Chapter 319 - 84: New Puppet

The task of dismantling the Celestial Wing Knight Order’s outposts was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Within the various outposts, the proportion of actual members of the Celestial Wing Knight Order was small. Most were their family members and logistics staff.

The players’ policy toward these people was to assimilate those who surrendered and to throw those who refused into a factory and lock them up. In any case, Falan was now on their side, so it was best to just hand them over to her and her Slimes.

With the cooperation of the local natives, the dismantling effort went exceptionally smoothly. In many places, there was no semblance of decent resistance; they were shattered with ease.

With nowhere else to go, they were ultimately reduced to becoming the players’ prisoners.

Faced with a defeat that resembled a landslide, the commander of the Knight Order fell silent.

As the Celestial Wing Knight Order, the group that had explored the deepest, they were considered the strongest expeditionary force. Yet, judging by their actual performance, they were hardly stronger than ordinary Adventurers.

After all, this new batch of members had all been artificially ’ripened’ through Magic. They had never been tested by blood and fire, and their practical combat experience was sorely lacking.

’But really, aren’t you all being defeated a little too quickly?’

The commander was nominally the leader of the Celestial Wing Knight Order, but by this point, the organization had grown into a complex entity composed of numerous factions.

Trying to untangle the situation within the Order was nearly impossible. It would be faster to just destroy it and start anew.

Still, even after planting Charlie as a seed for the future, the commander hoped for a few victories to prove his own strategic worth and make things easier for Charlie’s group.

’But why... are you all so useless?’

The crushing defeats caused some faction leaders to grow dissatisfied with him. They blamed every failure on the commander’s poor leadership, completely ignoring the fact that they had never bothered to follow his orders in the first place.

Some members began to exercise their ’sacred right’ to challenge him to a duel to express their discontent. Most were opponents who would fall the moment he got even slightly serious. But in the tenth duel, the commander came up against a fearsome adversary.

The commander remembered the name of every single member, so when he saw his challenger, he quickly recognized him as a very ordinary knight, whose Power was merely average within the entire Knight Order.

But the man’s performance in the duel stunned the commander.

From the very start of the duel, he displayed extraordinary Power and Reaction. A heavy, custom-made warhammer seemed like a toy in his hands; the slightest graze from it would mean death or serious injury.

Furthermore, the knight seemed to feel no pain. The commander, who was holding back, had clearly inflicted several wounds, yet his opponent remained completely unfazed, relentlessly continuing his assault.

He no longer seemed to even fear death. He fought without any regard for defense, every blow aimed with the intent of taking them both down.

Realizing his opponent’s intent, the commander had no choice but to decisively slice open his throat.

Afterward, blood gushed from his opponent’s neck, yet he still lunged at the commander. He persisted for a full five minutes with his throat slit before finally collapsing and dying.

Watching the body disappear, the commander sheathed his sword, his brow knitting together tightly.

"Investigate this. Find out what he ate and who he was in contact with."

His attendant beside him nodded and returned a short while later with the results of the investigation.

Everything was normal.

According to the attendant’s investigation, the knight’s diet had been perfectly regular, and he hadn’t been in contact with anyone suspicious. The reason he had fought so fiercely, the report concluded, was that his resentment toward the commander had allowed him to forget pain in his single-minded desire to take them both down.

Looking at his attendant’s nonchalant expression, the commander suddenly felt exhausted.

"You’re taking me for a fool," the commander said, his voice laced with weariness.

"I don’t understand what you mean," the attendant said in a low voice.

"I’ve always trusted you, which is why I never thought you would betray me. Something so obviously wrong happens right in front of me, and you dare to tell me there’s no issue? Tell me the truth now, and I can still find it in me to forgive you."

The attendant lowered his head in trepidation. "No... there really is no problem," he stammered in a panic.

"...Never mind. You may go. You don’t need to attend to me today. I want to be alone and rest."

After dismissing the attendant, the commander waited until the man was a good distance away before casting a Magic spell.

While his skill in Magic hadn’t reached the level of a Great Mage, it was more than enough to deceive others.

The Magic took effect, his body gradually fading. With a final ripple in the air, he vanished completely.

He slipped out of the room and made his way to his attendant’s quarters. He remained invisible, observing the man’s every move.

The attendant was now back in his own room.

Several other members of the Knight Order were in the room with him. As soon as they sat down, they started complaining about their superiors, which didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

A short while later, they left to eat. The meal was simple but nutritious, salted and oiled to support the knights’ rigorous training regimen.

After eating, the attendant began his physical training. Then he joined a hunting party to track animals across the ice plains. In the evening, they brought their kills back and prayed, absorbing the Power from the animals’ bodies into their own.

In the evening, he continued to train, only going to bed after his day’s work was completely finished, ready for his five hours of sleep.

The man’s entire day was scheduled just as it always was. There wasn’t a single flaw to be found.

Seeing how normal everything was, the commander of the Knight Order began to wonder if he was just being paranoid.

After replaying the attendant’s actions in his mind, the commander left and found a high vantage point to observe the entire outpost.

The entire outpost was orderly, with everyone carrying out their duties. Everything looked exactly as it always had.

Filled with a sense of unease and apprehension, the commander watched the outpost. He waited until the sun had climbed above the horizon, transitioning to daytime, and then he witnessed a scene that left him utterly dumbfounded.

His own attendant got out of bed and walked straight into the commander’s tent. Upon finding it empty, he showed no signs of panic. Instead, he spoke calmly to the empty space: "Commander, it’s time to get up."

Then, he began to dress a patch of empty air, brought in a meal, and served it to the non-existent commander.

He then made small talk about various matters as he led the non-existent commander out of the tent and into the open.

And it wasn’t just him. Others along the path also acted as if they could see the commander, saluting and greeting him. It was like a reenactment of the previous day.

Realizing the wrongness of it all, a chill ran down the commander’s spine.

These knights... they were like a troupe of marionettes, manipulated by some Mysterious Power into re-enacting the previous day’s events.

’Puppets...’

The instant that thought crossed his mind, he felt something wash over him. A thick, dark substance erupted from within his body, transforming him into a puppet—one that retained its own consciousness but could only obey the commands of another.

Behind him, the figure of the Clockmaker materialized. A single thread shot out from the commander’s head, landing in the Clockmaker’s palm.

Admiring the commander in his current state, the Clockmaker nodded with satisfaction.

A new puppet was born.

’Nemo, your Profession is truly magnificent.’