The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 23
Chapter 4
After that, Han Eol continued his march through the night air heavy with dew.
As a result, Han Eol reached the 8th Continent Base Camp around five in the morning.
In the distance, he could make out a structure that resembled a medieval European castle. Judging by its scale, it stretched at least two kilometers across.
On the castle’s pointed spires, the flags of the Holy Group’s Pioneer Corps and the 1st Corps hung side by side, fluttering in the wind.
At that very moment, Han Eol’s chronometer’s hands aligned with that distant fortress.
“I’ve finally arrived.”
Tears welled at the corners of Han Eol’s eyes. The accumulated fatigue and taut tension of the journey dissolved the instant he saw that castle.
The 1st Corps’ Base Camp was surrounded by solid stone walls ten meters high.
The Ivory Bricks that composed the walls were mined exclusively from the Highland, and their defining characteristic was that they were harder than any rock on Earth.
To illustrate in simpler terms: those Ivory Bricks possessed such remarkable durability that they would not shatter even under repeated strikes from a 155-millimeter Earth-based self-propelled howitzer.
Thus the walls alone were enough to earn the 1st Corps Base Camp the title of an impregnable fortress.
Moreover, directly beneath the walls lay a deep moat, dug to impede the approach of Magic Beasts.
Atop the walls, Mana Cannons were positioned at roughly thirty-meter intervals.
A Mana Cannon was a weapon powered by Mana Stones, and its distinguishing feature was the capacity to fire 360 rounds per minute of advanced-alloy ammunition.
In the early days of Highland development, leading cities worldwide, including the Holy Group, had attempted to bring into the Highland conventional weapon systems that humanity had developed—long-range artillery, self-propelled howitzers, tanks, fighter jets, cruise missiles, and even nuclear weapons.
At that time, Espers from each city would disassemble weapons into component parts, carry them in backpacks to the Highland, and attempt to reassemble the weapons there.
But the results were disappointing.
Explosives detonated repeatedly during the crossing from the Midland to the Highland.
Even fuel for tanks and fighter jets would ignite without fail.
‘Then might it be possible to mine gunpowder materials or petroleum in the Highland itself?’
The Espers from each city at that time pondered the local procurement of gunpowder and petroleum.
But this plan also ended in failure.
Not only were energy sources like petroleum, coal, and natural gas absent from the Highland, but raw materials for explosives were even more impossible to find.
At least within the territories humanity had explored.
Ultimately, humanity reached a conclusion: “Conventional mobile firepower weapon systems simply cannot be used effectively in the Highland.”
Afterward, Espers from each city developed a new weapon system utilizing Mana Stones—Mana Core Stones filled with energy.
The Mana Cannon was one such development.
This weapon used Mana Stones instead of explosives, which meant it produced almost no recoil. Moreover, even when firing 360 rounds per minute, the barrel generated almost no heat.
Mana Cannon ammunition was made from Highland-sourced metals, which possessed superior destructive power, penetration, and heat resistance compared to Earth metals—much to the delight of the Espers.
However, aside from the Mana Cannon, no other weapon systems had achieved any noteworthy results.
Fighter jets powered by Mana Stones as their energy source had been completed in development, but they had inferior maneuverability compared to the flying Magic Beasts of the Highland and proved practically useless.
Missiles were no different.
Originally, missiles are weapons that require precise knowledge of target coordinates to be effective.
Yet the Highland had so many formidable flying Magic Beasts that reconnaissance aircraft and surveillance planes could not be deployed.
Artificial satellites were even less feasible.
For this reason, humanity abandoned the development of Highland-specific missiles.
Tanks faced the same problem.
Most Magic Beasts of the Highland moved faster than the speed of sound.
The proposition of engaging such creatures with tanks made no sense.
It was a fantasy with no solution.
Thus, humanity had no choice but to depend purely on the combat capabilities of Espers—aside from defensive Mana Cannons—to develop the Highland.
The Fourth Highland Expedition II
Chapter 1
Han Eol was assigned to a Metal Mine several kilometers away from the Base Camp.
The Holy Group manufactured the ammunition for Mana Cannons and various industrial goods using the special metals produced here.
While the mine was useful enough, the metal it produced was relatively abundant, so its strategic importance was not particularly high.
The reason only three security squads were stationed at the mine was precisely this consideration.
Moreover, metal extraction was not done by human labor. Dozens of Mining Robots powered by Mana Stones operated on two shifts, twelve hours each, extracting metal.
Therefore, the mine required far fewer personnel.
Recently, however, reports had been arriving suggesting unusual movement among the Magic Beasts.
Consequently, the 1st Corps Commander recalled two of the three squads stationed at the mine back to Base Camp.
Two days later, an order came to further withdraw half the remaining squad’s personnel and send them to Base Camp.
The result was that only five Espers remained as security forces at the mine.
Han Eol was among those five.
In fact, it was Kim Huiin who had assigned Han Eol to the mining security detail.
Kim Huiin, the red-haired Flame Mage, was the man who, not long before, had been humiliatingly chased away by the Artemis Knights during a drinking bout with Han Eol at a club in Gangnam.
Kim Huiin’s reason for sidelining Han Eol was simple enough.
‘What a petty man. He was shamed by the Artemis Knights, so he’s taking it out on me instead. Tch.’
Han Eol pushed his lower lip out.
In truth, he felt wronged.
It wasn’t his fault that Kim Huiin had been humiliated at the club.
Yet Kim Huiin was taking it out on him.
The reason Kim Huiin was venting at him was that Han Eol had witnessed him being mortified by those sharp-tempered Artemis Knights women right beside him.
‘Sigh. What can I do? When a senior vents, all I can do is take it.’
Han Eol tried to calm his frustration with the patience of a buddha.
But every so often, a groan of exasperation escaped him.
“It’s so quiet I’m actually bored. Whew~.”
Han Eol climbed the guard tower at the entrance to the mine and let out a deep sigh while standing watch.
‘Wait—that’s not right.’
Then Han Eol suddenly snapped to attention.
‘What’s wrong with me? This quietness is actually a good thing. I’m being such a loudmouth—if Magic Beasts swarm in because of my jinx, it’ll be a real disaster.’
Han Eol quickly corrected his thinking.
But it was already too late.
In the distance toward the Base Camp, a deafening roar erupted and dust rose in great clouds.
Even from kilometers away at the Metal Mine, he could see the Mana Cannons stationed at regular intervals along the wall spewing fire.
‘Damn. Magic Beasts. They’re coming in swarms.’
The hair on Han Eol’s scalp stood on end.
The continuous roar suggested that the Magic Beasts attacking the Base Camp were not just one or two.
‘With so many beasts, would they target only the Base Camp?’
Not a chance. The Metal Mine here wasn’t far from the Base Camp.
So there was a high probability that the Magic Beasts would reach this place soon.
‘My cursed mouth. The moment I jinx it, disaster strikes. Damn it all.’
Han Eol pressed the emergency bell mounted on the guard tower with force and simultaneously smacked his own mouth repeatedly with his palm.
The shrill emergency bell wailed, and mere seconds later—
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
The ground shook violently.
A countless horde of Magic Beasts appeared in the distance. The beasts kicked up dust like billowing clouds as they charged in a straight line toward the Metal Mine.
“Uuuugh.”
The sheer number of Magic Beasts made Han Eol’s legs go weak. He felt a trickle of shame down his thighs.
Worse still, the Espers who made up the security squad stationed at the Metal Mine were fleeing, leaving Han Eol to fend for himself.
“No, no, no—you bastards!”
Han Eol hurled curses at the seniors running for their lives.
He wanted nothing more than to flee himself.
But it was already too late.
With a sharp patter of sounds, Magic Beasts erupted from the earth around the guard tower—creatures resembling leopards but twice the size of earthly ones, with two long scythe-shaped tentacles sprouting from their shoulders like the forelegs of a praying mantis. These were the Byolrang Clan.
The moment these beasts burst through the ground, they leapt effortlessly over five meters and slashed at the guard tower’s window with their mantis-like tentacles.
Clang!
With a sharp metallic shriek, cracks spider-webbed across the tower’s bulletproof glass.
‘Damn! That scared me.’
Han Eol instinctively shielded his head with his arms.
Body Reinforcement protected most of Han Eol’s body, but his head was an exception. Moreover, his A-Rank Vest offered no protection for his skull.
So Han Eol had developed the habit of cradling his head with his arms whenever danger struck.
While Han Eol hesitated, another Byolrang leapt high and smashed the tower’s window with its mantis-like tentacle.
Crash!
Spider web fractures spread across the bulletproof glass once more.
Han Eol quickly stretched out his hand and switched the guard tower’s Mana Cannon to automatic fire mode.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—
From the cannon barrel mounted below the window, three hundred sixty rounds per minute poured out in a barrage. Two more Mana Cannons rose with a whirring sound from the earth on either side of the tower, raking fire indiscriminately. Hundreds, thousands of rounds flew faster than the speed of sound.
But the Byolrang dodged the high-speed barrage with ease.
Of course, a few were hit and bled.
Several more took fatal shots and died instantly.
Yet the Byolrang Clan knew no fear. They used the corpses of their fallen as springboards to launch themselves, then charged straight at the guard tower.
Han Eol left the distant beasts to the Mana Cannons. Then he focused all his concentration on tracking the Spirits of the Byolrang that were closing in on the tower.
Normally, the Byolrang’s instantaneous speed exceeded the speed of sound, making it impossible to track their Spirits with ordinary eyesight.
But when they surrounded the tower like this, things were different.
‘Come on then. I’ll kill every last one of you.’
Cornered, Han Eol clenched his teeth.
The instant the Byolrang Spirits appeared in his field of vision, they flattened like geometric shapes drawn on two-dimensional paper.
The soul of the Byolrang that appeared before Han Eol’s eyes took the form of a geometric figure.
A fortress where a square and a diamond overlapped.
An instrument of attack that brought to mind a sharp sickle.
‘Certainly the Byolrang Clan looks stronger than the Twin-Head Beasts. But they’re a step below Seolrang.’
This was Han Eol’s assessment.
In that instant, within Han Eol’s mind’s eye, a hand of rainbow hues burst forth and slipped smoothly into this world. The moment it manifested in reality, the prismatic hand leapt to the watchtower window, seized the Byolrang’s soul that had jumped there between thumb and forefinger, and plucked it away with a snap.
Yelp!
One Byolrang fell dead on the spot.
The corpse, stripped of its spirit, tumbled to the ground.
Huh? Huh?
The surrounding Byolrangs stared down at their companion’s body in confusion.
In the meantime, the rainbow hand moved several more times.
Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Five Byolrangs fell dead in the blink of an eye.
Huh? Huh-huh? Huh?
Only then did the Byolrangs startle and back away from the watchtower.
“Yes, that’s right. Run like that. Away from here, toward the Base Camp over there—hurry!”
Han Eol silently willed it.
His wish went unfulfilled.
A thunderous roar split the air from far off.
The leader Byolrang’s resonant cry tore through the quiet, carrying with it an unsettling aura that made one’s skin crawl.
The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer
Author |
Juno
Publisher |
Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C – Dream Books
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7F Kwangsung Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260703071
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blog.naver.com/dreambookss
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@dreambookss
Submissions |
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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of Samyang C&C – Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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