The S-Classes That I Raised - Chapter 765: Black Butterfly (3)
Crrk-crrk— the blade-like hardness of his transformed palm scraped across it. There was no answer. The Puppeteer’s toes inched backward. Even as a Transcendent, he was bound to this world’s rules. Thanks to the Han Yujin connection he’d entered more smoothly than other intruders, but his powers were suppressed just as theirs were.
Unlike them, however, he’d arrived first and waited—so his skills had already been registered by the system.
The Puppeteer’s eyes turned gold. At the same moment, powerful currents of electricity coalesced and exploded from his palm gripping the blade.
KWAANG!
With a thunderous roar, both the Puppeteer and the blade’s wielder were thrust violently in opposite directions. Seong Hyunjae, who’d been standing back, watched the Puppeteer skid toward him.
“That looks familiar.”
“He’s mine.”
The golden eyes shifted again, the pupils narrowing to slits. A Puppeteer, true to the name, could bind and control others—and at the same time…
“I am also a puppet.”
He could manipulate himself even more skillfully than any other being. Not only simple movements, but the very form and abilities of his body were subject to his dominion. He could infuse his frame with the skills and traits of those he’d contracted.
Born as a doppelgänger-puppet unbound to any fixed species, he could become any species at will.
“Use Eclipse and evade!”
His body blurred as he vanished—like the goblin-like race they’d faced elsewhere—and reappeared behind the swarm of butterflies. Unlike teleportation, this Spatial Shift was nearly impossible to predict or pursue.
Ssshhh— dozens of threads danced from his fingertips, piercing the butterflies and shooting straight for the black-coated man’s back. There wasn’t even time to turn. Yet—
Thwang! Tararang! The threads struck a shield.
“Winning Transcendent status in a gambling den doesn’t make you unstoppable.”
Despite the blocked attack, the Puppeteer carelessly refined his control over the threads. A shield of condensed mana isn’t impervious—other skills could carve through it. Inevitably, the threads passed through the transparent barrier and sought to bind the Gardener’s subordinate. Instead of dodging, a conflagration flared.
The threads were thin but unbreakably strong, resistant to all elements. Normally even intense flame couldn’t melt or burn them… but—
Tung! Teoong! The black flames pounded the shield. The fire’s owner’s mana infused it, yet the barrier held. The flames spun trapped inside, intertwining and growing fiercer until, between the butterflies, an oval sphere formed as dark as a black hole, absorbing all light.
Crack—
Every thread that had penetrated the shield snapped at once, unable to withstand the concentrated heat. The shield dissolved, releasing the trapped fire in a burst. Within it, an untouched hem of cloth swayed; the hand gripping the blade was unnaturally pale.
“…I suspected the Gardener would hone his blade thoroughly.”
The Puppeteer’s brow creased slightly. This was a far stronger subordinate than he’d anticipated.
“Protecting that kid isn’t easy.”
He only wanted to guard one person. The butterflies scattered, and the flames danced as they swept forward.
Sigma was fixed in time.
Though time passed, he could not change. His existence had been established in the future, and until that day arrived he remained as he first appeared. A year, ten years, a hundred—time only brushed past. Skills he learned reverted by morning; new abilities vanished as if they’d never existed.
His stats never improved. Even as the puppet beside him grew and rose to Transcendent rank, he remained SS.
Until the Puppeteer gained power, it was constant danger. Sometimes there was peace, but Scouters relentlessly pursued them. As a being of warped time, neither the waxing moon nor the Scouters could properly detect them. Yet detection meant inevitable attack—fixed destiny for Sigma.
“Damnable butterflies!”
The Puppeteer’s eyes turned pure white as bitter cold surged. Several butterflies fluttering around froze and shattered instantly, scattering black-and-white dust.
A white butterfly approached the fleeing pair. The Crescent Moon must keep Seong Hyunjae from the Gardener. Having aided her, the Gardener could become an ally. The frozen Little Prince and the fledgling puppet took the Gardener’s hand.
The vast garden, as if plucked from the world’s corner, was safe and peaceful.
‘Because you mustn’t fall into the Crescent Moon’s hands.’
A plausible reason: protection until the puppet gained the power to guard its master. There was a price, though.
‘You will help me obtain one thing I desire. Refuse # Nоvеlight # or slack off, and you’ll forfeit what you hold most dear.’
They scrutinized the contract: no blame for lacking power, no risking life unnecessarily. Sigma and the Puppeteer belonged to no world and could traverse any. Even after becoming a Transcendent, the Puppeteer thought the Gardener’s request reasonable: nothing else mattered but aiding him.
But the Gardener coveted…
‘The Little Moon.’
Sigma’s past and future, his true form. Realizing this, the Transcendent Puppeteer fled the garden—but couldn’t escape the contract.
If Seong Hyunjae fell to the Gardener, Sigma and his linked self would share the same fate. Refuse, and Sigma himself would be surrendered. Either choice led to the same trap.
At last, the twisted strands of time meshed and Sigma fell asleep. The Puppeteer hid him—safe even from Transcendent contracts, for Sigma’s disappearance was absolute.
As long as Seong Hyunjae stayed alive and Sigma slumbered…
“Tell me something.”
Screeeech! Thickened threads tangled with blade in a harsh clash. Jjeooong, jeeong! Each collision shook everything around them, cracking scorched earth in the shockwaves.
“No other subordinate, right?”
The Puppeteer had stalled, aiding the Gardener—whispering new offers to Hwangrim. The dream world formed; opportunity arose.
Transcendents can send only one, maybe two, subordinates to other worlds. One powerful agent is better than two weak ones. There was only one true chance.
Protect Seong Hyunjae and betray the Gardener. For breach of contract, the Gardener would send his subordinate into the dream world to target Seong Hyunjae. That intruder—without negotiation—would be the Gardener’s pawn.
“Too obvious; no need for close inspection.”
The butterflies, the Gardener’s favored form. The Puppeteer glanced at Seong Hyunjae, retreating with Song Taewon outside the battle’s range. He had to retrieve Sigma before any harm. Let Sigma gain independence in Han Yujin’s world—then whether Seong Hyunjae fell to the Crescent Moon or the Gardener would be none of his concern.
‘Neutralize only the Gardener’s subordinate.’
He could safely begin Sigma’s emancipation in the dream world. Preparations were complete. Chiiik! The ice melted into steam. Another subordinate’s swamp shrank to a mere puddle. The Puppeteer clicked his tongue.
‘Strange indeed.’
The Gardener had no ties to this world—nor should his pawn. Yet the man before him wielded potent power the moment he entered the dream world, as if no adjustment was needed.
“Were you perhaps from this world all along?”
The Puppeteer’s eyes shifted red-black and white, drawing on two powers at once. Cold recoiled the flames; lava-drinking scales sprouted along his hand. Blade-like claws shredded the weakened black fire and struck the subordinate’s weapon.
“And a recent subordinate, too.”
With such a fighter, no need to rely on the weakened Hwangrim after casting seeds. He could have whisked away Seong Hyunjae long ago. Fire Abusers were common; black fire wielders existed across worlds.
But in Han Yujin’s world…
“There should have been only one.”
Now the black flame glowed with blue light—yet this subordinate could not be the Gardener’s pawn. A vicious black blaze burst forth. Shielded by cold and flame-resistant scales, the Puppeteer barely weathered it, yet was driven back by sheer force.
Indeed, sending such a strong being to another world should have proven impossible. His might should’ve been drained.
Tung! The blade struck his scales, driving him back. As he faltered, the dark figure vanished in an instant. A chill ran over him; instinct made him drop low. Above him, the subordinate rose again, standing on inverted black butterflies and swinging the blade.
No flight skill—yet he moved more agilely than any flight, using the butterflies as stepping stones to defy gravity. His long hair whipped in a half-circle, scales sprouting along the strands with a rasping crack, slicing the air like a razor. The tips of his hair brushed the black coat; his body seemed to drop, then, touching butterflies midair like acrobatic flip, he shot toward the Puppeteer. Flames roared along his path, blinding him.
The Puppeteer leapt back, propelling off nothing to evade the fire. Darkness and flame filled every direction—approach was impossible without high flame resistance. Heat swirled above and below. Breathing alone in the inferno was torture. His wet clothes had long since dried.
All his threads were gone. The Puppeteer eyed the subordinate warily. The figure atop the butterflies remained unshaken.
“Not quite human.”
He was a puppet, yet all the more so. He made no sound—no breath, no grunt. Even weapon clashes and blazing fire couldn’t mask absolute silence. The Puppeteer’s pupils changed again: black and gray. He kicked off the air, moving faster than the subordinate. Blade in hand, he plunged into the butterfly swarm.
Pararaak! The butterflies scattered; the last puddle vanished. A radius around him was incinerated.
[When area is fully incinerated: temporary damage nullification and injury & mana recovery]
The “Trail of Ash” (SS) title’s bonus effect triggered. The subordinate made no attempt to dodge. His arm moved with calm precision, raising the blade. By the time the Puppeteer sensed the anomaly, it was too late—two blades pierced his chest. One paused against damage nullification. The other—
CRACK—
went straight through. The Puppeteer’s eyes flickered. No blood flowed; instead the subordinate grasped his arm.
Whoosh.
They spatial-shifted, landing amid the charred ground the threads had burned away. A pre-set barrier activated. The subordinate shoved off the Puppeteer but it was too late.
“You won’t leave this area for a while.”
Though he couldn’t destroy him as planned, binding him was enough. The subordinate’s gaze dropped, faint lines of threads still visible. Could they burn? An all-consuming flame. He lifted his head again.
Beyond the black flames, a gaze returned his own. Han Yuhyun looked at Han Yuhyun.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by readnovel.co