Chapter 385: Fusing A Peak Diamond-tier Puppet
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Augustus, don’t be impudent in front of the guests. Is that what I taught you?”
Just as Augustus’ voice fell, an old voice came from the room. Watson looked up and saw an old man with white hair and a beard standing behind a sculpture, carefully fiddling with something. It seemed like he was repairing the magical item.
Augustus was known to be proud and domineering. However, after the old man spoke, he lowered his head and shut his mouth obediently. He looked like a good boy.
When Watson looked up, the old man put down the things in his hand, revealing a sharp-edged face imposing; he did not look angry.
He swept his gaze over Watson and Hoen before fixing it on Hoen. The old man said, “General Hoen, long time no see. Thank you for sending the offender who injured my grandson.. The Campbell family will judge that young man next. You can leave now. Oh, right! Please remember to thank His Majesty for me when you go back.”
“Armand, no matter what, that young man is Master Antonio and the Sword Saint’s disciple. If you go too far, it won’t be easy to explain things to them! Furthermore, I promised Watson that I would investigate that matter thoroughly, so it’s better for me to stay here for the time being.”
After hesitating for a moment, Hoen looked at Watson and forced a smile.
“Since General Hoen is worried, then you may stay here and watch. I did not intend to go too far with that young man! He broke Augustus’ limbs, and I want to break his limbs too, that’s all.”
Armand Campbell, the Campbell family’s patriarch, stared at Watson with a cold gaze.
“Master Armand, as the head of the three archdukes’ families, I thought you were a reasonable person. Now it seems that you are no different from those noblemen who only favor their own children. It’s not easy to break my four limbs.”
“You are the first one who dares to speak like that to someone from the Campbell family.”
Armand clapped his hands. The walls suddenly made cracking sounds before they fell off, revealing four deep passages. Puppets with magic crystals embedded in their chests walked out of the passages. Those puppets were similar to those used in the Royal Academy’s assessment. They were divided into four classes—warrior, mage, archer, and priest.
From the outside, those puppets looked real. Except for the fact that there were no metal connections between their facial features and joints, the other parts of the puppets retained the same characteristics as humans. They exuded an aura equivalent to that of a human gold-tier elite.
There were quite a number of puppets walking out from the four passages. They walked at a neat pace, causing the ground to rumble. In just a few minutes, those puppets had surrounded Armand and Augustus. There were almost five hundred of them.
“You look surprised. The Campbell family is the largest family that deals in forming magical tools in the capital. In recent years, the strongest magical tool in the kingdom has been those magic puppets! As long as they are inlaid with crystals of the same level, they will be able to display strength that is no less than a gold-tier professional. Furthermore, the damaged parts can also be dismantled and replaced. In the future, those magical puppets will inevitably replace the kingdom’s army. Even the test puppets in the Royal Academy were built by our family’s engineering department.”
Armand stood in the center of the group of puppets and spoke to Watson.
“I’m not showing off. I heard that Master Antonio and the Sword Saint’s disciple is a platinum-tier elite. If you are at your peak, then those puppets might not be able to hurt you. However, you’re currently wearing a shackle made of anti-magic materials. You can’t use your strength. How long can you last in front of those puppets? Don’t worry. I’ve already prepared a healer. After your limbs are broken, I’ll order the healer to treat you. You don’t have to worry about the aftereffects.”
“I don’t need a healer. I don’t think I’ll need one.”
Watson looked around him. The corners of his mouth curled upward.
“Watson, don’t talk big. Even if I weren’t injured, I could not fight those puppets. Even though you’re a little stronger than me, in your current state, I’m afraid you can’t even defeat one puppet, let alone 500 of them.”
Augustus was sitting on a chair as he laughed out loud. It was as if he could see Watson’s limbs break, and it made him very happy.
Just as he was laughing out loud, Watson glanced at the puppets around him. The basic information about the puppets immediately appeared in his eyes.
[Gold-tier puppets]
[Abilities: they are divided into four classes. Different classes have different skills. The skills are the magic equations that are input into the magic crystal in advance. Magical Energy Supply (the magic crystal provides the energy, and it can be replaced. Once the magic crystal is damaged, the puppet will collapse. There is no other weakness), Simple Commands (can complete simple tasks according to the master’s orders).]
[Additional abilities: Spiritual Link (different puppets have a different set of thought systems; they can share information).]
While they were calculating the situation, 500 gold-tier puppets had already taken action. A hundred puppets took action first. Their bodies were covered with all kinds of combat aura as they rushed toward Watson. The first few puppets grabbed his limbs and lifted him. They continued to pull him in all directions as though they wanted to rip him apart. The remaining few hundred puppets stood on the spot and watched that scene quietly.
After the puppets dragged him toward the sky, Watson heard Augustus’ loud laughter. At the same time, he was mocking and ridiculing him about how he was dead, and that was what Watson got for going against him. Watson turned a deaf ear to all of that. He stretched his right hand outward in mid-air, clenched it gently, and spat out a few words.
“System fusion, activate.”
[Congratulations on successfully fusing 500 gold-tier puppets, Master. You now have the diamond-tier Eight-arm War God puppet.]
As the fusion system activated, whether it was the puppets attacking Watson or those that were quietly waiting at the side, their bodies turned into a ray of light and disappeared from where they were. They fused into a puppet as tall as a person to a giant puppet about ten meters tall.
That giant puppet had the appearance of a female. Its black hair cascaded downward like a waterfall, and it wore a mage’s robe with nested armor. Besides the two arms holding a longsword and a shield, six other arms were on its back. Each of them had a mage’s scepter, a longbow, and a prayer book.
[Diamond-tier puppet, Eight-arm War God]
[Abilities: proficient in all classes, equal to the strength of four diamond-tier elites.]
[Absolute Techniques (proficient in all types of combat techniques, can use the least amount of strength to defeat the enemy), Eight-armed Dance (releases weapons in those eight arms and skills from four different classes, causing large-scale damage simultaneously), Wargod’s Body (any damage received will be recovered in a short time), Self-evolution (has a self-awareness comparable to that of humans, can learn to evolve on its own).]
[Additional abilities: Disperse Core (the core in the body can classify and reassemble. Even if the core is shattered, it will not be paralyzed.]
After reading the information about the Eight-arm War God, Watson nodded in satisfaction. Then, he flipped in the air and sat on the shoulder of the giant puppet.
“What… What is that?”
It did not take Watson a long time to fuse those puppets. In fact, it only took him a few seconds. At that moment, Hoen finally reacted. He looked at the ten-meter-tall giant puppet in front of him, which almost touched the dome of the mansion. He was stunned.
“Watson, what did you do? Did you fuse those puppets? Am I seeing things?”
Augustus’s eyes widened.
He had hoped that those puppets hack Watson into pieces so that he could vent the anger in his heart. However, he did not expect Watson to fuse those puppets. Most importantly, the fused puppets had an aura that surpassed the platinum tier. They even seemed to listen to Watson’s commands. What kind of magic was that? Or was he hallucinating?
Armand watched the scene without saying a word. Even though he did not say anything, the shock in his eyes betrayed his mood.
‘What kind of technique could fuse a group of puppets and raise their tier? It is no wonder His Majesty instructed me to be ruthless toward that youth. I can even kill him. It seems that that youth’s ability is too terrifying and has already aroused His Majesty’s suspicion,’ Armand muttered in his heart.
He could not help but recall when King Landhar III commanded his presence at the palace an hour ago. The King had given him a special order—he was to kill Watson. If he could not do it, then he would have to find more information about the young man’s strength.
Armand had ordered his men to get Hoen to lead the royal army to capture Watson and bring him to the Campbell family. On the one hand, he was angry that his grandson had been beaten. On the other hand, it was His Majesty’s plan. Without His Majesty’s permission, even as an archduke, he would not have been able to mobilize the royal army.
Armand was very familiar with the king—he was a terrifying man who was good at toying with people’s hearts. Ten years ago, during the Demoness Cult’s rebellion, he had already seen through the King’s nature. It was precisely because he knew King Landhar III that the Campbell family had been assisting him wholeheartedly from all those years ago. That was also why he had been conferred the title as an archduke after the Demoness Cult was eliminated.
He felt that he understood the situation very well. However, Armand could not understand why King Landhar III wanted to use him to kill Watson. Such a genius would be a good thing for the Holy Dragon Kingdom’s future. It was impossible for the King not to know that. However, the ruler still wanted to kill Watson. That was somewhat intriguing.
Armand still thought the same when he saw Watson fused those puppets. However, at that moment, his thoughts changed. Even if the Campbell family had created those 500 puppets, they had also spent a significant amount of money, which had vanished. Armand did not feel any heartache about that. Instead, his heart was filled with fear.
He was very familiar with puppets, so he knew that the gigantic puppet had surpassed the platinum tier. It was as if it had reached the diamond tier. With just a flick of its finger, Watson had fused 500 gold-tier puppets into a diamond-tier puppet. If Watson wanted to mass-produce more diamond-tier puppets, he could do it, and that thought would terrify anyone.
The Holy Dragon Kingdom only had one diamond-tier expert, Sword Saint Reid. If Watson could use that ability to duplicate a large number of diamond-tier puppets, he could have the strength to contend with the entire Holy Dragon Kingdom. It was no wonder King Landhar III feared Watson and commanded him to kill Watson. If he were the King, with such a monster-like youth by his side, he would probably not be able to eat or sleep.
Armand’s mind had many thoughts. Watson sat on the shoulder of the Eight-arm War God puppet, leisurely swaying his legs, and said, “Master Armand, I’m sorry, but those golems are already mine. If you have any more powerful methods, please use them as soon as possible.”
“Men, capture that youth for me.”
Armand clapped his hands with a solemn expression. Following his voice, the guards rushed out from the tunnels in all directions. Those guards held long spears in their hands. The aura they emitted was stronger than the puppets just now.
There were no less than a hundred guards there. When they saw the huge puppet under Watson’s command, they stopped and sucked in a breath of cold air.
“What kind of puppet is that? Why is it so huge?”? “And is not that young man Antonio and the Grand Swordmaster’s disciple? Why does he even know how to make a puppet? You should know that even the experts in our family can not easily make a puppet of that size and make it move.”
“Now is not the time to think about that. Quickly! The magical crystal is embedded in its chest. If you break its chest, it will be paralyzed.”
The guards were amazed by the puppet’s power, but they still braced themselves. One guard wrapped the spear in his hand with a thick layer of fire-elemental combat aura. He turned the spear into a fire dragon and let it fly toward the magical crystal embedded in the puppet’s chest.
Boom!
The flaming dragon-like spear collided with the magic crystal, making a crisp sound. The crystal was almost undamaged. On the contrary, a crack appeared on the spear before it shattered completely. It was as if a toothpick had hit a rock.
“D*mn it! What material is the shell of that puppet made of? How can it be so hard?”
“Look, the six arms on the back of that puppet are moving. It seems like they are going to attack us. Everyone, be on your guard.”
The guards saw the puppet’s eight arms moved. The two arms held a weapon, causing the weapon to emit light and spin rapidly. The arms that held the sword and shield that symbolized the warrior class combined the two items to turn them into a sharp blade and shield. The arms that held the magic scepter also raised the weapon high before forming a magical light that did not disperse. The arms that held the longbow and prayer book were the same. The former drew the bow and nocked the arrow, and streams of light burst outward. The latter drew the light from the sky, casting a layer of divine light on the Eight-arm War God’s body.
That move was the Eight-arm War God’s offensive skill—the Eight-Arm Dance!
The Eight-arm War God began to spin rapidly in just an instant as if it had turned into a giant windmill. The weapon in its hand touched all the walls, leaving deep ravines on them. Large chunks of the walls had collapsed. Cracks also appeared in the originally sturdy dome. Over a hundred gold-tier guards appeared with combat aura armor on their bodies. They spread their combat aura wings and flew in front of the Eight-arm War God. They wanted to use their bodies to block the puppet from advancing, but before they could touch the Eight-arm War God, their bodies were blown into the sky by the air currents that the puppet created. They shattered the dome and landed outside the mansion.
“What happened? Was that an earthquake?” The maids and servants ran outside as they felt the tremors caused by the Eight-arm War God. They looked around in panic.
Noble ladies in gorgeous long dresses and gentlemen with top hats trailed behind those servants. It was obvious that they were members of the Campbell family. They had the same attitude.
“Run! The house is going to collapse!”
A group of people shouted and rushed out of the mansion. At that time, they stood outside the door and saw a scene that they would never forget. They saw eight long arms covered with combat aura light, and the light pierced through the dome. The light shot up into the sky and shattered the floating clouds. It did not dissipate for a long time.
The huge Campbell mansion was like a piece of tofu in front of the eight arms. In just a short while, it was torn apart and collapsed into ruins.
Watson was sitting on the Eight-arm War God’s shoulder before he rose into the sky. He looked down at the entire courtyard. His expression was calm as if he had just done a trivial thing. He even leaned against the Eight-arm War God’s neck and yawned.
‘It seems like I’ve caused too much of a ruckus. However, since things have come to that point, the Campbell family would never let me off that easily. I have to think of a way to stop those guys from finding trouble with me.’
Watson’s eyes twitched. His gaze landed on the Clock of Life in the courtyard, which was not far from the gate. That made his eyes light up. When he entered the mansion, Hoen had explained to him in detail that the Clock of Life was the symbol of the Campbell family. At the same time, it was also the most powerful one of the kingdom’s less than ten platinum weapons. If that Clock of Life was used as a threat, those Campbell family members might stop.
Having made up his mind, Watson hooked his finger at the Clock of Life in the distance and said, “System fusion.”
There was a buzz!
The Clock of Life, which had been sitting in the courtyard for decades, had not moved at all. At that moment, the hands on the clock’s surface vibrated crazily as it pointed at the twelve o’clock position. At the same time, the huge clock rose from the ground. It turned into a milky white light, covering the diamond-tier puppet.
[Congratulations, Master, for fusing the Clock of Life and the Eight-arm War God. You have obtained a diamond-tier peak puppet—the King of Time.]
