NOVEL NEXT Chapter 75: Just a try
Ash ignored the voice.
But as he emerged out of the opening, another man stood there with a smirk on his face — and this time, Ash had no chance to run.
The ground cracked as the man punched it, several vines bursting upward like javelins.
Ash's instincts were dulled to a certain extent, and jumping that high with Jessie on his shoulder made the split-second decision impossible.
A vine pierced through his shin, blood erupting out and coating its tip.
Ash bit his tongue, controlling the urge to scream. He hadn't even gotten the chance to activate King's Domain.
If he had known a real B-rank puppet was waiting outside, he would have used King's Domain instantly.
He got one important piece of information from the entity's story — it wasn't entirely false. There were lies sandwiched between truths.
It had evolved the ability to create puppets to hunt for it, and all the humans here were merely its puppets — designed to hunt beasts around the desert so it could feed on them.
The question was: how strong were the puppets it could create, and how many could it make?
Ash looked at the silhouettes of the villagers a hundred meters behind. It was to avoid any casualties. The tree was taking him far too lightly.
[King's Domain: 55 MP/second]
Ash used the skill to buy some time. Grabbing his short blade, he cut the spear-vine on both sides, keeping the impaled area intact.
Pulling it out would only cause more pain and blood loss, so the best choice was to sever both ends, allowing him to move.
The skill consumed too much MP per second, and the beast cores couldn't recover it fast enough.
Ash threw a couple of smoke grenades — and a couple of real grenades inside the smoke. If he was right, a grenade had an attack power close to a B-ranker's strike, though the damage was dispersed in all directions unlike bullets.
It was more useful for fighting hordes of beasts.
The shockwave of the explosion ripped through the smoke, sending soil and debris flying into the air. The smoke grenades hissed violently, choking the surroundings in a thick white cloud, while the two grenades detonated inside, creating overlapping bursts of sound and pressure.
For a moment, chaos peaked — vision obscured, sound muffled, and even the Tree's twisted whispers silenced under the roar.
Ash didn't wait for confirmation. He grabbed Jessie and sprinted toward the nearest fence, blood dripping from his leg with every step. The pain was sharp, cold, but it kept him alert — anchored to reality. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, stopping himself from groaning.
Sliding behind a rock, his cloak flickered faintly. He didn't want to waste MP on hiding anymore, since it wasn't of any use.
Another D-rank core in his hand pumped mana into his body. He could feel his head turning hazy with each core — the consequence of overconsumption. He wouldn't be able to handle another; his mind would shatter if he continued.
His hands grabbed Jessie's fingers, snatching the ring from hers.
He instantly put the ring on and continued replenishing his MP.
[MP: 110/210]
[MP: 130/210]
[MP: 150/210]
Through the thick haze, he heard footsteps — heavy, unfazed.
"Impressive toys," a deep, unfeeling voice echoed from within the smoke.
Ash's heart sank. The puppet was still alive.
Running wasn't an option. With its agility, it would be child's play for it to catch him.
The smoke swirled unnaturally as the figure emerged — a tall man, his body covered in bark-like scales, faint green lines pulsing beneath the skin. His eyes glowed with a dim yellow light. On his back, tendrils extended and retracted like breathing roots.
He wasn't human anymore—Almost an beast Evolved from humanoids.
Ash put Jessie aside, readying his SMG, activating every trait of his class, coating each bullet with poison.
The puppet tilted its head, the corner of its mouth twitching upward. "Yo rn a."
It no longer sounded human.
Ash used the SMG to spray bursts of bullets. For the first time, he felt the need to spam shots in burst mode.
[33/36]
[30/36]
He didn't care about the bullets — he could always use more D-rank crystals to reload.
[King's Domain - 55 MP/Second]
He activated it for just a second to make it unable to dodge.
But its entire body was covered in thick bark — an armor-like layer, tough as an armadillo's shell.
[King's Domain has been countered.]
Ash was disappointed, but everything was going according to plan. Some bullets had already hit, spreading his corrosive poison across its body.
He was hoping Withering Kiss would work faster.
The puppet's eyes twitched, laughing at his futile efforts. It slammed its palm into the ground again — the terrain responded instantly, roots twisting beneath the soil like serpents.
"King's Domain!" Ash hissed.
The world froze.
For the span of a heartbeat, the entire area went silent again —
[King's Domain has been countered.]
This time, it didn't even last a tenth of a second.
Shadow Veil was useless at this moment — since it knew his every movement within range, hiding was impossible.
He could only rely on two skills — Heartpiercer and King's Domain. His plan had been to combine both, but that had failed miserably. Now, only one option remained.
[Heartpiercer] – Channels mana into the next attack, bypassing armor and dealing 350% damage.
Bonus Effect: Under King's Domain, multiplier increases to 450%.
Cost: 80 MP per attack.]
Ash checked his MP.
[MP - 200/210]
Since King's Domain had been countered, it at least helped him save some MP.
Ash switched his gun in a split second as the vines exploded outward. He couldn't give it time to unleash its full potential — one more attack, and he'd be dead.
"Bang."
Ash felt a heavy recoil on his shoulder as the bullet fired — 3.5 times faster and stronger.
Some vines tried to block the shot, but either they were too late or were simply obliterated without losing momentum.
For the first time, Ash saw a flicker of fear on its face. He jumped sideways to evade but Ash's poison kicked in making it's movements a tenth of second slower, falling to the ground, it didn't evade it completely but he succeeded taking the impact on his shoulder instead of his head.
The tree bark armor was obliterated by the hit, crushed beneath the overwhelming momentum.
This skill could bypass any armor or form of defense.
But there was still a smirk on its face — as if saying, nice try.
Ash looked at it, raising the SMG once more. A smile tugged on his lips — eerie and far too deadly.
His killing aura surged, ready to kill anyone.
"It was just a try."
Bang.