Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Body Snatcher
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Amy’s eyes widened at the bizarre phenomenon.
"What... what is this? Why is it doing this?"
It was the same when she tried to move the dark mana again.
Realizing this was some result of Loan’s doing, Amy gritted her teeth and immediately moved the dolls.
Sharpened hand-blades began to thrust from all directions, but Loan was faster.
He carved a Narrow Path through the erratically moving dolls, flowing between them and firing [Air Bullets] at their joints to neutralize them.
He hadn't deliberately held back his power to turn them back into humans later.
It was simply that with his absurdly low mana, it was the only method he could take against multiple opponents.
*‘I have to try something else.’*
And so.
The solution that came to him after a brief moment of intense thought was to neutralize the puppeteer controlling the dolls.
Both physically and mentally.
Having reached this conclusion, Loan didn't hesitate and charged toward Amy.
Giving his opponent no room to react—
Before closing the distance completely, Loan poured every last bit of his mana—
*Wooooong—*
and completed the [Sphere of the Void].
Convection, Domain, and Narrow Path linked organically, trapping Amy and binding her body.
"Kyaaaaaa! Let me go!"
She shrieked as she was lifted into the air.
The dolls that had been momentarily downed stirred urgently. They forced their broken joints back into place, ready to charge at any moment.
But the one in the worst condition was, ironically, Loan, who had cast the spell.
Pouring out and sustaining the spell with what little mana he had left was no different from inflicting a powerful attack upon himself.
In a state of severe dizziness, he barely managed to summon Aul.
"Aul?"
Only after five footprints appeared within the [Sphere of the Void] did Aul reveal itself.
As expected, the creature drooled at the sight of Amy, and as expected, Amy screamed.
"Stolas?"
Loan wiped Aul’s mouth and reached inside.
Two lumps of mana remained. He took one out and immediately dissolved it into the [Sphere of the Void].
His body instantly felt better, and the force binding Amy grew stronger.
"Kyaaaaaak! Loan, you!"
But staying like this would only prolong the stalemate. Some of the dolls were already beginning to move.
Mentally neutralizing Amy was the best option.
"Aul. For now, eat what's left in your stomach."
"Aul?"
"I'm going to ask questions."
As if in understanding, Aul digested the last lump remaining in its stomach.
And the moment a burp erupted from its beak, Loan threw Aul at Amy, simultaneously releasing the Domain.
Aul successfully enveloped Amy's face.
Seeing Amy go limp and dangle while still standing, it seemed he had succeeded in ensnaring her mind.
However.
"You... you've already made a pact."
Suddenly, Amy's voice came from somewhere else.
It was from Mirka, who was still being held by the neck by her father.
"Damn."
The moment Loan glanced at Mirka.
*Whoosh—*
Duke Ferrara threw his daughter at Loan.
A throw backed by tremendous power.
*Kraaaaash—!*
Unable to defend properly, Loan took a massive impact and was sent flying to the hall's entrance along with Mirka.
The throw was so powerful that even the Convection surrounding Loan shattered into pieces.
The aftermath not only shattered all the stained-glass windows in the reception hall but also broke every joint in Mirka's body, which had been used as a projectile weapon.
"You... gck-ehhh...."
An unintelligible groan.
It was the sound coming from Mirka's head.
Leaning against the door, her head dangled below her broken neck.
*So he ended up killing his own daughter with his own hands.*
Loan felt a deep rage and charged forward.
The dolls attacking from the left and right had no effect on his Narrow Path.
Duke Ferrara was looking at Aul, which was covering Amy. He spoke in Amy's voice.
"Stolas, why are you here?"
Aul remained completely limp, unmoving.
*What if he tears it off by force? The worst-case scenario is losing Aul to that thing.*
Just then, the Duke's large hand cast a dark shadow over Aul.
In that desperate moment, as Loan extended his Convection toward that hand.
*Shwaaaaa—!*
Faster than both of them, a long, straight mass of light shot in from outside the window.
In the blink of an eye, it severed the Duke's forearm and slammed into the inner wall with a *thud*—it was a claymore.
"Well done, Loan!"
Oscar leaped in through the window right after.
Without explaining what he'd done well, he rushed at the Duke and smashed his face with a bare fist.
*Kwang—!*
But the Duke didn't go down easily either.
Though he was now rolling on the floor in the body of a doll, he was a man once called the giant who supported Ferrara.
The greatest swordsman of the Ferrara Duchy quickly impaled his severed forearm on his treasured Schiavona and launched an attack at Oscar.
As the bronze blade, radiating a powerful energy, aimed for Oscar's neck.
Oscar's body seemed to drop to the floor, then swiftly ducked into Duke Ferrara's embrace.
At a range too close to land a proper blow, Oscar's hand moved in a strange trajectory toward the Duke's collar.
Then, as if giving the Duke a piggyback ride, he curled his body forward.
In an instant, the massive figure, twice Oscar's size, was slammed upside down onto the floor.
*Thwack!*
It was an unpredictable attack, but destructive enough to completely crush the Duke's face.
His dislocated jaw dangled as if trying to say something—
"Loooooaaaaan!"
But the monstrous scream came from Loan's direction.
A noblewoman in a fine dress had pulled Oscar's claymore from the wall and was charging at Loan.
*Pang—!*
Without even needing to close the distance, Loan fired a bullet of Convection, severing the noblewoman's shoulder joint, then immediately stuck close to Aul and activated his Domain.
Using the [Sphere of the Void] would be ideal, but neither the situation nor his mana allowed it.
Just binding the Stone of Goetia with his Domain, pulling it with Convection, and trapping it within a double Domain was enough to make him collapse from dizziness.
"Aul!"
Loan urgently tried to wake Aul, but the creature remained motionless, covering Amy as if it were asleep.
"Aul!"
As Loan called to Aul again, a number of dolls stepped into his Domain, extending their hand-blades.
*K-k-k-k-k-k—*
Fortunately, Vice-Commander Oscar swept the area, wielding the entire arm of the doll connected to the claymore.
The opening created.
Before the dolls could charge from all sides, he had no choice but to bombard it with questions to shrink Aul's sagging flesh.
"Tell me how to break the puppetry."
"..."
"What is your real name?"
"..."
"Where is Le Tell's main headquarters?"
"..."
"What is the Stone of Goetia? How many are there, and how many seals has Le Tell broken?"
"..."
"You're the one who did that to Sophie, aren't you? What's the way to undo it?"
"..."
But the problem was that even with Aul's ability, Amy gave no answers.
*‘It must have escaped before being covered.’*
It must be because of its ability to move randomly between the bodies of the puppetized people.
The only silver lining was that even though Amy wasn't answering, Aul's sagging flesh was shrinking, albeit very, very slowly.
That meant the creature was also exerting itself.
*‘Then if I get rid of all the dolls here...’*
The demon will have nowhere left to move. Then maybe it will return to Amy, or reveal its true form.
But it wouldn't be easy for Vice-Commander Oscar alone. No, in fact, he seemed to be getting pushed back as time went on.
They were things that wouldn't die even when killed. They would crawl closer, their broken necks clattering.
Their numbers were great, but the most troublesome of them all was, of course, Duke Ferrara.
Thought to be dead, he forced his damaged body to move, relentlessly pressuring Vice-Commander Oscar.
It was impossible to tell if he was using mana or stamina, but no matter how you looked at it, he never tired.
But it was difficult to help.
*‘I used up too much mana at once.’*
Loan himself had no mana left to use destructive magic.
He couldn't borrow power from Aul either.
In that frustrating situation, suddenly—
*Kwang!*
A loud crash came from the entrance, and his seniors from the Faith Division poured inside.
The tables had completely turned.
The combined assault of elites, Runners and above, was fast and destructive.
In an instant, the dolls near the entrance were torn into countless pieces and scattered across the floor.
And so, Amy, or the demon controlling her, was left with no choice.
Abruptly.
"Huh?"
The dolls threw themselves through the shattered windows on both sides as if committing suicide.
Every single one, all at once.
Naturally, Vice-Commander Oscar and the Faith Division seniors leaped out the windows in pursuit.
And then.
Sudden silence fell.
"Hoo..."
Exhausted, Loan collapsed next to Amy.
Now, all that remained in the vast space were Loan, a half-shrunken Aul, Amy, and the remains of the dolls.
Just in case, Loan threw one more question at Amy.
"Were you also involved in turning Pauline's mother into a human tree?"
"..."
Amy still didn't answer.
The fact that she remained silent even under Aul's control meant there was no soul inside this doll. A look at her mana confirmed it.
He quietly caught his breath and looked toward the end of the reception hall.
The long red carpet was torn to shreds in the chaos, its original form hard to recognize.
The grand, ornate entrance, smashed by Loan and Mirka's impact and then forced open by the Faith Division seniors, was in a similar state.
*‘Was it that far away?’*
The people running down the corridor, and even the guards cautiously advancing with swords drawn, looked incredibly small.
So Bella, who squeezed through them, looked almost like a child.
She spotted Loan in the distance and ran toward him, waving her hand enthusiastically.
"Young Master!"
But then, Bella abruptly stopped, her posture incredibly unnatural.
The moment Loan furrowed his brow.
"Kyaaaaak!"
Bella let out a piercing scream and twisted her body.
Mirka's hand-blade had stabbed her in the thigh.
Dark mana immediately surged from Mirka's body, climbing up Bella's leg and spreading throughout her.
An attempt to forcibly seize Bella's body.
Bella resisted more violently, and the more she did, the more her joints bent into unnatural shapes.
"Bella!"
A Narrow Path, extended with all his might.
The last scene visible through it.
At some point, Bella regained her composure.
She stood still, watching the approaching Loan.
With a face full of tear tracks, she gave a chilling smile.
"I'm Bella now."
And then Bella, or Amy, or the demon whose real name he still hadn't learned, vanished before Loan's hand could reach her.
***
The incident that occurred within the Ferrara Duchy, inside the castle no less, was a massive event capable of shaking not only the castle's inhabitants but the entire duchy.
When something like this happens, certain consequences are inevitable.
The struggle between families to fill the power vacuum. The greed to claim the empty seat. The ensuing chaos of civil war, rebellion, and the tragedies that follow.
The Union, which prioritizes peace and stability above all, could not stand by and allow a state of anarchy.
The Faith Division first focused on controlling information. It was crucial to prevent the situation within the castle from leaking to the outside.
Afterward, they would have to act as a peacekeeping force, suppressing internal conflict with direct military power to help Ferrara stabilize once more.
Vice-Commander Oscar immediately sent a dispatch requesting support.
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From - Faith Division Vice-Commander Oscar
Content
· Le Tell has deeply infiltrated the ducal house of Ferrara. The Duke and his daughter, along with a significant number of castle personnel, have been turned into dolls by a puppeteer.
· Le Tell's objective is presumed to be unsealing a demon from a 'Stone of Goetia' to implant it into a doll's body.
· Combat between Faith Division's 2nd Platoon and the puppeteer resulted in the deaths of the Duke of Ferrara and his daughter. Three heirs of prominent Ferrara families also deceased.
· Power vacuum in Ferrara's government expected to amplify local internal strife. Support from the Stability and Practicality Divisions required.
· A total of six 'Stones of Goetia' were gathered from various locations, but only five were recovered. The remaining one is believed to have been taken by the escaped puppeteer.
· Escaped puppeteer is presumed to have possessed 'Bella,' the representative of a merchant company based in Versa.
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Having relayed the message, Oscar let out a small sigh.
*‘Of all people...’*
When he returned after eliminating all the dolls that had poured out the window, Loan was nowhere to be seen.
He immediately went searching and found him collapsed on the outskirts of Ferrara Castle, likely having suffered from mana exhaustion while pursuing Bella.
*‘Will he be okay?’*
Oscar didn't doubt Loan's physical recovery.
He was just worried about his state of mind.