Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 160

Weapon-Eating Bastard – Episode 160

The sky was dyed purple by the puppeteer’s magic.

And on the ground, clay dolls rose like the undead.

I blasted the approaching pile of dirt with Black Night and narrowed my eyes.

‘I figured it wouldn’t be the real body anyway.’

I thought about the one who must be controlling all the dolls here, including John Doe, from the shadows.

Puppeteer Mohamed.

A criminal who caused all sorts of historical incidents, often called ‘crimes without a perpetrator,’ through inhuman techniques that went far beyond ordinary puppetry.

But in fact, almost nothing was known about him for sure.

Everything from his appearance, gender, age, origin, and race, to how he developed such bizarre techniques, was all just speculation.

Even the name Mohamed was only revealed when his signature was found engraved on his workshop and dolls during the Bloody Thursday incident in the Gyoguk [likely a fictional nation or organization].

One media outlet defined his puppetry like this:

‘A technique that treats humans like dolls and dolls like humans.’

Of course, that wasn’t all.

He could treat the dead like the living with dolls, and the living like the dead with dolls.

The dolls were manipulated in their ego, memories, and personality, and they weren’t even aware that they were being controlled by him.

His puppetry was truly the epitome of inhumanity.

“I am the one who has reached the pinnacle of all dolls, and I will guide the foolish ones who are trapped in the shells of weak humans and cannot even see the truth of this world. I am John Doe. In non-existence and substance……”

And the doll being controlled by that puppeteer, John Doe, muttered and began to spew out all sorts of useless words.

Boo-ook!

And as if that act was some kind of switch, an even darker magic began to pour out of John Doe with a sound like a leather drum tearing.

-Groooooan!

The purple magic settled on the ground and on the workshop buildings.

Among the piles of dirt filling the vicinity, mannequin-like jointed dolls suddenly jumped out and began to attack me.

‘There are only a lot of them. They’re not a threat!’

Clang!

The dolls burst like balloons with a light blow, as if swatting a fly.

“My masterpieces……! Eek!”

Watching John Doe in a panic, I frowned.

“It’s kind of a shame. A fake that you believe is real.”

“Real and fake? What are you talking about?”

“Do you think you’re the real body?”

John Doe’s pale face contorted.

“I’m asking what you mean. Why do you keep repeating questions? I am……”

“If you’re a real human, try to remember the distant past, like 10 or 20 years ago.”

John Doe’s expression became confused.

No, from the start, it wasn’t a living human face, so even that expression felt quite awkward.

It was like a rubber human face model moving.

Anyway.

Clang!

I didn’t miss that confusion.

‘I read it in the gazette. Mohamed’s dolls don’t have memories of the distant past!’

And the confusion of identity naturally leads to a weakening of magic control!

“Kuh-ugh!”

John Doe waved his hands erratically.

A pile of dirt flew up like a tsunami, and countless dolls swung their limbs at me.

But already, none of them had any sharpness left.

They don’t pose a big obstacle to me.

Swish!

I blasted the piles of dirt with Mujin, which I had transformed into a blunt weapon, and moved further forward.

Scattering piles of dirt and pieces of dolls.

I flew towards John Doe, who was floating in the air, cutting through the debris.

“D-don’t mock me with that wicked tongue! I won’t be fooled anymore!”

John Doe took out a strange ring from his chest.

I immediately used my magic eye to see what kind of energy it was.

‘A curse?’

Puh-ah!

It was a cursed object.

A sinister power, to the point where the surrounding magic was distorted, poured out like a fountain in front of me.

I didn’t block it or avoid it.

“Kek! That was reckless! Now……”

Die!

John Doe’s voice, which was about to shout that, didn’t finish.

Crack!

Black Night split John Doe from his right shoulder to his left hip.

The sensation felt on the tip of my hand was more like cutting a waste tire than cutting human flesh.

“Keu, eugh?”

Instead of blood, beige mucus poured out of John Doe’s split wound.

“H-how did you…… The curse definitely worked……”

“I’m immune to curses and poison. If you were going to do something with a curse, you should have brought even a Great Demon.”

Thanks to 숭무이가’s Gangche [likely a martial arts technique or school] endlessly trained mental strength, plus the aura of Jahaseokcheong [likely a magical item or substance] that creates immunity to poison and curses, and Eunhan [likely a magical armor or artifact], the armor that maximizes that power.

I had absolute immunity to most poisons and curses.

“Cough! Keuh…… Save, save me……”

The puppeteer groaned and rolled on the ground.

I frowned at the sight.

“What a truly disgusting technique.”

I felt disgust beyond revulsion.

I felt like black magic was more gentlemanly.

Can a power that lacks respect for life or soul become this grotesque?

“Save, save me. Save me. I can’t die like this. The true truth and wisdom to the ignorant humans……”

I closed my ears and raised Black Night high, holding it in reverse grip.

Since this guy is a doll anyway, I won’t be able to hear any information worth hearing.

Black Night fell straight towards John Doe’s head.

“Please! Please! Pl……”

At that moment.

“……I didn’t think it would come to this.”

A sharp voice that seemed to pierce the lungs.

A different kind of voice than the John Doe I had heard so far.

Clatter!

When I hurriedly stopped my hand at that voice, Black Night had already split John Doe’s head completely and reached the ground.

‘Just now, definitely……’

I heard a voice that wasn’t John Doe’s.

Thud!

As John Doe was neutralized, all the surrounding clay dolls collapsed. At the same time, the mannequins slumped down like dolls with their strings cut.

‘Was that Mohamed’s voice?’

I frowned, looking at the collapsing dolls and the fallen John Doe.

……Anyway, the battle is over.

After everything collapsed, an infinite silence settled in the workshop, where not even the sound of crickets could be heard.

“Hoo, that’s quite tiring.”

I sighed and put Black Night into its scabbard.

No, I was about to put it in.

Flinch!

An energy that stimulates the sixth sense.

Far away, in the corner of the building, I felt an unknown presence.

I didn’t approach rashly and stared at the darkness of the building with Black Night in my hand.

Poo-jik! Poo-gahk!

It was wriggling out of the entrance of the workshop building.

-Kiyaaaaaaak!

It was a mass of red and pink flesh that looked slimy like mucus.

It was impossible to know which part of the pulsating mass, as if a heart was beating from time to time, had a larynx and mouth, but screams like wails continued to be heard.

‘It’s a doll.’

The unpleasant magic that I had felt from the dolls was detected.

Moreover, there was more than one mass of flesh.

I could feel presences everywhere.

The nearby piles of dirt began to move and clump together again like clay dolls due to the magic emitted by the mass of flesh.

‘How? I dealt with the puppeteer?’

It doesn’t make sense that there are moving dolls when the puppeteer is dead.

Just as I was about to continue thinking.

“Die……”

A voice was heard.

“……Give, me……”

I stopped moving for a moment.

A grotesque object made of a mass of flesh that is moving the piles of dirt.

That’s, no way.

‘…….’

I felt my stomach twist for a moment.

I looked around.

The number of piles of dirt wriggling and moving was 11 in total.

They are slowly approaching me.

“……”

Gripped Black Night.

* * *

A place where irregular mechanical sounds and the gentle sound of burning firewood can be heard.

“Hmm?”

A man who was busily moving something under bright white lighting stopped his hand and took off the glasses with a loupe attached.

“Hmm…… suddenly?”

It was a man with an intellectual atmosphere.

His skin was white, and his hair was blond with a reddish tinge.

“What’s wrong?”

A huge man sitting on the sofa behind the man asked.

The man shrugged.

“The connection with the doll in Ireland has been cut off.”

The man said with a strange smile.

“Who is it?”

“It’s the youngest illegitimate son of the 숭무이가 [likely a powerful clan or family].”

The huge man paused for a moment.

“……Really?”

“Really. I only saw it partially because all the memories weren’t properly transmitted. Why is he in Ireland…… Keuh! Cough!”

The man suddenly vomited blood.

The blood that was spat out splattered and soaked the floor.

Among the fallen blood, several white teeth like corn kernels were mixed in, and blood was slowly flowing from his ears and eyes.

“Hmm…… I still had some life left in this body. I don’t know why the doll’s power didn’t come back and disappeared. There will be some aftereffects.”

The man took out a handkerchief from his front pocket and wiped his mouth.

Then, as if his head hurt, he pressed his temples.

“I will report about the boy to the Bondan [likely a higher-up organization or headquarters].”

“As you wish. But by the time you report, he will have already disappeared again, so it will be a meaningless report.”

“Is that so.”

“That’s right. Hmm, that’s a shame. I’ll have to take my hands off Ireland.”

“Anyway, I will report it. The ‘Eye’ may be able to observe Lee Cheol [the protagonist’s name] again.”

“It hasn’t been able to observe him properly even once since that boy was born, so there’s no way it will work now.”

The man smirked and swept back his long hair.

The man glared menacingly at the sight.

“Do not doubt the Bondan’s Do [likely a philosophical or religious principle].”

“Even if it’s a very old relic, it’s just a machine. I doubted the machine, but I never doubted the teachings of the Bondan.”

“……Watch your words.”

The man paused for a moment, then casually spoke to the man.

“I’ll ask you just one thing.”

“What else are you curious about?”

The man walked over and leaned deeply on the sofa on the opposite side of the man.

The man asked the man.

“Was that boy strong?”

“Heh heh, is that what you’re most curious about? You’re still different from us.”

“Answer me. Was that boy strong?”

“Beyond imagination, mysterious, unpredictable. Well, that’s the feeling. No matter how much it is Soongmooiga, that’s a bit strange. If he has that much martial power at that age, he has already deviated from the Jeong Do [likely a righteous path or principle].”

“But wasn’t he just a young boy?”

The man tilted his head.

A young boy? Should I see him as a young boy?

“He was an old soul. I would believe it even if that boy’s body was actually a doll, and there was a monster living behind it for hundreds of years.”

“……Is that so.”

“Honestly, I was a little greedy. Heh heh.”

The man’s eyes flashed slightly.

The man looked up at the man again.

“If the doll is dead, what happened to the work?”

“There is some harvest, but there is no big impact.

“……The path to truth is never easy.”

“It’s so unfitting for you to talk like a seeker with that size.”

The man chuckled again and slowly closed his eyes.

“Are you going to die?”

“Yes, I’m slowly reaching my limit.”

“What will you come back as this time?”

“It requires delicate work, so I think it would be better to do it with the body of a woman with long and thin hands. I’ll come in a few days, so say the password and open the door.”

“……I understand.”

“Please clean up the mess neatly. Haha.”

The man slowly stopped moving as if falling asleep with a laugh.

The man, who took a deep breath as if the wind was escaping from a balloon, soon slumped on the sofa.

“Hmm.”

The huge man slowly got up from his seat, approached the man who seemed to have only a shell left, and placed his hand on him.

At that moment.

Crack!

The man’s body began to crumple and compress as if being sucked into the man’s hand.

Even as the eerie sound of the skin being crushed continued, not a single drop of blood fell around.

When all the sounds stopped, what remained in the man’s hand was a black sphere the size of a baseball.

The man took the sphere and placed it on the workbench where the man had been working until just now.