Chapter 468
“Who the hell are you?!”
“How did you get in here…?”
“What were the guards outside doing?!”
The surrounding demons were in an uproar.
This was one of the most secretive sanctuaries within the fortress.
A place exclusively reserved for Guntafer and his most loyal subordinates.
And yet, this intruder had made it all the way to the heart of their stronghold.
Such a feat would have been impossible without inside information.
“You are…”
Pellod narrowed his eyes.
Among the forces of Veteran Corporation,
The one taken from the Auction of the Gods—
The Homunculus.
“Frey. That’s my name.”
“Frey?”
Pellod repeated the name with curiosity.
“I’ve never heard of a Homunculus having a name before.”
“He gave it to me. My name.”
“You mean Kang Jinhyuk? That man really does the strangest things. But more importantly—how did you find this place? There’s no way Berial has spies inside this fortress.”
“There’s no reason for me to tell you that. I just carry out my orders.”
Shhhk.
Frey raised both of his spears.
“Well, whatever trick you pulled, I’ll find out soon enough. Capture it alive—make sure it can still talk.”
“Yes, sir.”
At Pellod’s command, one of the demons stepped forward.
Shing!
He drew a long sword from his back.
At the same time—
Thunk…!
The demon’s form vanished.
The sound of cutting through the air came even faster.
However—
Boom!
The strike from behind was instantly intercepted and shattered by the twin spears.
A burst of sparks flew, illuminating a pair of cold, blue eyes.
[Frey activates the unique ability ‘Puppet Play’!]
An overwhelming surge of mana.
The eerie glow enveloped the entire space.
Vroooom!
“Hkk…!”
The demon, who had confidently charged forward, sucked in a sharp breath.
The sheer intensity of the aura radiating from Frey was suffocating.
…Dangerous.
In a split second, the demon twisted his body to evade the spear strike from the side.
His cloak was torn, but at least his body remained intact.
For exactly one second.
“…Where—?”
Frey had disappeared.
No, rather—only one spear was left in place.
Before he could even process what was happening—
Schlk!
A second spear shot forward like lightning, piercing straight through his heart.
Behind him, Frey stood still, her expression as blank as ever.
“…Such speed…”
Thud.
The demon’s body collapsed sideways.
For a high-ranking demon with extensive battle experience, his end was utterly anticlimactic.
“That arrogant wooden doll…!”
“I’ll tear it apart!”
“Kill it!”
The remaining demons lunged forward at once.
From the front, the left, and the right—simultaneously.
Their precise, coordinated attack resembled that of elite assassins.
However, the moment all three demons entered Frey’s range—
Vwoooom!
The same light flickered again.
“What was that…?”
Something felt wrong.
It was as if time itself had warped.
Once again, Frey vanished from sight.
It felt like they were fighting a ghost.
And that was the last thing they saw.
Schlk! Schlk! Schlk!
All three demons were cut down in an instant.
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
Not even a full minute had passed, and four demons lay dead.
The smirk on Pellod’s face disappeared completely.
That ability…
He hadn’t fully grasped what Puppet Play entailed until now.
But after watching his subordinates fall, he finally understood.
‘It interferes with the target’s perception.’
It accelerated the opponent’s time while slowing the user’s perception.
Or, conversely, it applied the effect in reverse—plunging the target into deeper confusion.
The actual time difference was less than a second.
But in real combat, that slight distortion was enough to be utterly devastating.
No wonder they died so easily.
‘If I hadn’t realized in advance, even I might have been caught off guard.’
That was how dangerous Frey’s ability was.
However—
‘Now that I know how it works, countering it is simple.’
[Pellod activates the unique weapon ‘Lancer of the Cursed Bullet’!]
As Guntafer’s right-hand man, Pellod was classified as an Elite among the Tower’s powerhouses.
This was a Hero-ranked spear—something only the strongest non-Demon King entities could wield.
Koooom!
The entire northern fortress shook as an enormous surge of mana erupted.
A mass of black flames took the form of a horse.
Pellod mounted the spectral steed, gripping a three-meter-long lance.
Fwoosh!
Black flames flared along the crimson spear tip.
A weapon that devoured the very air itself.
That burning spear soon became a bullet.
“Let’s see how fast you really are.”
Without any propulsion—
Boom!
The spear shot forward in a straight line.
A blinding flash.
Fast.
“……!!”
A thin red line formed along Frey’s cheek.
She had dodged purely on instinct.
Not by sight—
But by sheer reflex.
“So even you bleed red. I half-expected sap to come out instead.”
Pellod wiped Frey’s blood off his spear tip with his finger.
“…My ability… doesn’t work?”
“Unfortunate for you, I’ve fought perception-based ability users before. None of them had dual-channel manipulation like you, but their execution was leagues ahead of yours.”
Homunculi were said to be the ultimate weapons of war in the Tower.
However—
In its current, unfinished state, lacking experience and refinement,
That title was meaningless.
“Let me show you how to really use a spear.”
Neigh!
Gallop!
Pellod spurred his horse forward.
Circling Frey clockwise, he steadily increased his speed.
A streak of crimson light flashed through the air.
BOOM!
“…Kh.”
Blood spurted from Frey’s shoulder.
Once again, she failed to react in time.
Moreover, Pellod’s attacks were growing sharper—each strike landing more effectively than the last.
Thud thud thud…
The horse’s speed escalated another level.
A dark blur melded into the wind.
Schlk!
Thud!
The splatters of blood grew even fiercer.
Frey’s body, already battered, continued to deteriorate with each passing second.
“…Excessive bleeding. If this continues, my chances of victory drop to 0.02%. Affirmative.”
She muttered while ensuring her vital points remained protected.
At this rate…
Within a few exchanges, all bodily functions would cease.
Even with a body optimized for combat, losing a fatal amount of blood meant survival was impossible.
But then—
– Pellod.
A familiar voice echoed.
The owner of this fortress.
Guntafer.
Pellod immediately halted his attack and turned toward the source.
“Yes, my Lord.”
– That one is too valuable a toy to break so carelessly. Its only crime was having a foolish master.
A weapon of great interest since the Auction of the Gods.
Moreover, the Alpha Type Homunculus, Frey, was a treasure that would never appear again.
If possible—
Guntafer wanted to claim it for himself.
“I understand.”
Pellod nodded at once.
“You’re in luck, doll. Since my Lord has taken an interest in you, I’ll give you a special opportunity. Abandon that foolish human, who is destined to die here, and submit to us. Do so, and I will guarantee your life.”
“…You’re asking me to surrender?”
“Is that not a reasonable proposal? If you must serve a master, wouldn’t you rather follow one who is stronger and greater?”
Yes.
This was an act of mercy.
A chance for a loser clinging to a frayed rope to grasp a stronger lifeline.
However—
“I refuse.”
Frey shook her head without hesitation.
“That is an irrational response. Your master is replaceable. If it’s because of his orders, I can handle that for you.”
Crackle!
A massive crystal formed in the empty air.
A Sealing Stone containing the bound power of a Demon King.
If infused with mana, it would trigger an explosion of unimaginable scale.
“He’s going to die regardless. If he dies, you will have no reason to stay loyal to him. Frankly, Kang Jinhyuk likely picked you up intending to discard you when convenient. There is no need for guilt.”
She knew this.
Her entire existence was built solely for combat.
A weapon that lived and died by orders.
If her master perished, she would simply serve a new one.
By all logic, Pellod’s reasoning was sound.
Yet—
For some inexplicable reason—
She did not want to betray him.
The one who had given her a name.
The one who made everyone around him laugh and follow him.
If she could smile, would it feel something like that?
She had pondered that once.
Thus—
“I refuse.”
No matter how many times they asked, the answer would remain the same.
“You truly are a foolish doll. It seems you are bound to be nothing more than an inferior imitation of life. Fine, as long as your core remains intact, I don’t mind if the rest of you is damaged. I’ll take my time reprogramming you.”
Pellod’s voice turned ice-cold.
At the same time—
Boom!
The Lancer of the Cursed Bullet fired.
A speed incomparable to before.
Schlk!
Frey’s left arm was severed and sent flying.
Thud!
A hole the size of a fist punctured her thigh.
Her body swayed as she lost balance.
[Biological function reduced by 55%.]
[Retreat is advised.]
Her systems screamed at her.
The core directive—preserving her master’s command and her own existence—issued a retreat order.
However,
If she fled now, Jinhyuk would die because of that Sealing Stone.
Running away…
“Is not an option.”
“That’s what makes you a fool.”
Immediately—
Crack!
A lance strike shattered several ribs.
Frey swung her spear toward empty air.
Of course, she struck nothing.
[Biological function reduced by 77%.]
[Retreat is advised.]
[If biological function drops below 90%, retreat will become impossible.]
Run. Survive.
The system’s urgent commands rang through her mind.
Even now, if she turned and fled,
If she used the mana threads from Puppet Play for long-range teleportation,
She could still escape.
However—
She would not.
No, she could not.
Even if it meant dying here.
Even if it meant violating a Homunculus’s absolute principle of survival.
She refused to step back.
Then—
Vwoooom!
The mana she had gathered for retreat—
She used it instead to attack.
Abandoning all chances of survival.
White threads wrapped around her limbs, supporting her battered body for a final strike.
[Frey activates ‘Puppet Play’ – ‘Threads of—’]
However—
Slash!
“…Ah.”
Before she could finish—
Her threads were severed, scattering weakly to the ground.
No matter how much she struggled,
Overcoming such an overwhelming power gap was impossible.
“You need to learn your place, doll.”
Pellod gazed down at her with disdain, as if looking at a bug writhing on the ground.
Seated atop his spectral horse, he raised his spear high.
One final thrust would silence her completely.
Ding!
That was when it happened.
A blue status window appeared before everyone’s eyes.
“What the…?”
[The Homunculus has prioritized personal will over orders.]
For the first time—
A Homunculus felt something beyond mere command.
[The seal has been lifted.]
Kooooooom!
The severed threads began to rise.
Mana surged, taking form.
The countless strings transformed into Homunculi.
Blue hair.
Blue eyes.
And—
Eleven war machines, each taller than Frey, each wielding lances.
“My name… is not ‘doll.’”
[Unique weapon ‘Immortal Puppeteer’ has been activated!]
“I am Frey.”