his hand on the floor, from where the faded emotions in his hands moved quickly through the crevices of the floor.

Oliver felt a floating sensation beneath his feet, and soon the floor on which Oliver was standing collapsed.

Its been a while since Ive met a fun chap like you. Lets have a Lon~g chat huhuhuhuhu.

Oliver fell into the bottom of the basement along with Puppets Corpse doll.