Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 712: Chapter 711: It’s Just a Big Piece of Firewood After All!

”So CASTER has defected?”

After listening to Fiore’s explanation, Fang Zheng also helplessly pressed his forehead and sighed. He had to admit, the luck of the Black Camp this time was really bad to an extreme. In theory, they should have had all the advantages of time, place, and unity, and even without him, they probably wouldn’t have been too miserable.

But now... well, what could Fang Zheng say? He could argue that Black SABER was done in by his own schemes, but it was the Black Camp’s own desire to capture Red BERSERKER. Had they simply killed Red BERSERKER outright instead of capturing him, they wouldn’t have lost both BERSERKER and RIDER.

As for Danik’s tricky maneuvers...

Forget it, now was not the time to talk about this.

”RULER, what’s your opinion?”

”We must stop that Noble Phantasm at all costs, if this continues, it will pose a threat to the entire world!”

”If you knew, why didn’t you come earlier? Isn’t it your duty to monitor the Holy Grail War?”

It was all your fault, wasn’t it?

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s question, Jeanne d’Arc glared at him irritably. Although Fang Zheng had indeed spared Jeanne d’Arc’s life, his fire had burned her so severely that she simply didn’t have enough magic power to recover. If she had been just a RULER, then Jeanne d’Arc could have used her own Command Seals to forcibly restore her power to its peak.

But the problem was some mysterious ”Will of the Great Cosmos” had given Jeanne d’Arc’s Command Seals to Fang Zheng, and Fang Zheng had completely forgotten about Jeanne d’Arc...

So Jeanne d’Arc had no choice but to struggle to recover her magic power through food and rest. Only when she was sure she could fight did she rush to the battlefield. If it weren’t for Fang Zheng’s previous acts that nearly burned out all her power, Jeanne d’Arc wouldn’t have had to hustle to the battlefield so late—by which time it was quite clear the moment had passed!

”I’ll stop that Noble Phantasm!”

Jeanne d’Arc really wanted to lunge forward and strangle Fang Zheng, but after considering the difference in strength between them and her own moral alignment, she gritted her teeth, raised her flag, and charged towards the distant magic puppet giant.

After Jeanne d’Arc joined in, the situation on the battlefield improved considerably. Although Yoshino, Kurumi, Little Hei, and Illya had contained the puppet’s movements, they had been unable to block it completely. The reason was that Yoshino, Kurumi, Little Hei, and Illya were all long-range classes, and even if they were good at close combat, they didn’t have the capability to fight with a creature many times their own size.

But with the addition of Jeanne d’Arc, they finally had a qualified MT, resulting in the four damage-dealing classes unleashing even more intense firepower. Now that they didn’t need to dodge or pay attention to the attacks of the giant puppet, Yoshino, Kurumi, Little Hei, and Illya—oh, and Atalanta—opened fire at full strength.

The five girls’ attacks finally stopped the puppet’s advance. Yoshino controlled her Ice Construct to completely freeze the transformed ground under the puppet’s feet, while Kurumi kept reloading and repeatedly halted the puppet’s movements. Little Hei, Illya, and Atalanta aimed at the vulnerabilities in the puppet’s body and attacked.

As a result, Jeanne d’Arc was in serious trouble. Unable to attack the other girls flying to and fro in the sky, the puppet vented all its anger on Jeanne d’Arc. The poor RULER could only lift her flag, desperately facing the bombardments from a blade tens of times larger than her own body again and again, but was utterly unable to do anything about it.

Well, it was like a defense battle with a hunter who’s been misled, and then let go by a healer.

But then again, shouldn’t you be a tank?

”Take this!”

Little Hei flipped and fell back to create distance; then her right hand stretched out, swiftly a Spiral Sword appeared out of nowhere in Little Hei’s hand. She held the Spiral Sword as if it were an arrow, pulled it on the black longbow, and released it. The sound of the bowstring snapping followed, and the Spiral Sword cut through the air and struck the puppet’s chest. After that, everyone saw a flash of Radiance.

Fantasy Collapse!

A light as brilliant as the sun lit up the entire plain, and the intense flame mixed with hot air completely engulfed the puppet in front of them, along with the ”Paradise” beneath its feet. Kurumi, Yoshino, and Illya quickly scattered to avoid the exploding flames. Soon, a mushroom cloud rose from the ground and slowly climbed into the sky.

When the flames cleared, the puppet reappeared in front of everyone, now looking battered and tattered, with a huge hole blasted through its heart. The ”Paradise” at its feet had also been erased by the flames and explosion, leaving nothing but pitch-black debris.

”Haha, done!”

Seeing this scene, Little Hei snapped her fingers triumphantly, but in the next moment, her expression suddenly changed.

Right before everyone’s eyes, the hole in the puppet’s chest healed at a visible rate, and in the blink of an eye, the puppet, which had been severely damaged, had recovered completely, as if it had never been wounded at all.

”This won’t do, big brother!”

Seeing this, Little Hei screamed and then returned to Fang Zheng’s side.

”Its regenerative abilities are too strong; I can’t win!”

”As long as its feet are still connected to the earth, it can draw endless magic power from the ground to repair itself, which is virtually an unbeatable magic puppet...”

Fiore, too, voiced her unease at this moment. They had initially taken interest in exactly this quality of the puppet that CASTER had mentioned, which is why they had gone to great lengths to help him build the magic puppet. However, what Fiore had not expected was that CASTER, as a Servant, also concealed the truth from them—he had only said it was a powerful magic puppet, but he never mentioned it would transform the entire world into a paradise!

Of course, perhaps CASTER himself considered it a paradise, but whether others thought the same... was not certain.

”MASTER, do you need me to use my Noble Phantasm?”

At this moment, Illya also came beside Fang Zheng and quietly asked. Hearing Illya’s query, Fang Zheng thought for a moment, then shook his head.

”No, it’s not necessary. I believe your Noble Phantasm could definitely annihilate it, but the burden on you would be too great.”

Fang Zheng, of course, knew that Illya’s ”Multidimensional Bombardment” undoubtedly had the power to destroy the magic puppet, but this would require Illya to temporarily transform all her internal organs and blood vessels into magical circuits, combined with the Gem Staff to draw on an immense amount of magic power for the offensive. However, this would be too taxing for Illya personally and could seriously harm her body.

Even though Illya was now a Servant, and not a human, Fang Zheng was not willing to risk her.

Moreover...

”Leave it to me.”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng raised both hands, summoning the Pitch Black Greatsword and the Silver Short Sword.

”It’s just a walking log pile, watch me burn it!”

No sooner had he spoken than Fang Zheng charged towards the distant magic puppet.

”RULER, fall back! Let me take over from here!”

”Fang... MASTER?”

Surprised by Fang Zheng’s voice, Jeanne d’Arc glanced at him, then quickly retreated. Fang Zheng, wielding the Dual Sword, approached the magic puppet.

”——You shall not stop me!”

As Fang Zheng charged toward it, the magic puppet let out an angry roar.

”I will eradicate humans, and let this world return to a paradise!”

”There’s a limit to being idiotic, luckily for us, you’re just that...”

Facing the magic puppet’s roar, Fang Zheng scoffed.

”Sorry, while I agree with protecting the environment, I’m not an idiotic environmentalist or animal rights activist who goes to the extreme of killing off humankind to prove their love for nature. If you really hate humans that much, I have a suggestion for you: dig three feet into the ground, lay down, and bury yourself. At least that’s a contribution to the earth, of sorts!”

”Die!!”

The magic puppet swung its sword again, smashing it towards Fang Zheng, but facing the attack, Fang Zheng raised the Silver Short Sword with his left hand and pulled the trigger at the target in front of him.

”Bang!!”

A Light Bullet flew out, hitting the magic puppet’s body and causing it to tremble. Then, with a ’boom’, it kneeled to the ground. As the magic puppet fell, Fang Zheng rolled beneath its crotch and emerged behind it.

Next, he raised the Pitch Black Greatsword in his right hand and forcefully stabbed towards the magic puppet’s buttocks!

”Splurch!!”

The sharp blade easily pierced into the magic puppet’s body as if it were stabbing through tofu, followed by an instantaneous burst of fire that engulfed the world before them, turning it into a vivid red blaze.