One-Eyed Monster

The Puppet Monster glared viciously at Lao, as if ever since his weakness had been exposed, he’d been holding a grudge against the master.

Even though his weakness had now been revealed, Igor and the others still had no way to land an effective blow on him.

After all, he relied on the Smoke Organization’s four Puppets’ skills to keep Igor and the others from getting close, so they simply couldn’t form an effective attack on him.

On the surface, everything looked so ordinary that it was hard to believe a Smoke Organization that originally wasn’t all that powerful could actually stop Kadi, who wielded the Blue Blood League Guard swordsmanship, and Igor, who wore the Slayer Armor, from getting near. It was hard to wrap one’s head around, yet the more simple things look, the more it often means the real complexity behind them is beyond imagination.

Igor was no hothead. He understood that under the Puppet Monster’s control, this Smoke Organization had already gone beyond their usual level. The Puppet Monster’s Energy was pouring into them without end, allowing them to use the skills they were best at without limit. Put more plainly, the Smoke fighters were now casting their arts in an infinite loop. These arts could indeed be easily broken by Igor and the others, but they kept appearing in an endless stream, which was maddening. Quantity alone could bring pressure—like telling you to count grains of rice. It sounds easy, but if the number is in the tens of thousands or hundreds of millions, that’s a whole different story. Igor and the others were exactly in that kind of situation now, feeling like they were trapped in chaos with no way to break out. The Smoke was giving Igor and Kadi a splitting headache. They knew how to disperse it, but no matter how they hacked or slashed, the Smoke always re-formed after scattering, over and over again…

”What should we do?” Kadi, as always, didn’t like to use his brain; he just wanted to know what Igor would come up with. In Kadi’s eyes, Igor always managed to think of something at critical moments. That was beyond doubt—Igor was as reliable as ever.

If Igor weren’t reliable, Kadi wouldn’t be asking him this question!

Yet this time, Igor had no way to answer Kadi…

”We… have to conserve our strength!” Igor forced out these words.

”Like this, there’s no way we can conserve strength!” Kadi said, then started jumping and waving his twin blades again. The Smoke and Ruben’s Clone kept coming on schedule.

”True, like this we can’t save our strength. But we still have to find a way!”

Kadi looked at Igor, at a loss for what to say. Their awkward situation was something most people couldn’t even imagine; it felt like every punch landed with full power, yet every single one hit the wrong target, wasting their stamina while the enemy still strutted around arrogantly.

Igor surveyed their surroundings, his gaze already locked onto the Puppet Monster. Dodging the various attacks from the four Smoke fighters, he analyzed as he moved. He noticed the horns on the Puppet Monster’s shoulders and the horn on its head. The pairs of horns were very symmetrical, but every time the monster shifted its fingers, those horns trembled ever so slightly. That tiny detail suddenly made it all clear to Igor—the Puppet Master’s Puppet Tools had been moved onto the monster’s own body, and those pairs of horns were the Puppet Tools!

Igor had now discovered the Puppet Monster’s fatal weakness, but he still couldn’t attack it. Spirit Attacks were ineffective, and his Physique Technique couldn’t get close. It was enough to give him a real headache.

What should he do? Igor wrestled with the question, but for the moment they had no way to escape the shackles right in front of them!

The only one who could approach the Puppet Monster now was Master Lao…

They couldn’t possibly ask the master to deal with this Puppet Monster!

Things turning out like this left Igor helpless. He suddenly felt his skills still weren’t up to par. Why, after two years of special training on Guru Mountain, was he still unable to deal with these monsters with ease? Why was he always being held back by others?

Once frustration welled up, the whole rhythm went out of sync. Igor now seemed to be trapped in a grueling battle…

”Igor!” Kadi’s situation was no better than Igor’s. Facing the endlessly regenerating Smoke, he couldn’t cut it apart no matter what. ”You really don’t have a single trick? Didn’t you beat the Soul Devourer Master in the Border Realm? Don’t tell me this guy is stronger than that Soul Devourer!”

At Kadi’s loud shout, Igor finally snapped out of his earlier frustration. In that moment, he recalled how he had dealt with the Soul Devourer Master in the Border Realm. He had used Physique Techniques, but at the start they also had no way to get close to that Soul Devourer Master—almost exactly the same as now. Igor certainly remembered how he’d finally managed to approach that Soul Devourer: it was because he’d been wearing the Spirit Binding Net. But the problem now was that he’d already entrusted the Spirit Binding Net to Tobin Sol. It wasn’t with him, so there was no way he could put it on again!

Another awkward problem. Igor’s head felt like it was going to explode!

No—wait. Besides the Spirit Binding Net, there had been something else back then that posed a threat to the Soul Devourer Master. Even though every attack had been blocked, it had still been able to hit that thing head-on.

The Puppet Monster in front of him was using the same approach as the Soul Devourer Master, controlling others through its own Energy. It looked like that invisible enemy in the Border Realm had already laid out its plans ahead of time on the Yowein Continent.

Igor took a deep breath. Attacks using Lightning Thunder were still something he could command, and just then enlightenment struck him. Physique Techniques couldn’t get close to the Puppet Monster, but long-range attacks on the Puppet Master weren’t limited to just Spirit Attacks! Bows and arrows, those primitive weapons, could hit it too. And then there was the Natural Force—water, fire, wind, Electricity—those could hit it as well!

Why had his brain been so stuck just now!

With that thought, Igor unhesitatingly pulled out a piece of imitation Rain Crystal Stones. He wasn’t an ancient Hunter like Sol, able to capture Lightning at any time, so he could only carry it with him.

He cracked open the Rain Crystal Stones, and Lightning howled out. Igor swung the Meteor Chain, and those bolts of Lightning twined docilely around him like pets.

”Kadi, hit him with your flames!” Igor pointed his longsword, majestic and commanding!

”Got it!” Kadi roared, and blue flames instantly burst from his body.

In a split second, a Fire Dragon shot straight toward the Puppet Monster. Breaking this awkward deadlock would come down to this one strike!