Puppet Art

‘No way.’

‘If this goes on, it will find a flaw sooner or later!’ Jianye panted, sweat beading on her forehead.

Maintaining such a high frequency of spells was a heavy burden on her.

At this moment, the Evil Spirit Knight was also enraged by this annoying harassment.

Its deep green soul flames flickered, and its aura soared!

Its movements suddenly changed!

It slammed its giant shield heavily onto the ground!

“Dong!”

A shockwave mixed with dark magic spread out in a ring.

It directly sent the approaching Leon and Land flying back dozens of meters, disrupting their rhythm.

Immediately after, the Evil Spirit Knight raised the lance in its left hand high. At the tip of the lance, a black mist as thick as ink gathered frantically.

It compressed into a constantly rotating dark sphere!

The surrounding light twisted and dimmed.

“Be careful! It’s an area-of-effect attack!”

“Black” warned sternly.

The next second, the dark sphere exploded!

It transformed into countless black rays, as fine as needles, shooting out in all directions without discrimination!

It covered most of the backyard!

Leon and Land swung their weapons to create an impenetrable defense, blocking the rays aimed at them. Each impact made their arms go numb.

Jianye, having consumed too much magical power from the Elemental Torrent earlier, couldn’t cast a defensive spell in time.

“Wind Shield!”

At the critical moment, Irena ran in front of her and raised a green shield.

She barely managed to block the attack.

Unfortunately, Wind Shield was not a high-tier defensive spell, and its defensive power was average.

Under the barrage of black rays, it fluctuated violently, on the verge of collapse.

“Crack!”

As expected, it shattered in an instant.

Irena was sent flying a certain distance.

“Irena!”

Jianye’s face turned much paler, a rare look of panic on her face.

“I’m fine…”

Irena lay on the ground, feeling as if all her bones were about to break. She tried to stand up but couldn’t.

If the Wind Shield hadn’t absorbed most of the attack, she would have been seriously injured.

Just as this wave of area attacks subsided, before everyone could catch their breath, the Evil Spirit Knight moved again!

Its target was extremely clear. It went straight for the most vulnerable Irena!

Its four limbs burst with explosive speed, its lance held forward, transforming into a point of deathly cold starlight condensed to the extreme, and it thrust straight at Irena!

This strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless, carrying the determination of a one-hit kill, far beyond its previous attacks.

“Run!”

Jianye cried out in alarm.

Irena’s pupils suddenly constricted. She couldn’t move at all right now. She couldn’t run even if she wanted to.

Leon and Land hadn’t recovered either and were completely unable to provide support.

They could only watch helplessly.

Just at this critical moment.

A figure shot out from the side and brazenly inserted itself between Irena and that point of deathly cold starlight!

It was Black.

He poured all the spiritual power in his body into the Demon-Cleaver.

And thrust it straight at the Evil Spirit Knight’s head!

Facing a life-or-death strike aimed at its vital point, the Evil Spirit Knight’s cold combat instinct made a choice.

The lance aimed at Irena, at the last moment, was deflected by a very slight margin.

“Pfft!”

The black lance, by a hair’s breadth, missed Irena, but carried an unstoppable, terrifying force.

It pierced through “Black’s” right chest!

The tip of the lance emerged from his back, bringing with it a spray of dazzling blood.

At the same time.

“Clang!”

“Black’s” Demon-Cleaver, which held all his strength, also struck the Evil Spirit Knight’s visor squarely.

A clear crack actually appeared on the visor from this strike!

The deep green soul flames flickered violently. The Evil Spirit Knight’s entire massive body trembled slightly, and its charging momentum came to an abrupt halt.

It let out an angry neigh!

“Ah…”

Irena looked at the body that stood in front of her, pierced by the lance, her mind a complete blank.

The other three were also frozen in place, the color drained from their faces.

Time, at this moment, seemed to become incredibly slow.

“Black’s” body hung on the cold spear shaft.

More and more blood gushed from his chest.

His hand, which had been tightly gripping the Demon-Cleaver, loosened weakly.

The golden light was completely extinguished.

The Evil Spirit Knight pulled back its lance.

Black’s body lost its support, swayed, and pitched forward to the ground.

Blood quickly stained the ground beneath him a glaring dark red.

He lay there quietly, motionless.

The Demon-Cleaver fell beside him, its light completely gone.

The moonlight was bleak, and the backyard was deathly silent.

Only the crackling sound of the black flames on the Evil Spirit Knight’s hooves remained.

Despair instantly flooded the hearts of everyone present.

…

At this time, some distance away from the backyard.

The real Black was running wildly under the moonlight, heading towards the back mountain.

He had used almost all his speed-increasing skills, running at full throttle.

A silver light flashed in front of him.

“The puppet is too fragile after all. It only lasted for three minutes.”

Black frowned.

Just now, after he had torn open that magic scroll, he had activated Puppet Art.

The so-called Puppet Art could perfectly simulate the caster’s appearance, aura, and strength for a short period of time, limited to below the Dragon-Tier.

It was a very precious type of magic.

So, the fake Black had stayed at the orphanage, while he himself had long since slipped away to the back mountain.

The reason he had come to the back mountain was that Black knew the necromancer was hiding in a certain cave there.

That was how it was in the game.

As long as he found and killed him, the Evil Spirit Knight would dissipate on its own.

And with the puppet impersonating him on site, it wouldn’t arouse the necromancer’s suspicion.

The current necromancer only had initial-stage strength. It was just a matter of one sword strike for him.

He only needed five minutes.

Irena and the others, working together, could definitely hold out until then. Even if something unexpected happened, the puppet was still there.

Otherwise, if they fought head-on, they were no match for the Evil Spirit Knight.

Black had gone to the black market to get the Puppet Art scroll precisely for this moment.

If he couldn’t stop the necromancer from fusing the Evil Spirit Knight, this was the only solution.

He didn’t think about it anymore and rushed towards the cave.

But, Black had ultimately underestimated his importance to Irena.

Under the large oak tree.

“No… no…”

“This isn’t real…”

Irena murmured, her voice as faint as a thread.

The Evil Spirit Knight was right in front of her, but she was completely oblivious.

She just stared wide-eyed, fixed on that lifeless body.

All the colors in her vision were fading, leaving only that glaring red and a cold paleness.

Her mind was a roaring mess.

Images of the past uncontrollably surged up.

Summarized in one sentence.

She had always been in the darkness of being bullied by her clansmen, being alone, and having a cold father, until Black broke in, extended his hand to her, and pulled her out. Since then, she had more and more friends, goals, hope…

Black was the first, and the warmest, light in her dark life.

And now, this light had been extinguished.

Before her very eyes, pierced by that filthy lance.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

An indescribable, sharp pain exploded from the deepest part of her heart, instantly overwhelming all her reason and defenses.

Irena let out a piercing scream that was not human.

She gripped her hair tightly with both hands, tears streaming down like a broken dam, mixing with the dirt and blood on her face.

At the same time.

The exquisite blue ring on her right index finger suddenly became scorching hot!