Chapter 193 - A Soul Doll and a Barrage

"You guys should leave."

Rynold wished he didn't have to say that. He wished he were lying about this. That, by some miracle, there was nothing to be worried about what had just happened.

Unfortunately, Rynold wasn't so lucky.

The humanoid creature that Rynold had just recently beaten down wasn't anything dangerous. As evidenced by the inability to fight back, Rynold wasn't scared of this particular creature. Instead, he was much more focused on why this thing showed up.

This creature was a Soul Doll. Its function was different from the Soul Doll from Rynold's previous encounters, but it was a Soul Doll all the same.

Now, with the appearance of this second one, Rynold thought it was too much of a coincidence. For a second one to show up not far from the other one seemed uncanny. Hell, the very thought made things unsettling. But, it had essentially confirmed what Rynold had feared.

That said, Rynold wanted to deal with this alone. He still hasn't paid back what he owed to Skeem. Leaving him for dead on that rooftop certainly left a mark on Rynold.

But that seemed like wishful thinking as his cold sentence was ill-received.

"Like hell, I would!"

Giving a stark response, Neana seemed furious. Her resolve steeled as soon as Rynold tried to push her away with his not-so-subtle words. It gave her all the more reason to follow through with her initial decision, especially since Rynold wouldn't try to do something like that for no reason.

Before Neana could scold Rynold, though, Rynold quickly interrupted.

"This isn't something you can mess with!" Rynold unintentionally raised his voice before toning it back down. "That thing I thought wasn't a problem? That was a Soul Doll. It's a puppet made from corpses of other people. It's also some high-level magic that I can't even begin to understand."

As soon as Rynold finished his thought, he deeply exhaled. Whatever it was doing here, Rynold had a bad feeling about it. He clearly expressed it. So much so that even Neana fell silent over what Rynold just said.

There was no denying the dangers ahead anymore, especially not with the look that Rynold carried.

That said, Rynold looked around the immediate area and checked if he had missed something. Something that might put some context as to why the Soul Doll was here.

Before Rynold would have the luxury to do that, though, Axiom's scanners suddenly picked something up.

"Shit! Everyone down! Now!"

Rynold yelled across the open air to try and warn Neana and the child of the dangers coming. Not only that, but he also simultaneously commanded Dictum to block the incoming projectile as well.

Ping!

Just like that, the projectile pinged off Dictum's shield. As a cost, the Accord Sphere became stunned for a few seconds after absorbing the impact. Those few seconds were what Rynold soon wished he had as the projectiles didn't stop coming their way.

'Damn it,' Rynold inwardly cursed as a barrage of flaming projectiles was coming his way. Luckily, none of them seemed to target Neana or the kid who were both hiding behind cover.

Unfortunately, it didn't change the fact that Rynold had to deal with this mess now.

Activating Protecting Light, Rynold decided to tackle this problem head-on. He had to find a source from where all this firepower came. And, with Axiom busy calculation trajectories of the projectiles, Rynold would now have to find the source.

'Where are you coming from?'

Rynold asked himself that as he dodged another projectile. Rynold was sure that these things were nothing but Fireballs. The only real trouble was the initial, more powerful flaming projectile.

As Rynold dotted his eyes around while simultaneously dodging the balls of fire coming his way, he noticed a pattern soon after the third barrage. How did he know it was the third? That's because there was a brief two-second delay after each one.

Perhaps, it was some casting delay or something commanding them to fire in a time-coordinated attack. Either way, Rynold had his window to rush in now, albeit it may be a little too short.

Although, an opportunity was still an opportunity, no matter how small.

Inhaling sharply, Rynold knew what he had to do; he just had to prepare himself to do it. That said, it wasn't that simple as there was something else coming his way.

Another flaming projectile the same size as the first one was on its way to where Rynold was standing. Unfortunately, Dictum wasn't available to help him, leaving Rynold alone to deal with it. So, having no other choice, Rynold braced for impact as the drill extended.

'Let's go.'

That said, the edges of Rynold's mouth turned up and formed a grin. Rynold was never one to seek violence. But, whenever he was in situations like these, he could feel his heart racing.

Adrenaline pumping in his veins, Rynold whirred his drill to life. Not only that, but he also Augmented it to increase its own power. Then, without a shred of doubt in him, Rynold jumped and faced the projectile head-on, drill first.

Almost immediately, the drill penetrated the projectile, and the flames disappeared not long after. Rynold won with relative ease and soon turned his focus to the origination of these projectiles.

From his now elevated height, Rynold could see farther. And, just as well, figure out who sent these things his way. The reason he didn't do this before now was simple. There was no way for him to dodge the projectiles while airborne. That said, he used the two-second delay to his advantage.

'There you are.'

From within the overgrown vines, Rynold could make out a clearing. From there, he could see multiple people shooting Fireballs at him. Whether they were people or Soul Dolls, they seemed too organized in their attacks. In which case, Rynold was about to disturb the order.

Landing softly on the ground, Rynold jumped back a few steps. He didn't stop until he was within earshot of Neana and the kid.

"Listen closely," Rynold said as he didn't avert his gaze from what was in front of him. "I'm going to need you to cover me, alright? Can you do that for me?"

It was a brief second of delay before the next barrage came. Luckily, those that targeted Rynold weren't aware of Neana and the kid. Rynold just had to dodge the incoming Fireballs while talking to the other two.

Unfortunately, even with that information advantage, Neana still couldn't wrap her head around the situation.

"Nea?" Rynold called out as he side-stepped. "Nea. Nea!" He kept calling out until Neana snapped out of her daze by the third one. Rynold was aware of what she was going through, but he didn't have the time to deal with it right now.

"I'm going to need you to make me a golem. Can you do that?" Rynold asked once more as he did a quick spin.

But, no matter how many attempts Rynold made to appeal to Neana's senses, it was for naught. She was in a daze. The look that she gave to Rynold was clear evidence of that.

"Nea! Focus! Now isn't the time to lose focus like that! I need your help!"

Rynold didn't want to call her out like that, but he had no other choice. Neana was essentially a sitting duck at this point. And, Rynold couldn't proceed with what he had planned without Neana's help. So much for all that talk of wanting to help.

"What do you need?"

Turning his head to where the voice came from, Rynold's gaze landed on the kid who seemed more than willing to help. Alas, even if that were so, there was nothing the kid could offer.

"Stay back, kid. You can't fight, remember? There's nothing I'd like you to do other than stay there and hide. Wait for Neana and me to resolve the situation, assuming she's actually willing to help."

That said, Rynold turned back to Neana and saw that not much had changed. She was still staring off into the open air, her mind blank. As he looked, though, Rynold became distracted, and a Fireball landed directly on him. It was a result of letting his guard down for a single second. To which, Rynold now bore the brunt of the attack.

Thankfully, the low-tier spell didn't even scratch Rynold. Hell, he barely even felt it as Protecting Light absorbed most of the damage. He knew his Mana Defense was capable of doing so. But, Rynodl didn't want to reduce its effectiveness if he could help it.

As Rynold realigned his focus on the barrage of flaming balls of fire coming his way, Neana finally snapped out of her daze. It seemed as though that it took Rynold getting hit for Neana to snap out of it. As convoluted as that sounds, it didn't matter now.

"What do you need me to do?"

Much to Rynold's surprise, Neana was the one who spoke up this time. He sneakily let out a smile as he gave his two cents on the situation.

"Whoever's doing this is coming from over there," Rynold said, referring to the place beyond the overgrown thorns. "What I need you to do is to offer distractions. Just get their targets off my back while I find out whoever's doing this and end it."

It was a relatively simple plan. Rynold wanted Neana to relieve him from being targeted by an even more terrifying opponent. And, of course, Rynold didn't mean for her to get into harm's way.

There was a more elegant solution for that.

"Think you can do that for me?" Rynold reconfirmed as he maneuvered through another projectile. His pace remained as stable as it first started. He could keep dodging all day, not that he would have any reason to.

However, Neana didn't respond. Worried about her silence, Rynold quickly glanced over. And, at the moment that he caught a glimpse of what Neana was doing, Rynold smiled.

"Just tell me when!"

As soon as Rynold said that, he charged forward while simultaneously dodging the projectiles coming his way. With Neana preparing, Rynold would have to match the timing as soon as the golems appeared. But, that was a troubling feat in itself as another larger-than-average Fireball came his way.

Steeling his resolve, Rynold jumped and repeated the same steps he had done before. With one swift, fluid motion, Rynold sliced through the projectile with relative ease. And, as soon as he landed, a voice shouted from behind him.

"Now!"

With a forceful declaration, six stone golems appeared and barreled forward at a slow pace. These things didn't have any destination to go to, but they served their purpose regardless.

The golems' appearance would have more than shaken his opponents' sense of order. That said, Rynold rushed through the overgrown thorns with his fire-infused drill. While the golems kept the projectiles preoccupied, Rynold could sneak past undetected.

And, soon enough, Rynold arrived at a small clearing, the sight of which left him baffled.

'What the...'

Rynold stared at what was happening right in front of him. His eyes flickered at spell after spell cast. But, he didn't know what he was looking at, though, as the very sight of which was entirely bizarre.

That's because the ones that were casting the spells weren't human. No, they were Soul Dolls. But that wasn't the biggest problem, as Rynold gaze landed on the one person in the middle. This one being had no skull or anything that would've blocked from seeing the thing's brain.

The word 'disturbing' wouldn't even begin to describe it.

As Rynold stared through the thick thorns, the sight of the brain sent shivers down his spine. What was even worse: the brain pulsated every so often, making it even more unbearable.

Now that he was this close, though, Rynold now had a better view of what was going on. Although he'd rather not deal with this disgusting creature, it seemed that he had no other choice.