Chapter 35: Pursuit

Chapter 35: Pursuit

Out in the wilderness of Igwynt’s western outskirts, three carriages thundered down a desolate road—one in front, two behind—locked in a relentless chase. In the dim surroundings, muzzle flashes flared again and again, and bursts of gunfire tore through the silence.

Crouched at the driver’s seat at the front of the carriage, Dorothy was multitasking at full capacity. On one hand, she controlled the corpse marionette horse, urging it to race along the road, sprinting forward and taking turns at speed. On the other, she controlled the corpse marionette Thomas atop the carriage roof, having him fire back at the pursuers with a handgun. Bullets flew in all directions, and Dorothy could constantly hear rounds slamming into the carriage body.

With both sides moving at high speed and in unstable conditions, accurate aiming was extremely difficult. Most shots missed entirely, and even those that hit only struck the carriage itself, failing to cause any immediate casualties.

On the roof, the corpse marionette Thomas kept firing at his former companions behind them. However, the revolver’s limited ammunition capacity soon became an issue, and he quickly ran dry. At that point, Dorothy had Thomas toss the empty gun down to her, while she threw him a fully loaded revolver in return. After catching the loaded weapon, Thomas resumed firing, while Dorothy used the opportunity to reload the empty gun. Once finished, she swapped again for the revolver Thomas had just emptied, repeating the cycle and greatly reducing any gaps in their firepower.

Driving, shooting, reloading—the main body and two corpse marionettes were all brought into play. For a time, Dorothy was operating on three fronts simultaneously.

Because it was the corpse marionette Thomas firing back from the roof, the pursuers focused their aim on him. Although landing hits were difficult, sustained gunfire inevitably took its toll. Soon, Thomas’s chest was struck by two bullets. However, this damage was completely insufficient to affect his movements. He was nothing more than a walking corpse—so long as his vital motion structures remained intact and the spirituality of the “Chalice” continued to flow, he could keep fighting.

With what amounted to a “locked HP cheat” active, even a terrible gunfighter could eventually win a shootout. Benefiting from this enormous margin for error, Dorothy continued controlling Thomas—now riddled with four bullets yet still standing firm—until he finally landed a hit on one of the men in the pursuing carriage. The bullet pierced the man’s chest, killing him on the spot.

Just as the corpse was about to collapse, Dorothy canceled Thomas’s corpse marionette state and extended the spiritual threads of the Corpse Marionette Ring backward, linking them to the freshly slain body.

As the spirituality of the “Chalice” poured in, the dead man’s eyes began to move, his body reanimating. Gripping the handgun still clutched in his hand, he silently aimed at a teammate atop the adjacent carriage who was still firing forward—and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

With the gunshot, the pursuer on the neighboring carriage roof was hit and killed, falling to friendly fire. The two carriages were close together, and completely unprepared for this betrayal, making it an effortless one-shot kill.

Dorothy then tried to continue controlling the reanimated corpse to shoot the two drivers. However, they had already noticed the abnormal situation in the carriage behind them. One of the drivers hastily yanked the reins, swerving the carriage violently in an attempt to shake the corpse marionette off. The sudden jolt threw off the marionette’s aim—the shot missed the driver and instead struck the horse.

With a shrill neigh, the wounded horse completely lost control and crashed into the neighboring friendly carriage. The sides of the two carriages slammed together, their reins tangling with one another. Combined with the loss of balance from the impact, both carriages nearly overturned at the same time, rolling and collapsing amid chaos.

Meanwhile, Dorothy’s carriage continued racing forward, disappearing into the distance.

And within the wreckage of the overturned carriages, two figures slowly climbed to their feet—the two drivers.

Because of the overturned carriages, the two drivers were now covered in wounds, their bodies soaked in blood. And yet, they still stood upright, staring fixedly in the direction where Dorothy’s carriage had fled, their expressions utterly emotionless.

“We cannot fail because of this…”

“The mission must be completed…”

“It is time… to offer ourselves…”

“Only by first becoming nourishment… can we feast at the banquet…”

Murmuring these words, the two drivers pulled out palm-sized sheets of ancient parchment from beneath their clothes. Intricate, arcane patterns were drawn across the parchment, and at their center was an abstract symbol of a chalice.

“I offer my body as sustenance… I beseech the Blood Chalice…”

As they chanted, the two men slapped the parchments onto their own foreheads. Instantly, the parchment ignited in crimson flames. When the fire burned out, an abstract chalice-shaped mark was left imprinted on their foreheads, emitting a faint red glow.

Their eyes then shone with a scarlet light. Ignoring the grievous injuries covering their bodies, they broke into a sprint, chasing straight after the carriage disappearing into the distance—their speed terrifyingly fast.

…

On the racing carriage, Dorothy sat at the driver’s position, letting out a long sigh of relief after believing she had successfully dealt with the pursuers. Just as she was thinking about where to stop the carriage, she suddenly heard an unusual disturbance coming from behind.

She leaned out and looked back—and saw a shocking scene.

On the road behind her, two figures were sprinting at incredible speed. Their legs pumped relentlessly, closing the distance between themselves and her carriage at a frightening rate. Dorothy recognized them immediately—they were the very drivers from the two carriages she had overturned earlier!

‘Holy shit— when did these two catch up? How are two legs outrunning four?!’

A jolt of alarm surged through Dorothy’s heart. However, her movements did not falter. She immediately reactivated control over Thomas on the carriage roof, having him fire at the two pursuing drivers.

Amid a rapid series of gunshots, one of the drivers was hit and collapsed to the ground. The other, however, had already closed to an extremely short distance. With a powerful leap, he sprang straight onto the roof of the carriage, startling Dorothy.

‘Is this even human physical ability?!’

Dorothy had Thomas raise his gun and aim at the driver who had landed on the roof, attempting to fire at close range. But the driver was faster still. He lashed out with a clawing strike, smashing into Thomas with tremendous force. Not only was the gun knocked from Thomas’s hand, but his entire body was sent flying off the carriage roof. In an instant, Dorothy lost her shield.

Having removed the final obstacle, the grotesque-faced driver continued his assault, lunging toward the driver’s seat. Dorothy, crouched there, frowned deeply as she faced the oncoming feral attacker.

‘Damn it… do I have to use Dragon Shout?’

Just as Dorothy was about to unleash her final trump card, a sharp tearing sound cut through the air. A gray-white stone spear flew in at extreme speed from afar, precisely piercing through the driver’s chest. With a scream, the driver was carried backward by the heavy, massive spear, dragged off the carriage, and pinned dead to the road.

Seeing this, Dorothy froze in shock. She then turned her head toward the direction the spear had come from and saw several figures standing at a distant intersection.

There were four figures clad in gray-white armor, like living statues—knights of stone. One of them still held the posture of having just thrown the spear, completely motionless. And standing at the center of the four knights was an elderly man.

Coarse clothes, an apron tied around his waist, protective sleeves on his arms, a workman’s cap on his head, his body covered in white dust, hair graying—It was the school janitor of Saint Amanda School: Dean.

At this moment, Dean wore a gentle smile. In his hand, he held a completely motionless gecko. Facing Dorothy on the carriage ahead, he smiled and called out:

“You can stop now, Miss Mayschoss.”

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