“Huep-!”
My body jerked upwards and before I knew it, I was all the way up the staircase that we had come from before.
Clank-!
Without waiting for me to react, the trapdoor closed right after.
“What happened…?”
With Caius and Kaelion staring in the direction of the trapdoor, I closed my eyes and pursed my lips.
“He’s been lying to us the entire time.”
I thought back to all the moments and subtle hints that were there.
“He never knew where the mastermind was. He only just said that to keep us with him for the short period of time he had left. For someone as powerful as him, I’m sure the mastermind will have to focus all of its attention on him. He probably bet on that moment to let us go so that we can free everyone while the connection is weakened.”
That darned old man.
‘And I thought you hated liars. You even killed me for it.’
Yet, here you were, lying straight to our faces.
You darned lunatic.
‘Still, do you really think we’re just going to do things the way you wanted us to?’
Like he said.
We were idiots.
Three idiots.
Cra Crack-!
A sharp cracking sound jolted me out of my thoughts. I turned my head to see several figures
in the distance, all moving toward us with their characteristic stiff, uncoordinated gait. “They’re here.”
I felt my expression stiffen at their sight.
I recalled the nightmarish experience from before, and almost felt my heart sink. Especially when several dozen appeared right behind the first two.
However,
“Stop.”
With a simple command from Caius’s voice, the puppets stopped.
His expression faltered slightly at the sight as he looked at the scene in front of him.
“My control seems to have gotten significantly better.”
I was surprised by his words.
Turning to look at the puppets, I snapped my finger.
“…!”
My expression changed at the sight that greeted me.
Xiu, xiu-!
I wasn’t the only one surprised as Kaelion and Caius looked at me with similar blank looks.
That…
I turned to look at the threads that covered every inch of the room and scratched the side of my head.
I could count more than sixty of them, all within my control.
With just a thought, I could move every single thread without struggling.
‘It’s not like I couldn’t do this before, but never before did my mind feel so clear in the past.’
I felt in control of nearly everything, and with a simple wave of my hand, the threads vanished
into thin air. Just then, I heard several distant thumping sounds.
Thump, thump!
It came directly from the puppets as I severed the threads right above them.
“Quick, get to them before the threads connect with them again.”
Looking up, I could see the severed threads trying to make a connection with the people once more, but unlike in the past where they’d reconnect in an instant, they were much slower.
Caius saw this and flicked his hand up.
“Let me.”
Instantly, the two bodies floated in the air and rushed in our direction.
The threads followed right behind, but Kaelion was ready as he took out a familiar-looking
box.
Dang, dang~
The threads immediately stopped moving, and so did the other puppets in the distance.
“Wait, when did you get that?”
“…The old man tossed it to me at the last moment.”
“Ah.”
With a sudden realization, I looked toward the two people next to us.
They both looked young, about the same age as us. One was a male with long dark hair while another was a young girl with wavy brown hair. From their appearance, they both looked relatively outstanding and shortly after the connection severed with them, their eyes started
to flutter.
“It looks like they’re waking up.”
I took a step back to give them more space.
Kaelion and Caius did the same, and shortly after their eyes fully opened.
||
…..
At first, their eyes appeared out of focus, almost blank. However, with each blink of their eyes, clarity started to return to their eyes as they finally turned their heads and noticed the
three of us.
“W… who?”
“…Who are…?”
They could still not speak properly, but I could see they were slowly starting to comprehend what was happening around them.
I waited a few more seconds before speaking.
“There’s no need to be wary. We’re here to help you.”
“…Help?”
The girl blinked her large eyes, her crystal clear blue eyes focusing on me.
“W-what happened?”
“Ah, it looks like you don’t know.”
I pursed my lips and looked towards the distance where the puppets stood, frozen in place. I could see several more puppets accumulate behind them, and I knew we didn’t have too much time before we’d soon start getting overwhelmed by them.
Thinking for a moment, I took out a few pills I had saved up and placed them in their mouths.
“Eat up, it’ll make your recovery faster.”
Though hesitant, the two had no choice but to trust me as they slowly chewed on the pills I
fed them.
The effects of the pills were almost instantaneous as the two showed more signs of recovery,
slowly sitting up.
Their speed of recovery was enough to surprise Kaelion who turned to look at me.
“What did you feed them?”
“…Eh, nothing special to be honest.”
It was just a simple pill that could clear the mind.
“They’re not actually injured so I didn’t really give them anything heavy. It’s more like a little
stimulation to help them wake up.”
“Oh.”
“Ugh.”
“…My head.”
Holding onto their heads, the faces of the two scrunched up.
“What in… the world happened?”
“…I can’t really remember a thing.”
“That doesn’t really matter.”
Caius walked up to them and bent over to look at them at eye level.
“Your entire House is in a crisis, and we don’t have much time before we’ll soon be attacked. I
can tell that neither one of you is weak, so recover quickly so that you can start helping us.”
“You-“
Covering the guy’s mouth, the girl looked at Kaelion and nodded.
“We understand.”
She then turned to look in our direction.
“My name is Kora Astrid, and I’m one of the seven spears of the Astrid Household.”
Seven Spears?
Though I was confused, I didn’t show it.
But that was enough for the girl to understand.
“I see. So you’re not from around here.”
“…..
“Your silence only serves to prove my point even further. Judging from your reactions, you
have no idea what the seven spears are.”
“I guess not.” Caius replied, his tone carrying the usual indifference he always carried.
Kora laughed bitterly before speaking,
“The Seven Spears are the top candidates within the House of Astrid, all under the age of
twenty-five. We’re the most talented individuals in the Household, and the next in line for
the Lord’s seat.”
“So you think we aren’t from around here based on the fact that we don’t know?”
“It’s normal to not know, but..”
She looked at the three of us before smiling.
“You three aren’t normal either. I am not sure about your strength, but you’re not weak.
People of your stature would definitely know about us if you came from the Eastern Kasha. I would also know about you. The fact that I don’t…”
“Alright, I get it.”
I silently sighed before reaching out for my face and massaging my mask.
‘What even is the point of a disguise if they already know about our identities?’
I thought about taking it off but decided against it.
It never hurt to be safe. So long as the mastermind wasn’t found, I wasn’t planning on
removing my mask.
“We’re not from around here, but we’re here to help.”
“Are you from the Empires?”
11
“It’s not hard to guess, to be honest.”
The young girl shrugged.
“Taking a look at the situation, our House has probably closed off its doors to the outside
world, and without us, a lot of things don’t function. One of the few that are directly affected
by our absence are the Empires who can no longer trade with us.”
She wasn’t wrong, but something about the subtle smirk on her face that seemed to say, ‘I can
see right through you’ irked me.
“I thought the people of the Kasha were supposed to be brutes.”
“That’s only if you come from a small family. The House of Astrid can afford to provide basic
education to all its members.”
Shrugged, the girl helped herself before helping the other guy.
“He’s Serge, and while he isn’t a Spear, he’s still quite strong. Don’t look down on him.”
||
Serge looked at us in silence without making a single sound.
I took in his gaze before shifting my sight toward the puppets in the distance.
Cra Crack-!
There were a lot more now, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before they broke through. After a
little bit of thought, I looked around me.
We were currently in quite a large room.
The only way out was the door where all the puppets were, with the trapdoor right behind us.
“The best course of action for us would be for the three of us to carefully hold back the
puppets while at the same time, sever the connection slowly with each one and help them recuperate at the back.”
As Caius spoke, he turned to look at Kora.
“You seem fit enough to fight. In case we can’t fully hold them back, you can interfere. In the
meantime, he can help your people recover.”
“I can do that.”
Kora nodded determinedly.
Staring at the two, I looked towards the entrance and then the box.
‘Yes, it’s not a bad plan. Either way, the more people we help convert back, the easier it becomes for
us.’
My only worry would be the accumulation of puppets.
If too many accumulated, we’d be in trouble.
As if reading my thoughts, Kaelion brushed his hair back.
“If there’s too many at once, I can directly use myself as bait to lead a few away. That should
give everyone enough time to switch rooms and repeat the cycle.”
“…That’ll work.”
It felt good to be with a group that fully understood the situation.
With all worries out of the way, I gently closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Since that’s the case, let me be the one to start.”
Tak-
Taking a step forward, a black film wiggled from beneath me, covering every inch of the area
in front of me.
***
“…Can we trust them?”
Right as Julien stepped forward to handle the puppets, Kora heard Serge’s low murmur. She
pursed her lips and looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
But…
“What other choice do we have? If not for them, we would’ve still been puppets.”
“But they’re clearly from the Empires.”
“And…? Like I said, what other choice do we have?”
“So? They’re still from-!”
Voom-!
It was then that they felt it.
A powerful, almost suffocating pressure burst out from one of the three people who had
helped them. As their heads flicked in the direction of the source, their eyes eventually fell on
the old-looking man.
Kora’s brows knit tightly at the sight.
“Domain.”
She too had a domain, but even so, anyone who could develop a domain was quite well
respected within the Kasha.
A Tier-5 user was well respected.
However, her shock didn’t die down there. Shortly after the entire room grew dark, purple
hands emerged from beneath the ground, clamping down on the many puppets in the
distance.
They came from all sides, folding the very fabric of the domain, desperately reaching for the
puppets.
It was a cold sight that made Kora’s brows furrow even further.
‘Given their tone of voice, they mustn’t be that much older than us. Perhaps they are all in their
thirties.’
Kora could see that they were all wearing disguises.
This was mostly due to the fact that they hadn’t bothered trying to change the sound of their
voices.
‘..Considering their age and power, they must be quite talented.’
Enough to give her a run for her money.
Still, she was confident she could still win if the two of them fought.
But that was until…
“Uh?”
“What is…!?”
The Domain changed.
Yes, changed.
At that moment, Kora stood up, and so did Serge.
As they stared at the gradually shifting dark world, where the grass had suddenly sprouted
beneath their feet and the sky loomed above, they felt the pressure from before intensify, almost doubling.
How could this be?
This made no sense.
Staring at the scene in front of them, neither one of the two knew how to react.
A second domain? How was this possible? It made no sense!
Pushing his hands apart, the purple hands, carrying several puppets moved to the side while
over a dozen more appeared behind them.
Cra Crack-
They all rushed in Julien’s direction as his body started to pop and squirm.
Clenching his fist, his back tensed and his spine popped.
In one swift motion, he steadily punched the front.
Bang!
A thunderous clap resounded through the air shortly after that as the puppets were all pushed
back several meters.
“Ah.”
“This…”
Gobsmacked, Kora and Serge could hardly find the right words to speak when all of a sudden,
several bodies were thrown their way.
Thump, thump-
A cold voice followed right after.
“Take care of them. Make sure they know what is happening and have them recover as fast as possible. We’ll hold up the front for as long as we can.”