Barbarian in a Failed Game

Chapter 065: Homunculus (1)

Why hadn’t he thought of it from the beginning? Khan chided himself for his own stupidity. Homunculus, an artificial life form that occasionally appears in various media on Earth, was naturally present here in Midland as well— as a named boss affiliated with the Followers of Truth.

This experimental being, created by the Followers of Truth who meddled with the taboo of life and soul, had the intelligence to understand magic, a complex subject, and act like an ordinary person. However, the creature could never truly become ‘human’. It was inevitable. The domain of the soul, which even the ancient mages couldn’t completely conquer, was beyond the reach of modern mages who were far less capable.

“An artificial life form that mimics human behavior and obsesses over becoming a complete human… that was the setting.” It was indeed strange that such a being was absent from places where experiments related to the soul were actively conducted. Because the interpretation of the soul remained incomplete, it still existed as an unfinished failure—a fake.

“A golem shaped like a person, controlled to immerse in a ludicrous play… That must have been you.” There was a strange sound from the old man, the puppeteer.

“It seems the experiment in the north was quite effective? For someone who used to play with golems and preserved corpses, controlling a living person is a step up.”

“How on earth…”

How do you know about that?

The puppeteer’s cool voice was almost monotone, revealing his nature upon facing an inexplicable situation by dropping the pretense of humanity.

“Information about me… is supposed to be allowed only for seekers.”

“Well, maybe a seeker gave me a little hint.”

“Nonsense.”

“Why? If you really think it’s not true, you could just overpower me and extract the information. There is no need for idle chit-chat.” Khan twisted the corner of his mouth.

“You can’t stop conversing with me. You actually think it’s an internal leak, right? Trying to figure out who’s behind it.”

Silence followed again.

The puppeteer, possessing a mages-like reasoning as one of his functions, must be perplexed.

‘His head must be a mess.’

For a barbarian who suddenly appeared and disrupted plans, knowing the closely guarded secrets of the Followers of Truth that even the mage tower couldn’t pinpoint, must seem like an internal betrayal to someone who is like a monster in logical thinking.

“How about it. Do you suspect any seeker? Perhaps a destruction mage who sees you as waste might have divulged information to me. Or the alchemist who played the most significant role in creating you might have devised a plan to destroy his failed creation. If not, maybe the apostle you worship as a god….”

“Enough.” With a creaking sound, the puppeteer’s neck returned to its proper position. And then the puppeteer smiled. A forced, eerie smile.

“Right. I should have found out for myself from the beginning….”

“Boss, the townsman!”

“I know.” From the beginning, Khan said, taking a hold of an axe and Draupnir in his hands.

“We don’t know what methods they will use. Bury any guilt and kill them. They’re just empty shells beyond revival, anyway.”

Just like the wyvern he had hunted before.

Whooong─.

Draupnir vibrated as if agreeing with Khan’s thoughts. After the wyvern hunt, Draupnir had been oddly cooperative, signaling from the start that the townsman were not normal.

That was also why Khan had been acting strange from the beginning.

“Let’s see how long that composure lasts.” At Khan’s warning, the puppeteer moved.

Tapping his staff with a thunk, the townsman who had started gathering rushed in like starved beasts. Unlike initially when they posed no real threat with makeshift weapons, they were now each armed properly.

Thump! Khan, intending to break through, charged forward first, infiltrating through the gaps of the spears. The sight of dozens of blades raising at once towards Khan resembled the movements of well-trained elite soldiers.

To put it precisely, it was just about that level.

Creak! Crash─!

With a carefree swing of both his axe and magic sword, the barrier of skin crumbled like dominoes.

It wouldn’t even be this one-sided if it were a fight between kids and adults, yet the gap between Khan and his foes was beyond that.

[Strength: 62] +1

Total strength 63.

Having leveled up from the battle with the wyvern, Khan had become even stronger. The townsman controlled by the puppeteer were no match for him, not even fit to be training dummies.

A huge hole had been opened in front of him.

Straight ahead, the puppeteer was positioned, and Khan immediately pulled his arm back.

Swoosh! Thud──!

The axe released from Khan’s hand became, quite literally, a projectile.

The axe struck exactly where the puppeteer was, causing a loud explosion and raising a cloud of dust. The shockwave that followed pushed the townsman aside as an extra.

“Did I get him?!”

‘Damn… Even the dead wouldn’t come back to life after that.’

Khan wrinkled his face at Ron’s comment coming from behind and pulled out a new weapon from the Aecharis’ Pouch. It was a magic sword given by Neria, the border town.

This time, wielding a short, spike-shaped magic sword and a sinister magic sword named Dragonslayer in each hand, Khan charged with a bang-! stepping forward aggressively towards the direction of the dust cloud.

“A crude way to fight.”

“Die─!”

In the blink of an eye, Khan caught sight of the puppeteer who spread an opaque curtain. He immediately struck hard with the magic sword in his right hand.

Clang─!!

The shockwave was deafening, but the puppeteer’s curtain was untouched.

Considering Khan’s strength, which had even damaged the tough scales of a basilisk, the durability was beyond imagination.

“Huh…!”

Khan was not flustered. Instead, he became even more fervent, trying to break the curtain.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang─!

In a short moment, several loud banging sounds overlapped.

Soon after, with a crackling sound, the puppeteer’s curtain wavered precariously, and Khan with another swing, shattered the curtain completely.

“Foolishness.”

However, with a flick of the puppeteer’s staff, the curtain was regenerated.

And it didn’t stop there.

With an easygoing motion, the staff touched the curtain.

Thud─!

An invisible shockwave pushed Khan’s entire body away.

Without even a moment to react, Khan found himself flying next to his companions who were in the midst of fighting the controlled dolls.

“Khan!”

Just as Elena finished off a doll with her flail, she reached out to Khan who had fallen to the ground.

The sensation of bones shaking disappeared in an instant as the light of healing seeped in.

“Tsk.”

This is beyond imagination.

The puppeteer was a considerable force even among the Followers of Truth.

Not quite at the level of a leader like the Cultivator, but certainly just below.

If such a person had obtained some kind of result through experiments in the North, it was natural to expect them to be a formidable enemy.

But-.

‘Even so, this is too much.’

A defense spell that withstands a strike powerful enough to damage the scales of a dragon, not once but dozens of times without using a skill.

It would be one thing if it was prepared in advance for the fight. Regenerating it on the spot was definitely abnormal.

“You seem flustered. Is it much different than what you expected? Well.”

The puppeteer standing behind the curtain mocked.

“The Cultivator would have not expected. That I could become this strong. I couldn’t believe it at first either. But this is the reality.”

Thump- The puppeteer’s staff hit the ground.

Then, dolls thought to be dead began to rise one after another.

Damn, did he switch to a necromancer or something? Khan frowned.

“I have changed. Although it’s still incomplete, if I can bear fruit soon… I will grasp the true meaning of completion. Then, even the Cultivator will have no choice but to revere me. No, even the Apostle will…….”

“He’s lost it.”

“First, after turning you into a living doll, I must find out who the summoner daring to interfere with me is.”

Sparks flew from the Puppeteer’s eyes – a sign he was beginning to manipulate a tremendous amount of mana.

“Playing with you, who dared to insult me, might be quite amusing as an entertainment.”

***

Laughter erupted as waves of flame engulfed the dolls and the party fighting them. If Khan hadn’t dispersed the flames with the scabbard of his magic sword, they would have been utterly trapped.

But there was no time for gratitude.

Initially close to the bladed wooden dolls, the dolls began to press the party with strategic maneuvers and fierce strikes.

“This is madness!”

Khan, having reattached his scabbard to his sword belt, gripped his magic sword and spun around. A crescent moon, imbued with a blood-red aura, cleaved the dolls in half.

Splat!

Blood splattered from Khan’s face at the same time.

An uppercut from a doll, split in half, had caught him off guard.

“Quite the bizarre trick you have there.”

The Puppeteer’s voice then echoed in his ears.

Khan completely stored Neria’s magic sword in his pocket and gripped the scabbard as if it were a blade. He had no other choice.

Whoosh!

A phoenix, emanating a heat so intense it felt as though skin could melt, appeared in the midst of battle in an empty lot. It was a spell they had faced before in a border town – Firebird of Aelos.

“Let’s see if you can disperse this.”

Though Khan had managed to counter the spell with his scabbard before, the situation was entirely different.

The power of a spell inscribed on a magical tool usually didn’t match its original strength, especially when cast directly by a mage of the Puppeteer’s caliber.

Boom!

Following the path of the phoenix, a series of explosions erupted. Even Khan, who was not familiar with magic, could easily predict that the phoenix would cause a massive explosion the moment he attempted to fend it off with his scabbard.

“Warrior! Let me handle this…!”

Jan, sensing the danger better than anyone, suddenly unleashed a spell.

Dozens of ash-gray spears appeared on Jan’s back, and an ash-gray curtain enveloped the front of the party.

Then, an almost indescribable rumble hit the party multiple times. It was the explosion caused by Jan’s ‘Spear of Destruction’ colliding with Firebird of Aelos, battering the curtain.

“Gasp…!”

Jan’s complexion turned pale.

It was partly because he almost suffered a mana backlash while casting, and also because he felt his spell had not been effective.

“Please, protect these foolish sheep.”

Elena prayed.

She asked for the strength to protect everyone from a being that defied providence.

The goddess, observing everything through the eyes she had lent to the girl destined to be her scales, responded as if she had been waiting for the prayer.

A pure white shield layered over the ash-gray curtain, colliding with Firebird of Aelos. A massive explosion followed, extinguishing the phoenix. The goddess’s shield, having fulfilled its purpose, vanished.

“Tsk. So much for the sanctity of a temple.”

The Puppeteer clicked his tongue, disappointed that the devastation he anticipated didn’t occur.

Then, like hunters crouching for the kill moved, two mercenaries broke through the dolls’ encirclement with aggressive maneuvers.

Each time Maya’s spear drew a ray of light, dolls fell with a snap. Ron, his strength enhanced by Elena’s blessing, broke through the ranks with his hammer.

And there was Khan, behind them.

Zzzzzt…!

The throwing skill, just shy of reaching grade A, fully charged. Moreover, he unleashed a strength that felt far more powerful than before.

“Hmm?”

Even the Puppeteer, supposedly devoid of fear, sensed something was amiss.

But it was too late.

“Die─!”

Thunk…!