Chapter 118: Puppet Master

""""Kakakakakakakakakakakakakakaka""""

A puppet-like 'something' with a knife or a club in its hand closes the distance and comes at us, making a sound like a moving spring.

"Chest! Desu~no!"

However, Urza swings full force, like a big leaguer. And the head of the knife-wielding puppet shatters into a thousand pieces, and it hits a tree trunk, shattering it into pieces.

"First one, desu~no! It's no big deal at all, desu~no!"

"Be on your guard! It's not over yet!"

"Huh!?"

The puppet, which had lost its head, pulled out its knife toward Urza without hesitation. Urza rushes backward to avoid the deadly blade and looks at the puppet in surprise.

"It attacked me headless!? Is this a strange phenomenon, desu~no!?"

"It's quite a strange phenomenon when a puppet attacks you. I mean, these are just puppets. So, the vital point is not always in the... head!"

"Ka...!"

I stabbed my sword into the puppet's chest as it approached me.

It seems that I was able to destroy the core inside the puppet's body. After all, like a marionette whose strings have been cut, the puppet crumples to the ground.

This mannequin-like humanoid puppet that attacked us — called 'Crazy Marionette'.

It is a lifeless puppet monster, and unless its core somewhere in its body is destroyed, it will attack you regardless of whether you cut off its head or shred its arms and legs.

"Perhaps, the core is hidden inside the body. Find it and destroy it!"

"I understand, desu~no! I'll destroy it anyway, desu~no!"

Urza makes a big jump and attacks one of the puppets from the upper position.

The Crazy Marionette is crushed from head to foot by the full force of the blow delivered by Urza, who has been training her combat skills, [Hammer Art].

Once the whole body was shattered, it did not matter where the core was. It is a bold move that shows no sign of wisdom, but it is very typical of Urza.

"Wakadanna-sama! I'm here to help you...!"

"You guard the carriage and the horses! I don't want to walk home from the woods like this!"

I order my servant, who is holding a weapon for protection, kicking away a puppet that is trying to hit me with a club.

As a servant of the Baskerville family, he knew at least some fighting techniques.

However... I do not intend to rely on his help. If I cannot defeat an enemy of this caliber, I cannot call myself the head of the Baskerville family.

"I'll finish it off at once! Swallow my enemies into the abyss... Black Hole!"

I launched a dark magic ranged attack. Just a few moments after the chanting, a jet-black gravity storm envelops the group of puppets, and about half of the crazy marionettes that were pointing their weapons at us were swallowed by the darkness and smashed to pieces.

"As expected of Goshujin-sama, desu~no! But Urza can't afford to lose!"

Urza's body immediately enveloped in a bright red aura. Her white hair stood on end, and her irises glowed gold in the center of her red-tinted eyes.

Her eyes transformed into a special eye called "Fiery Eyes", making her look like a god of war. This is the activation of [Oni-ka], a special ability that only Oni-jin can use.

This technique did not appear in the game [DunBrave]. It is a unique ability of the Oni-jin race that is different from skills.

Urza was able to activate the technique which she had activated unconsciously in the duel with Nagisa, by her own will.

Now, Urza is enveloped in a red aura, and her attack power and speed are greatly increased for a certain period of time. Instead, the attack's hit rate is reduced...

"Urararararararararararara... desu~no!"

""""Katakatakatakatakatakatakata!?""""

Urza swings her spiked kanabō around.

And a stormy barrage is created. The remaining crazy marionettes are destroyed one by one as they are caught in these blows.

Urza is equipped with a Kanabō, a weapon with high attack power but low hit rate. It sounds good as a 'one-hit-kill' weapon, but it lacks stability.

The [Oni-ka] effect further lowered the hit rate, but Urza compensated for it with her overwhelming speed.

"She's a power fighter, but she's very agile... I guess her small body isn't all it's cracked up to be..."

"This is the last time... de-su-no!"

"Katakatakatatatatata..."

The last of the crazy marionettes falls prey to Urza's Kanabō. All of them, including the one hiding behind the tree, are now destroyed.

I take no damage. Urza was hit several times by enemy attacks, but she was only grazed. There was no damage that could take the life of a tough ogre.

"The battle is over. It seems that we have become much stronger than before."

After the duel with Garondolf Baskerville, my father, we had been training hard during the summer vacation.

During the day, we would hide in dungeons and hunt monsters, and at night we would do our duty as the Baskerville family to take down the villains that were running amok... Thanks to these days, our combat skills had greatly improved.

"Leon had matured a lot as a hero, but I couldn't let him down. A villain has a villain's pride. I will not be overtaken so easily by a righteous warrior."

"Haiya, my puppet has been defeated. Everything's destroyed."

"...Finally, you're here. As usual you're talking in a shady tone..."

A third person's voice echoed from deep in the woods.

The space that should have been empty distorts like a mirage, and a girl in a strange outfit appears.

She has a beautiful oriental look. She is as small as Urza, but her breasts are abnormally big and full against her petite figure. She had what is called 'Lolippai'.

Her unbalanced body is wrapped up in a cloth with a tight collar and deep slits on both sides of her legs. This clothe is called "qipao," or "Chinese dress".

"Hao! Thank you for coming. Our leader-dono!"

"Don't lie to me! And don't say such convenient things when you were really going to kill me... 'Death-eating Bird'."

The girl who raises her hand with a big smile is called Lin Hua.

She is a magic in the service of the Baskerville family. Known in the underworld by the nickname 'Death-Eating Bird', she is a skilled 'Necromancer'.