The Puppet’s Awakening and a New Alliance

Near Balyaas Village, in an open field, two figures lay side by side. One person idly swung a flower—plucked from an unknown source—between their lips.

The other lay motionless in the field, covered in blood, his arms severed, seemingly unconscious.

“Stop pretending to be asleep, Mister Mage! I didn’t save you from Jing just to keep you company while you nap!” Mekamein grumbled, nudging the unconscious Bo Aibiyi with her foot.

“If you keep this up, I’ll tear off your legs too, Mister Mage, and turn you into a bald mage! Then… then I’ll make you imitate a worm! Hehehe! A worm! Come on, Mister Mage, turn into a worm for me to play with!”

Seeing Bo Aibiyi still motionless beside her, Mekamein suddenly thought of a fun idea. She sat up abruptly, looking eager.

“No! No! My Lady! I’m awake, I’m awake! Please, ask away! This humble one will tell you everything I know!” Hearing the monster’s voice, Bo Aibiyi dared not feign death any longer. He quickly opened his eyes and spoke to Mekamein with a fawning expression.

“What’s this? So Mister Mage doesn’t like worms. Then… how about a centipede?” Mekamein looked at the now-awake Bo Aibiyi and frowned slightly.

‘I cannot communicate with this woman using common sense; she is clearly insane. Fortunately, this madwoman isn’t so far gone that she can’t be reasoned with. At the very least, she spared my life, undoubtedly to extract useful information from me. As long as I prove my worth, my life will surely be saved,’ Bo Aibiyi thought, his face contorted in a bitter grimace.

“Oh, so Mister Mage is that amazing~ Actually, I… I’m looking for a girl with pink hair, you know. Her hair is like this—so soft and very cute! I wonder if Mister Mage has seen her?” Mekamein gestured repeatedly beside her cheek with a finger from her remaining arm, then adopted an innocent expression.

“Pink hair… pink hair… I know… I know, it’s Lady Soronna!” Bo Aibiyi recalled Mekamein’s description. Indeed, the madwoman before him was searching for Lady Soronna, whom General Baro revered as a distinguished guest. For the sake of his own life, Bo Aibiyi revealed the information without hesitation.

“It’s just… I just don’t know, My Lady… what do you intend to do with Lady Soronna…?” Though he suspected the possibility, Bo Aibiyi still voiced his question with a hint of terror in his tone.

“Why, that goes without saying! Of course, I’ll kill her~ I just love cute girls so much! Especially when I turn their adorable insides into dolls right before their eyes, watching their cute faces twist in terror! Eek… it’s just… too thrilling!”

Mekamein, as if envisioning a blissful scene, cupped her flushed cheeks with both hands, wriggling uncontrollably.

“But My Lady… Lady Soronna has a very powerful background. Even General Baro treats her as a VIP. Furthermore… a demigod-level expert has suddenly appeared by Lady Soronna’s side. I’m afraid that with your strength, My Lady… it might not be enough…”

Bo Aibiyi trailed off, noticing the strange, incredulous expression that suddenly appeared on the young girl’s face, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Hahahaha~ Hahahaha! So that’s it! So that’s it! The two people the King wants to find have actually joined forces! But… as long as I have the power the King bestowed upon me, I can kill anyone! Eek hee hee hee! If I complete the next mission ahead of time, the King will surely… hee hee… ah ha… ah ha… No, don’t… King…”

Mekamein burst into laughter, then hugged her own body tightly, falling into a strange delusion.

“My… My Lady, although Lady Soronna is accompanied by a demigod-level expert, that legendary mercenary, the ‘Silver Reaper’ Domu, often ventures out alone. Therefore, there are still many opportunities to strike…” Bo Aibiyi did not look at the girl’s expression. Instead, he lowered his head, sincerely playing the role of a sycophant.

“‘Silver Reaper’ Domu… Hee hee… I didn’t expect such a cute name~” Hearing Domu’s name, Mekamein, lost in her delusion, giggled foolishly.

“Also, My Lady… if you wish to eliminate Lady Soronna, this humble one suggests… you could first establish your own influence in Morgan City, then seize the opportunity to incite chaos and eliminate your target amid the turmoil!”

Bo Aibiyi thought, ‘If Morgan City falls into chaos, General Baro won’t have time to deal with me. This way, my safety can be further guaranteed!’

“Mhm… mhm! Mister Mage is quite clever! Causing a city to fall into chaos—wouldn’t that mean I could kill without restraint? Wahahaha! That’s wonderful, simply wonderful! But Mister Mage, establishing influence is so troublesome. Just tell me directly which powerful factions exist in that city.”

Mekamein patted Bo Aibiyi’s head, speaking joyfully.

“Yes… yes… In Morgan City, this humble one believes that General Baro’s faction is the most powerful… followed by the Mercenary Guild and Mr. Tule’s Bellan Merchant Guild… However, if we speak of dark forces, the Poison Scythe mercenary group should be considered the leader… They truly dominate all the dark forces in Morgan City…”

Bo Aibiyi carefully chose his words, trying his best to prevent the other party from detecting any provocative intent. If he could incite this monstrous girl to confront General Baro, then these two individuals—who posed the greatest threat to him—might tear each other apart.

“Mhm mhm! I’ve remembered it all! Eek hee hee hee! I didn’t realize Mister Mage knew so much!” Mekamein bent over, smiling sweetly at Bo Aibiyi.

“Ha… haha… My Lady… are your recent injuries alright…? And my wounds—you were the one who treated them for me, weren’t you? I feel no pain at all now, and my mind feels incredibly clear!”

Since waking, Bo Aibiyi had noticed that not only had the wound in his leg, pierced by Mr. Hake, healed, but even the places where his arms had been severed no longer hurt or bled. He only felt an emptiness in his stomach, likely from not having eaten.

Though he had lost his arms, his life was, at least, preserved. As long as he could escape to the Lunbang Empire and—using his abilities—save enough money to buy a pair of artificial arms manufactured by Monkacru, he could still return to his peak as an Archmage.

“Are you talking about this? It’s fine, look!” Mekamein carelessly extended the elbow of her severed arm. With a slight exertion of force, veins, bones, and muscles gradually grew out from the wound, eventually forming a complete, fair arm. As if it felt a little uncomfortable from having just grown, Mekamein happily swung it around.

“As for you, Mister Mage, it’s because you’ve been turned into my puppet! Oh right, Bo-Bo~ Ai-Ai~ Bi-Bi~ Yi-Yi~ Come and say hello to your big brother! Hee hee hee!”

As Mekamein’s words faded, Bo Aibiyi hadn’t even fully understood what the girl before him had said. Instead, he felt someone patting his back and slowly turned his head.

Four dolls, composed of internal organs, stood neatly behind Bo Aibiyi. These organs had been imbued with life by an unknown magic, and now they trembled as they crawled toward Bo Aibiyi’s body. Each doll’s face bore a distorted, knife-carved smile.

“What is this… what is this… No… no… don’t… don’t let them come near… Get away… get away… Ugh… What exactly are you…? Ugh… you monster… monster…” Looking at the internal organ dolls constantly crawling toward him, Bo Aibiyi retreated in immense terror, as if something had suddenly dawned on him.

Without hands, Bo Aibiyi couldn’t stop these organs from approaching him. He could only watch helplessly as the four dolls, with their eerie smiles, pulled aside his tattered mage robe and peeled open a horizontal incision on his stomach. Trembling, they burrowed inside one after another.

‘What is this… Am I no longer human? Am I already dead? Are these my internal organs? That empty feeling in my stomach just now… it wasn’t hunger… it was my own internal organs… turned into these terrifying dolls by the monster before me… How disgusting…’

Though he no longer had a stomach, Bo Aibiyi still made dry-heaving motions.

Feeling the four organ dolls burrow inside him, Bo Aibiyi continued to gag. Then he looked at the loudly laughing Mekamein with a twisted face and cried out.

“Puhahahahaha! So cute! So much fun! Mister Mage, did you see? Bo-Bo~ Ai-Ai~ Bi-Bi~ Yi-Yi all love you so much! Even though I pulled them out, once they gained consciousness, they still wanted to return home~ What adorable children! Eek hee hee hee!!! And also, Mister Mage~ I’m not a monster. I’m… a true… de… mon…”

Mekamein clutched her stomach, laughing so hard that she had to lie on the ground. She rolled around with laughter as the four dolls burrowed into Bo Aibiyi’s stomach.

Upon hearing Bo Aibiyi’s terrified cries, Mekamein slowly crawled over to him and whispered the words that truly plunged him into despair.

****

Balyaas Village

Balyaas Village had become a desolate, uninhabited place.

This was all due to a rumor that had spread a week prior, plunging all of Morgan City into panic: a demon had appeared in Balyaas Village, killing and devouring everyone.

What puzzled everyone was that mercenaries who scouted the village found not a single corpse.

Although many people had clearly lived there, even if the villagers had been slaughtered, there should have been bodies or the stench of decay. Yet the mercenaries found nothing but a dense aura of death within the village.

The once warm and inviting village was now broken and dilapidated. Though only a week had passed, the pervasive aura of death deterred even magical beasts from setting foot there.

“Umi… I miss Mama and Papa so much… I miss Grandpa Joseph and Grandma Ila…” In a corner of a dilapidated wooden hut within the desolate village, a young girl with curved horns on her head curled up, hugging her knees and speaking to herself.

No one responded.

“Umi… it’s my fault, isn’t it…? Mama and Papa, and Grandpa Joseph… they all died because of me…” The girl’s voice conveyed despair, still sounding like a demon’s whisper—a language humans couldn’t comprehend.

No one responded.

“I want… I want to see Mama and Papa again… to see Grandma Ila again… and everyone in the village… Wuwuwu…” As the girl wept, large tears streamed down her face, dripping onto the floor with soft pattering sounds.

“No… I killed everyone… It’s all my—”

As the girl spoke to herself, the wooden stairs suddenly creaked, abruptly silencing her.

“No… no… don’t come closer… You’ll die… you’ll die…” The terrified girl looked at the small wooden door not far from her, and the black longblade lying quietly on the ground before her, whispering in despair.

“Excuse me? Is this Mr. Murderer?” A remarkably gentle female voice drifted from outside the door, accompanied by a few soft knocks.

The girl nervously covered her mouth with both hands, hoping the person outside wouldn’t detect her presence and would leave.

Creak…

The wooden door was gently pushed open.

“No… please leave quickly… I don’t want to hurt you…” Watching the door gradually open, the girl involuntarily spoke. The despairing girl seemed to have forgotten that ordinary people couldn’t understand her voice.

“It sounds like the same language Mr. Stinkbug mentioned… No… it should be Mr. Soron… But Mr. Murderer’s voice sounds like a girl’s?” The gentle voice now held a hint of confusion, and the door was not fully opened. The speaker remained in place, recalling something.

“Wuwuwu… Please… please leave quickly… don’t come in… I don’t want to hurt anyone else… Wuwuwu…” The girl inside the house hugged her knees, burying her face in them as she wept in despair.

The person outside said nothing more, offering a sliver of comfort to the despairing Jing.

Perhaps the other party had left…

This way… no one else would be harmed by her…

Just as Jing was comforting herself, she suddenly caught a familiar, sweet scent.

Then, a pair of hands gently rested on her hair, and the owner of the arms slowly crouched before her.

So fragrant… just like Mama’s scent…

Mama…

No… I can’t…

They’ll die…

Jing was afraid. Afraid of hurting someone else again—especially this stranger before her.

Jing opened her eyes, wanting to push the person away and flee—to a place where no one could find her. That way… she wouldn’t hurt anyone, would she?

But just as Jing intended to push the person away, she felt as if time had frozen for her once again.

Before Jing’s eyes appeared a young woman with soft, snow-white long hair, approximately fifteen or sixteen years old.

She wore a tight-fitting outfit that hugged her body, showcasing her perfect curves. Her chest was modest, merely a slight swell, and around her neck she wore a strange, exquisite collar.

What truly shocked Jing, however, were the girl’s eyes.

They were like her mother’s: brilliant, gentle, ruby-like eyes that seemed capable of warming everything.

And at this moment, the owner of those eyes was looking at her with a gentle smile.

“Jing, come with me. From now on, we are partners. I won’t let anyone hurt you again, I promise. By the way, my name is Domu.”