Chapter 166: Armored Puppet Beast

Positioned on the roof, Han Shuo was able to clearly observe the changes unfolding below through a narrow, elongated crack.

Those fly-sized winged insects had gathered from the inn into this room, congregating entirely around Belinda.

Meanwhile, the soft branches of the surrounding large trees began to spread and multiply wildly upon entering the room. Arch-Druid Kaspin of the Church of Nature held a staff resembling a tree root, which exuded a rich and potent vitality.

"Still not making a move?" At that very moment, Belinda suddenly let out a soft hum.

The three brothers of the Fulika family, who had surrounded Kaspin, attacked him almost simultaneously the moment Belinda's words fell. Following their strike, the tip of the elder Fulika's longsword suddenly crackled with spitting lightning. The longswords of the other two brothers moved with blinding speed, accompanied by a howling, sharp wind and roaring flames that swept toward Kaspin.

Seeing the three of them strike, Han Shuo, perched upon the rooftop, was immediately startled. From the anomalous changes manifested on their longswords, Han Shuo instantly recognized that the three Fulika brothers were all Magic Swordsmen, cultivating both martial arts and magic simultaneously. Fulika himself seemingly practiced lightning-attribute magic, while the other two cultivated wind- and fire-attribute magic respectively.

Their three longswords also appeared to have been forged using special methods, allowing them to channel lightning, fire, and wind magic directly into the blades during attacks, enhancing both the power and speed of their martial techniques. This was a sight of formidable deterrence.

"To think you are three Magic Swordsmen! No wonder you dared to be so arrogant!" Kaspin let out a sharp, cold hum the moment they attacked. Even as he spoke, his magical staff continued to wave.

The snake-like branches spreading wildly throughout the room truly began to writhe like flexible serpents. Dozens of branches, whipping about like long lashes, lashed toward the three Fulika brothers. Simultaneously, Kaspin took a step back, scooped up the unconscious Angelica, and leaped decisively out the window, landing atop a nearby towering tree.

With Kaspin's manipulation, the intertwining and twisting branches were startlingly nimble, as if they possessed an understanding of martial arts, even capable of dodging the slashes of the three magical swords. Retreating to the large tree, Kaspin wore a compassionate expression, raised his root-like magical staff, and chanted a low spell.

The towering tree beneath him suddenly came to life like a giant octopus. Its lush branches instantly transformed into countless tentacles, extending at an astonishing speed back into the room to coil around everyone inside.

"Rise!" A low cry escaped Kaspin's lips.

With a resounding rumble, the building housing Belinda and her companions was violently hoisted from its foundations. Accompanied by deafening crashes, the roof beams buckled and collapsed inward.

Crouched upon the roof, Han Shuo kept his gaze fixed on Emily inside, intending to plunge down and rescue her at the very first sign of trouble. To Han Shuo's relief, the countless soft branches extending into the room, guided by Kaspin's will, had already bound everyone inside except for Belinda's party of four.

As the building collapsed with a deafening roar, those serpent-like flexible branches had already carried all those rendered unconscious by Belinda's sleeping potion safely out of the room.

"My friend on the roof, it is about time you came down as well." Just as Han Shuo noticed Emily being pulled out of the house by the supple tree trunks and was planning to take the opportunity to leave, Kaspin's bright gaze fell upon him, and he spoke with a smile.

Realizing his presence had been exposed, Han Shuo made no attempt to hide any further. With a single bound, he leapt down from the collapsed structure into the spacious courtyard of the inn. Afterward, he walked casually to the base of the large tree where Kaspin stood, coming to a halt beside Emily and Candice.

"You handle your business. I'll watch over these people for you; I won't let anyone harm those beneath this tree." Glancing up at Kaspin overhead, Han Shuo said with a smile.

At Han Shuo's words, Kaspin froze in astonishment, staring at him with a bewildered and surprised expression as he asked, "Have we met before? Why does your voice sound somewhat familiar to me?"

"Heh, you should deal with those people first." At that moment, Belinda and her three companions burst out aggressively from the wreckage of the building. The moment they emerged, they glared angrily at Kaspin and charged toward their position.

"Very well. I am certain I must know you," Kaspin replied, brandishing his root-like magical staff and facing the three Fulika brothers with a solemn expression.

Above, the lush canopy of branches continued to intertwine, appearing dense, powerful, and immensely massive. Drawn by the forces of nature, several other trees in the courtyard also began to whip their branches about, joining Kaspin's ranks—a sight that left Han Shuo quite amazed.

After casting a glance upward and seeing that Kaspin appeared capable of handling these adversaries, Han Shuo lowered his gaze to focus on the unconscious Emily.

Taking a deep breath, Han Shuo placed a hand against Emily's back, circulating his magic power until his left palm felt like a miniature vortex.

Under the miraculous effect of his magic power, and utilizing his deep understanding of human anatomy, Han Shuo managed to purge the sleeping potion that Emily had inhaled from her body within a very short span of time, maintaining his focus and composure throughout.

Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, causing a surge of joy in Han Shuo's heart as he realized Emily was about to awaken.

A deafening roar suddenly assaulted Han Shuo's ears. Startled, he snapped his head upward to look, only to discover that a towering three-eyed monster, four to five meters in height, adorned with eight horns upon its head and a waist equipped with barbed tails, had appeared in the courtyard.

With just a single glance, Han Shuo recognized this four-to-five-meter-tall three-eyed monstrosity as none other than Anstis, the Three-Eyed Evil God that the necromancer Clayton had attempted to summon last time. Now, this monster resembling the Three-Eyed Evil God was encased entirely in gleaming, grayish-brown iron armor, its massive physique radiating raw strength and instilling a profound sense of intimidation.

"An evil-god-shaped puppet beast! Are you people from the Church of Calamity?" The moment this puppet beast resembling the Three-Eyed Evil God appeared, Kaspin's expression shifted drastically as he cried out in shock.

"You guessed correctly!" Belinda said softly, pointing toward Kaspin and instructing the puppet beast, "Kill him."

Under Belinda's command, the four-to-five-meter-tall puppet beast, forged entirely from grayish-brown iron armor, charged straight at Kaspin. A nearby obstructed tree sent wildly multiplying branches lashing toward the puppet beast's ankles.

However, before those branches could fully wrap around its ankles, the ferocious-looking puppet beast exerted a sudden burst of strength and snapped the flexible branches clean off. With every stride, the Three-Eyed Evil God puppet beast hammered its heavy steps against the ground, producing thunderous echoes akin to an impending earthquake.

Nearby, a tree gathered many slender, twisting branches together into a limb thicker than two people's waists, smashing it violently toward the puppet beast. Sensing the incoming attack, the puppet beast swept its iron-armored tail, covered in sharp barbs, horizontally across the air, striking the thick branch with a loud *crack*.

That thick branch, which had originally possessed such ferocious momentum, was struck by the puppet beast's iron tail, burying the barbs deep into the wood. With a fierce lash from the puppet beast, that thick branch was similarly snapped away from the tree trunk, shattering into a litter of broken twigs that scattered across the ground.

An arcane spell was suddenly chanted from Emily's lips, and several dark-attribute spells instantly descended upon the puppet beast. However, those dark-attribute spells, which typically possessed formidable lethality against both humans and beasts, failed to produce any effect whatsoever when they struck the puppet beast.

"Puppet beasts forged by the alchemists of the Church of Calamity all possess formidable magical immunity. Do not waste your efforts," Kaspin warned, glancing down at Emily below.

"What do we do?" Emily looked up at Kaspin above, asking urgently.

"Take these innocent people and leave immediately. I will find a way to entangle them," Kaspin replied, looking equally anxious as he swept his gaze across the ground below.

"Puppet beasts are controlled by people. As long as we subdue the controller, everything will be resolved in one stroke," Han Shuo suddenly declared in a cold voice.

"Indeed that is the case, but that woman is protected by three Magic Swordsmen, and we have this puppet beast attacking us as well. Trying to subdue her is simply unrealistic." As Kaspin spoke, the Three-Eyed Evil God puppet beast had already closed the distance. He continued to wave his staff, driving the tree beneath him to intercept the beast.

"Emily, protect the people beneath the tree. Kaspin, intercept the puppet beast. Leave that woman to me," Han Shuo commanded coldly. By the time his voice faded, he had already surged forward like lightning, targeting Belinda, the female alchemist stationed squarely in the center of the three Magic Swordsmen.