My setting is above yours!

Chapter 16 War Puppet

But, having said that.

Ron, however, couldn't just embark on a spontaneous trip like that.

After all, the "Evening Bell Saintess" is not so easy to find.

He vaguely remembered that Kurt had once said that at the top of that towering prison, in front of the saint's room, stood a Sequence 8 "war puppet"...

Although you can tell from the name that this is just a puppet, its actual combat power should be inferior to that of a typical Sequence 8 transcendent.
But in theory, he is a rank higher than Ron.

Even if Ron possesses [Illusion Dissolver], based on the feedback he received during the "Potion Era," it would likely be enough to completely erase the "mystery" of the War Puppet, causing it to vanish into thin air...

However, the price to pay is that the damage to the "fantasy dissolution" setting will immediately increase to over 80%.

If Ron encounters any further unexpected trouble, he will lose one of his trump cards.

Considering the unknown troubles lurking within that towering prison, and the cultists of the Scorched Earth Sanctuary…

It seems that we still have to try to defeat it by relying solely on our own strength.

Thinking this to himself, Ron muttered to himself as he began to calculate:

"【Illusion Dissolution】has long been fully patched, and its ability limit has been raised to 9.99%. There's nothing left to improve it..."

Considering that in the "Potion Age," Ron's most powerful ability, [Vector Manipulation], will obviously be limited due to major version conflicts, he cannot rely on this ability too much.

If it weren't for the fact that major version conflicts can diminish performance, there would be no need to prepare so much...

Ron sighed inwardly, then took out a square box—

This is something he ordered online a few days ago when he realized he couldn't improve his abilities no matter what and was considering going to the "Potion Age".

Although Ron's all-out efforts to negotiate the price only cost him 300 credits, it still pained him quite a bit.

Upon opening the box, you'll find several mice with tiny cameras on their heads and small black boxes hanging from the tips of their tails.

At this moment, the rats were long gone, but they remained frozen, pacing back and forth in place.

In their lifeless eyes, a faint, eerie green light was burning...

This is the extraordinary magic from the Gravekeeper!

After becoming the Gravekeeper, Ron learned many spells similar to those of the Necromancer school, which were marked on the emerald ring.

The vast majority of these spells are related to the dead, with very few involving the incomprehensible "soul."

What Ron is currently using is the highest-level magic brought by the Gravekeeper—[Creating Corpse Servants].

According to the knowledge that the potion had instilled in Ron, this magic might have been able to create monsters resembling husks during the "Potion Age".

His strength is comparable to that of a Sequence Nine transcendent, making him the [Gravekeeper]'s greatest asset.

But in Ideal City...

Sorry, the versions are incompatible.

Without loading [Out of Control] and being limited by the version, Ron could only rely on rituals to transform several rats over two days, turning these small rodents into his servants.

These mindless undead creatures can only move according to their master's commands and are otherwise useless.

But for Ron, that was enough.

He fitted these rats with small cameras connected to his personal brain-computer interface, enabling them to function as mobile biological cameras to help him explore the prison.

As long as he can find out the dangers in the prison and start the battle prepared, Ron is confident that he can defeat all the enemies before the [Vector Manipulation] ability is worn down by the version update.

almost.

He took a deep breath, picked up the magic book, and controlled two mice to hide in his hair, holding one in his hand and stuffing the other two into his pockets.

The next moment, open the Dimensional Update Manual and select "Enter World Save".

[World save file "Potion Era" selected, joined the world...]

Instantly, Ron felt a slight dizziness, and his vision went black for a moment before the familiar dim light reappeared before him.

Cold stone walls, sticky moss, a dim kerosene lamp, a rusty cage...

The damp, cold, and putrid smell returned to his nose, telling him exactly where he was.

Last time, the situation was too urgent, and he didn't have time to observe it. Now he finally has a chance.

He took a few steps forward without making a sound, reached a corner, and avoided Kurt's gaze from behind before seriously examining himself—

The white, coarse cloth prison uniform was completely different from the clothes he wore in Ideal City.

He shook his head, and two rat servants fell out, landing on the ground along with the one he was holding, circling around his feet.

However, the two servants he had stuffed in his pocket had disappeared, seemingly unable to come with him from Ideal City to the Potions Era.

In other words... when using the power of the Dimensional Update Manual to travel through time, only objects that come into contact with me can travel through time together?
The clothes on his body have changed, but he can still bring over the prosthetic brain and all his personal belongings...

Ron seemed to be deep in thought, and something dawned on him.

Perhaps... the so-called "entering the world save file" does not refer to pure time travel, but rather to creating an identity that conforms to the settings of that era while time traveling.

For example, in the Potions era, Ron's initial identity was that of a prisoner of the Scorched Earth Sanctuary.

However, his fellow inmates clearly had no memory of him. Even Kurt, who was only separated from him by a single iron bar, did not recognize him, indicating that this was a fabricated identity.

Modifying the world, fabricating existence...

As expected of a dimensional update manual.

Ron sighed inwardly, wasting no more time, and released all his rat servants to explore the path to the top of the tower.

After the [Illusion Dissolved] effect was activated, everything appeared normal in Ron's field of vision, but from the perspective of the camera carried by the Corpse Servant, what he saw was nothing but blood and gore...

Cages with grotesque limbs were everywhere, and dark red bloodstains stained the mottled stone floor.

In each cell, there was a prisoner locked in bronze shackles.

Some of them had already decomposed, turning into grotesque corpses; others were still holding on, but their condition was not much worse than that of the living dead.

The Scorched Earth Sanctuary seems completely unconcerned about whether these prisoners will survive...

Ron seemed to be deep in thought, and followed in the footsteps of the corpse servant, continuing to control the corpse servant to explore the way.

Soon, he walked out of the cell block and saw a spiral staircase.

The spiral staircase forms a network of pathways leading to different cell blocks, clearly the very heart of the tower…

This must be the way to the top floor.

Ron controlled the corpse servant to approach, only to find two heavily armored knights standing not far from the stairs, frozen like statues.

Sure enough, the Scorched Earth Sanctuary couldn't have been without guards in its prisons; they were right here on the spiral staircase...

He carefully maneuvered the corpse servant closer, examining the two knights who were like stone sculptures—face-covered steel helmets, heavy plate armor, and skirt armor that gleamed with a cold light.

A red cape hung on his back, somewhat worn and stained with flame-shaped patterns.

Coupled with the unsheathed one-handed swords hanging at their waists, it inevitably gives one a somewhat...

retro.

That's right, it's retro.

Although the level of civilization development in the "Potion Age" is much weaker than that of Ideal City, it has clearly reached a level similar to that of the Victorian era.

At that time, such knights were obviously flashy but impractical and should have been eliminated long ago. Why would the Scorched Sanctuary send them to guard it?

Ron thought for a moment and immediately understood.

It seems... these knights who armed themselves to the teeth must be superhumans.

Otherwise, what right do they have to guard this cage that can imprison superhumans?

This is difficult...

Ron had a toothache. These two extraordinary individuals of unknown strength were standing here. Was he supposed to just barge right in?

Whether he can win or not is another matter. Even if he does win, how can he defeat that Sequence 8 war puppet after being so exhausted?
Just as Ron was feeling somewhat helpless, he heard some noisy murmurs.

noisy?

Ron paused for a moment, then immediately realized that the sound was coming from the poor-quality sound recording system of the miniature camera on the corpse servant's head...

He listened attentively and carefully discerned the sounds before he could clearly understand what he had heard.

"Chasing the fire... Chasing the fire..."

The exact same muttered words, heavy with emotion, came from the two knights who stood like statues!

Chasing fire?

What are they talking about... the fire-chasing ritual mentioned in the secret letter?
Only then did Ron realize that something was wrong with the two knights...

Although they were clearly breathing, their behavior was not like that of normal living people.

After all... if a normal person were to stand guard here wearing such heavy full-body armor, it would be impossible to remain quiet for so long, standing here like a statue.

Even if they have that ability, they should only take action after a period of time.

Add to that their clearly unconscious babbling...

Could it be that they are being controlled by someone?
Or is it simply a lack of wisdom?
Ron seemed to be deep in thought, a slight smile curving his lips.

In any case, given their blank stare, it's unlikely they could distinguish what the trap was meant to lure them into...

Unexpectedly, the little preparations I made before coming here actually came in handy.

Ron controlled the two corpse servants to run in different directions, and after they had traveled a certain distance, he remotely opened the small black boxes tied to their tails—

That was a second-hand speaker he bought online for 10 credits!
"Mambo, mambo, oh maji li mambo~"

In an instant, elegant music from the Ideal City suddenly resounded from different directions. The two knights, who were like statues, were stunned for a moment, and then immediately drew their longswords from their waists.

The next moment, it burst forth with a speed unimaginable to ordinary people, like a shark that has smelled blood, and strode toward the direction from which the sound came.

...Poor two corpse servants.

Ron silently mourned for the two little mice in his heart, and without wasting the time they had fought so hard for, he carefully stepped onto the spiral staircase.

Then, he hid to the side, letting the last corpse servant scout the way for him...

The corpse servants quickly reached the top floor of the tower by following the spiral staircase.

The top floor of the tower was empty; the space was quite large, but there was nothing there except for a wooden door in one corner.

There was a sign hanging above that read "Idrila," and a small, simple flower was drawn in the corner of the sign.

It seems this is the location of the "Evening Bell Saintess".

But... what happened to the promised war puppets?

Why does it look like there's nothing there?
Just as Ron was wondering what was going on, he faintly heard a "tick" sound amidst the noisy radio.

...Is there a dripping sound?
He asked in confusion, directing the corpse servant to look in the direction from which the sound came, only to find drops of dark red water falling.

Looking upwards along the dripping blood, he witnessed a scene he would never forget—

A "spider"... a monster made up of countless corpses and whose flesh and blood have sprung up, is hanging from the roof with human-hand-like limbs, staring intently at the corpse servant!

Is this what war puppets are like?
It looks like a terrifying monster made from a pile of corpses... Does this Scorched Earth Sanctuary really enjoy turning human corpses into these kinds of items?

The prison cells that hold prisoners are like this, and so is the monster guarding the saintess...

Ron frowned slightly in disgust as he looked at the footage from the Corpse Servant's camera.

He tried to control the corpse servant to escape, but the war puppet clearly didn't want to let go of this little treat that had come to its door. It immediately jumped off the roof and landed in front of the corpse servant.

Its twisted eyes, composed of countless heads, revealed a human-like cruelty and greed. It shrieked at the corpse servant and opened its gaping maw...

Thin strands of red hair shot out like sharp needles, riddling the corpse with holes, then crawled over on all fours and swallowed it whole.

"Zizi..."

The miniature camera was completely destroyed, and the image signal in Ron's brain-computer interface was cut off.

The real culprit is this war puppet.

Ron clicked his tongue. If he hadn't prepared any corpse servants to scout ahead and had instead charged in recklessly like a fool, he probably would have been caught off guard by this monster.

After all... his [Vector Manipulation] hasn't reached the point where it can be activated infinitely around the clock to reflect all attacks.

But now that we know this monster hunting pattern...

Ron smiled slightly and casually picked up a few pebbles from the ground.

Uninstall [Potion Sequence]!

[Superpowered Individual], Load!

He carefully made his way up the stairs to the top floor, peered out from the top, and began searching the rooftop for the location of the war puppets.

Soon, he saw the mass of flesh formed from the remains of the corpse.

It was hiding in the shadows under the ceiling, sticking out its dirty, long tongue to lick its lips, seemingly still savoring the snack it had just eaten...

Ron picked up the pebble and activated [Vector Manipulation] at full power, while the ability limiter around his neck emitted a rapid "beep beep beep" sound.

Ha, what Sequence 8? What war puppet?
Let me talk to your vector manipulation!

(End of this chapter)