The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer - Chapter 31

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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 31
Chapter 3
‘The door seems to have never existed in the first place…… but the doorframe is still massive. Is this really the ruins of a Giant Demon Beast?’
Han Eol gazed up at the intricately carved doorframe in wonder.
The fact that such a colossal structure had been built within a sheer cliff face was, in other words, proof that the civilization of Demon Beasts far surpassed that of mankind.
Come to think of it, just looking at the airship of the Giritt Species—the Pyros fallen leaf—showed that Demon Beast civilization was superior to humanity’s.
Humans called themselves the noblest of all creatures and dismissed the alien races of Highland as Demon Beasts, but to Han Eol, this was simply absurd.
‘They should be called the Demon Race, not Demon Beasts. Of course, some among the Demon Race haven’t built proper civilizations, but those are merely a fraction. Just look at the Giritt Species of Highland’s 7th Continent or 6th Continent—the term “Demon Beast” hardly applies.’
Han Eol paused mid-thought and tilted his head.
‘Then again, which continent is this? The 8th? The 7th? Surely not the 6th?’
The highest level humanity had explored so far was the 8th Continent. Only a handful of the mightiest cities, including Midland Seoul, had managed to establish base camps there.
At least, that was what Han Eol knew.
Meanwhile, Han Eol had directly experienced Highland’s 7th Continent when his guided teleportation failed.
There, he had encountered both male and female Giritt and learned just how advanced their civilization was.
Furthermore, by absorbing the soul of the female Giritt—the Three-Eyed Eight-Tailed Demon Beast—into his Multicolored Hand, Han Eol had acquired a portion of the Giritt knowledge.
According to that knowledge, the Giritt’s main base was built not on the 7th Continent but on the 6th Continent.
And on the 6th Continent, there were not one or two transcendent beings at the level of the Three-Eyed Eight-Tailed creature.
After learning this fact, Han Eol had shuddered, thinking, ‘I absolutely do not want to go to the 6th Continent.’
‘It can’t be. This place couldn’t possibly be the 6th Continent. That’s right. It’s the 8th. It must be somewhere on the 8th Continent that humanity hasn’t yet set foot on.’
Han Eol tried to reassure himself this way.
It was then, while Han Eol was momentarily distracted.
[ΓΔΔΘ, ΛBΣ, ΦΦΦ.]
A bizarre language he had never heard before pierced into Han Eol’s mind. And it came directly into his brain, not through his ears.
“Huh? Who’s there?”
Han Eol reflexively jumped back.
[ΓΔΔΘ,]
Then the brainwave came at him with greater intensity.
As Han Eol watched through his Infrared Goggles, a creature with an elongated body—a Demon Race, not a Beast—revealed itself.
Three eyes and six pupils.
A slender, inverted-triangle head reminiscent of a praying mantis.
Eight tails trained on every part of Han Eol’s body, each tail equipped with a sinister barb.
Two triangular Magic Spirit Stones embedded in its throat and chest.
This was a Giritt. A kinsman of that terrible being from the 7th Continent that had nearly driven Han Eol to death had appeared.
‘Damn.’
Han Eol hastily activated his Mental Image.
The Multicolored Hand descended from a higher dimension, poised to extract the Giritt’s soul.
One fortunate thing was that Han Eol currently held an advantage over the Giritt.
If the opponent had immediately attacked from a distance?
Then Han Eol would have died without a sound.
His Yellow Energy Barrier could not withstand a full-grown Giritt’s devastating attack. It would certainly tear under even a single blow.
The Bark Skin Armor he wore was useless as well.
The Bark Skin was an excellent artifact, but it alone was insufficient to block a full-grown Giritt’s ranged assault.
Yet was it carelessness?
Instead of attacking Han Eol, the Giritt initiated conversation first.
Moreover, this foolish (?) Giritt had revealed itself directly in front of Han Eol.
‘If it comes out right in front of me like this, I’m grateful. I can extract its soul in one go.’
Han Eol was already examining the full-grown Giritt’s soul in detail.
And within Han Eol’s Mental Image, the Multicolored Hand had curled its fingers into a hook, ready to snatch the opponent’s soul at any moment.
Before Han Eol could instantly kill his opponent, he asked a question.
“Why use such a strange language? The brainwave from before—that’s not the Giritt Language.”
Fluent Giritt Language spilled from Han Eol’s mouth.
When Han Eol had harvested the soul of the female Three-Eyed Eight-Tailed creature on the 7th Continent, he had absorbed a significant portion of her knowledge.
Naturally, the Giritt Language was included in that knowledge.
The moment Han Eol suddenly spoke in Giritt Language, the full-grown Giritt was startled.
The Giritt replied in Giritt Language, its tone markedly different from the brainwave from before.
“I am impressed that you command the language of the inferior species. Are you perhaps a Spirit Realm Being? This Secondary Residence belongs to my master, so you cannot enter here carelessly. My master will soon descend, so please leave this place before that. I beg you.”
Inferior species, Spirit Realm Being, master, Secondary Residence, descent.
These words penetrated Han Eol’s mind one after another.
‘What is this creature saying? And such deference? Is this really an arrogant Giritt?’
According to the knowledge Han Eol had acquired, the Giritt Species were counted among the ruling races even on the 6th Continent.
In particular, a mature Giritt that had opened its third eye and formed eight tails was arrogant beyond measure, with scarcely an equal to be found anywhere on the 6th Continent.
Yet the behavior of this mature Giritt was strange beyond measure. It seemed positively terrified of Han Eol.
‘And calling him master? There exists a being that enslaves a mature Giritt as a slave?’
In that instant, a chill ran down Han Eol’s spine.
Chapter 4
Just then, the Giritt’s spirit turned a sickly red.
The blood-crimson hue signified hostility.
“Aah! No! My master is descending—ahhhhh! My master will be furious with this foolish slave for failing to stop the intruder. Ahhhhh! No, no, nooooo—!”
The mature Giritt displayed the reaction of a mind consumed entirely by terror, reason utterly abandoned.
Click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.
In an instant, the spines arrayed along the mature Giritt’s tails retracted inward, vanishing from sight, while the tips of the tails drew themselves taut and rigid.
Han Eol instinctively recognized this as a prelude to attack.
Snap!
Han Eol’s Multicolored Hand harvested the mature Giritt’s spirit in a single motion.
As the spirit was forcibly torn away, two of the tails connected to it were ripped free alongside it.
Those two thick tails pierced into the Giritt’s belly, tore through its viscera, and burst forth from its jaws with a violent rending.
Gurgle.
The transcendent mature Giritt collapsed without so much as an attempt at resistance, expiring instantly in a grotesque manner.
In that same moment, the Giritt’s spirit separated into ‘spirit’ and ‘soul’.
The ‘spirit’ was immediately absorbed by the Multicolored Hand and vanished.
The ‘soul’ then split into ‘consciousness’ and ‘essence’, with the ‘consciousness’ also absorbed by the hand and disappearing, but the ‘essence’ remained, sprouting from the palm as a tiny nodule.
The nodule transformed into an eye shape and began probing the surroundings with furtive glances.
Through this nodule—possessed of knowledge alone, stripped of all reason—Han Eol suddenly grasped new information in an instant.
‘Oh no!’
Han Eol’s breath caught at once.
Damn it all—this place is the Highland 5th Continent.
Not the 7th Continent that Han Eol had visited during the second and third expeditions, nor the 8th Continent where the Sacred Group had established its base camp, nor even that terrifying 6th Continent where the mature Giritt Species roamed freely—but something far above all of these: the 5th Continent!
Han Eol had fallen into that dreadful demonic realm.
How frightening the 5th Continent truly was, Han Eol could well imagine without ever having experienced it directly.
A world where the apex species of the 6th Continent—the mature Giritt—served as mere slaves.
That was the majesty of the Highland 5th Continent.
‘Damn it. I have to escape. That master will descend here soon.’
Han Eol made to flee in a panic.
But he was a moment too late.
[Hehehehe. How amusing.]
A gentle telepathic pulse bored directly into Han Eol’s mind.
Remarkably, Han Eol understood the other’s language at once.
Upon reflection, this telepathic communication was the very language the mature Giritt had used when it first attempted to speak with Han Eol.
Not the Giritt Language, but the tongue of a superior species of the 5th Continent.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—by absorbing the mature Giritt’s knowledge, Han Eol had instantly gained the ability to comprehend this language.
Of course, understanding a language and speaking it were entirely different matters.
Especially with a language that used no vocal cords and communicated solely through telepathic waves, it was exceedingly difficult.
…….
In the end, Han Eol found himself forced into silence.
As Han Eol stood motionless like a dumb man, the other party seemed only to grow more curious.
[Ho? A guest of few words, I see.]
The superior species of the 5th Continent revealed its true form with evident interest.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Black smoke-like wisps rose before Han Eol’s eyes, then gathered and coalesced, forming a head and torso, arms and legs.
Moments later, a being that looked identical to Han Eol stood revealed before him.
[Really now. How admirably you endure such a fragile and inconvenient form. Hehehehe. Perhaps you’ve imposed restrictions upon yourself for the sake of some training or other? Hehehehehehe.]
While Han Eol held his breath in terror, the doppelgänger—a superior species of the 5th Continent wearing Han Eol’s exact visage—examined his form minutely from every angle, then turned his gaze toward the corpse of the mature Giritt lying sprawled nearby.
‘Oh no.’
Han Eol flinched involuntarily.
He dreaded being held accountable for killing the Giritt.
Yet the superior species seemed in no hurry to press the matter. He merely scratched his chin at leisure.
[Hmm. This is rather interesting.]
‘??’
[Though my lowly slave may be a mere insect compared to us Spirit Realm Beings, I had thought it sufficient to serve as a guardian for my Secondary Residence. But how on earth did you reduce my slave to such a state?]
As the superior species murmured, a yellow beam shot forth from his eyes in astonishment.
Within that yellow beam, the scene of Han Eol killing the adult Giritt just moments earlier played out vividly before them.
However, the Multicolored Hand that Han Eol wielded did not appear in the hologram-like playback.
Thus, even the upper-caste being could not discern exactly what method Han Eol had used to kill the Giritt.
[How remarkable.]
Wonder flickered in the upper-caste being’s eyes as he turned to regard Han Eol.
[You are far more formidable than I anticipated. I spent ten thousand years refining my strength here on the 5th Continent before ascending to the 4th Continent, and this peculiar instant-death technique of yours—I have never encountered its like. Hehehehe.]
The upper-caste being, whose appearance mirrored Han Eol’s own, concluded his brainwave transmission with a sinister chuckle whose true intent was impossible to fathom.
In that moment, Han Eol focused his attention on several key points.
First, the phrasing of “we” had seized his mind.
‘This Demon Race creature has mistaken me for one of its own kind.’
Whether this misunderstanding would lead to greater trouble later remained to be seen, but for now, it seemed to work in Han Eol’s favor.
Next, the term “Spirit Realm Race” also captured his attention.
‘Earlier, it mentioned the Spirit Realm Race. I’m not entirely certain, but it seems these beings must be an utterly formidable species—the kind that treats adult Giritt as mere servants as a matter of course.’
Finally, Han Eol concentrated on phrases like “ten thousand years of cultivation,” “here on the 5th Continent,” and “ascension to the 4th Continent.”
Chapter 5
To be precise, the upper-caste being had not spoken of ten thousand years.
Instead, he had used the expression “during two T of time.”
According to the knowledge Han Eol had extracted from the Giritt, one T equated to roughly the time it took for the Earth to orbit the sun approximately five thousand times in human years.
‘In other words, this upper-caste Demon Race being has lived through a span of time comparable to the entire history of mankind. Damn it. Is this even possible, or is it mere boasting?’
The incomprehensible unit of time made Han Eol’s head spin, but the numbers affixed to the continents made him even more dizzy.
‘So this place truly is the 5th Continent.’
Ever since Han Eol killed the three-headed, eight-tailed female Giritt, he had grown to fear the 6th Continent, teeming with swarms of her kin.
Yet was not the 5th Continent an even more perilous demon realm than the 6th?
Furthermore, this grotesque being before his eyes had claimed to have spent roughly ten thousand years cultivating on this 5th Continent before ascending and crossing over to the 4th Continent.
Then, suddenly, a shocking realization struck Han Eol.
The Spirit Realm being before him had clearly stated that he had ascended to the 4th Continent and moved on.
He had left behind only a single Giritt, enslaved to his will, in his Secondary Residence here on the 5th Continent.
‘Yet just before the Giritt died, it cried out—that its master was descending to this place, that that was exactly what it said.’
The size of each continent in the Highland was extraordinary.
Humanity had thus far only explored a minuscule fraction of the 9th and 8th Continents, and had no sense whatsoever of how vast these continents truly were.
According to Han Eol’s calculations drawn from the knowledge of the Giritt, the scale of the 7th or 6th Continent defied imagination.
Moreover, the scope of the 5th Continent was scarcely any smaller than the 6th.
‘Yet this being claims it can descend from the 4th Continent to the 5th in mere seconds?’
If that were true, then this vile Demon Race creature could appear at will on the 8th or 9th Continent, where humanity had established its forward bases.
Humanity would be annihilated in an instant.
The Puppeteer Who Harvests Souls
Author |
Juno
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – 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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