A Sudden Turn of Events?

“Insignificant insect, do not provoke a being beyond your comprehension, or else…”

The voice was sinister.

The Soulless Puppet, suspended in mid-air, slowly descended, yet it maintained a clear distance from the doll.

“Oh, or else what?”

The doll raised an eyebrow, her heart filled with vigilance, yet her face remained nonchalant as she responded indifferently.

“Little girl, compared to men, I possess thousands more ways to make your life a living hell, heh…”

The controlled puppet first raised a hand, observing its unnaturally slender fingers, withered from muscle atrophy.

Then, it tilted its head, a grotesque, monstrous grin splitting its skeletal face, almost consuming half of it.

The doll, her expression cold, watched the smile.

She vaguely sensed something viscous and slippery extending towards her on a mental plane.

‘Tsk, this utterly twisted and hideous mental emanation…’

The Saint’s acute mental domain instantly detected these psionic tendrils, stealthily reaching out during the conversation, attempting to infiltrate her soul.

The utterly twisted and chaotic power of the Elder God contained within these tendrils was one thing.

However, the other implications they carried evoked a spine-chilling revulsion in Sally, even in her doll body.

“Cease your despicable tactics!”

With her frigid words, a tumultuous mental storm, akin to arctic ice, instantly tore apart these psionic tendrils that dared to approach her.

“…What a pure and delicious sensation. I believe both your flesh and spirit will become a perfect breeding ground for my kin.”

“You’re quite confident…”

As the doll observed the hateful gaze fixed upon her, a gaze that seemed to appraise a perfect incubation machine, she felt a surge of anger.

“Heheheheh… so you think you’ve got me cornered? A mere mole who dares not even reveal its true form?”

“No, no, no. It’s not that I dare not; it’s that I disdain to grant an audience. If you cannot even defeat the puppet I control, how could you ever be worthy of beholding me, the Star-Prowler, in my supreme form?”

As the words faded, countless crimson magic circles, several times more numerous than before, materialized in the void.

Each focal point of concentrated magic at their centers aimed directly at the black-robed figure amidst the ruined rubble.

“Then let us begin our game anew! Ahahahahah!!!”

The withered Soulless Puppet, aided by negative energy, once again floated into the air, unleashing a malicious, unrestrained laugh.

“Fire!”

Obscure crimson magic arrows and rays rained down, akin to a sky weeping blood.

The sheer variety and immense number of magic circles rendered the Dimensional Mirror’s sealing ability useless.

The doll merely snorted.

“Hmph, a petty trick, attempting to win by sheer numbers? You’ve chosen the wrong opponent! Nightmare, Second Form!”

A burst of white mist emanated from the massive scythe, and the frigid black weapon instantly shifted its form.

In her left hand appeared a translucent, blood-red tinged black straight blade, thin as a cicada’s wing.

When wielded, it gave the illusion of cleaving the very air.

In her right, she held a finely crafted, arm-length double-barreled flintlock pistol.

Its entirely black body was adorned with ornate silver patterns, through which a pallid light pulsed.

As Sally’s Soul Armament, a manifestation of her soul’s essence, it naturally possessed the ability to change according to the doll’s will.

Moreover, due to the soul’s mirroring effect, it even carried a slight temperament of its own.

Thus, the current scene unfolded.

The cicada-wing-thin straight blade swished lightly.

Amidst a humming sound, a transparent blade aura detached from the edge, shooting directly towards the puppet in mid-air.

Neither rays nor magic formations could withstand it; all were cleanly sliced through and shattered.

“Nightmare, Pale Calamity Blaze loaded, scatter mode, auto-target!”

The silent command, transmitted through magical sensing, connected with the Nightmare pistol in her right hand.

The white glow on the weapon intensified dramatically.

Faint, illusory flames flickered, and three intertwined, rotating white ring-shaped magic circles emerged from the muzzle.

“Fire!”

A white projectile launched from the Nightmare, propelled by the three magic circles.

Like a dazzling meteor, it soared against the crimson rain of blood.

“How could something so small be effective? Poor little thing, you must have gone mad with fear, not from my mental oppression… Tsk tsk tsk, it seems today will be quite fruitful…”

The Star-Prowler, using negative energy to conjure a gust of wind and propel itself, dodged the incoming blade aura.

It then looked down at the doll, who was darting left and right amidst the blood rain, and smiled triumphantly.

As the Star-Prowler, possessing divinity and a portion of an evil divine name, it constantly emanated divine factors.

These factors adhered to the surrounding air or infused the magic it cast, forming a pseudo-divine domain.

This domain would suppress all non-divine beings within its range, causing a rapid decline in their combat capabilities.

Now, in its eyes, this formidable human female was trapped within its domain, and her defeat was merely a matter of time.

“Which kind of kin should she be a breeding ground for? Ghoul worms, perhaps? Hmm… the young of bloodthirsty demon wolves could also be considered. But this lowly insect dared to offend this god’s divine majesty… It’s decided! A swamp dung-eating slime it is!”

However, its triumphant smile abruptly vanished, having lasted for only a brief moment.

The white projectile, flying in reverse, rapidly expanded as it ascended.

By the time it reached mid-air, it had transformed into a burning fireball, its size approaching that of an iron sphere with a seven-meter diameter!

Then, a dazzling burst of white light exploded, tearing through the sky-obscuring crimson magical torrent.

Countless burning, fist-sized pallid fireballs surged towards the magic circles in the sky.

Interception and pursuit proved futile.

These pallid fireballs ignited everything they touched; even concentrated negative energy spirit bullets merely added fuel and impetus to their destructive path.

Wait… pallid flames capable of burning negative energy…!

“It’s the Pale Calamity Blaze of the Infernal Realm! You’re an Archduke of the Lower Planes!!”

Its pupils constricted to pinpricks, the controlled puppet shrieked in alarm.

The Pale Calamity Blaze, a signature ability of Archdukes in the Infernal Realm of the Lower Planes, was an exceptionally potent power.

Initially, it was renowned for its ability to incinerate an enemy’s battle qi or energy within their techniques, throwing them into disarray.

Some Archdukes, specializing in this ability, could even integrate their comprehended laws into it, creating terrifying effects.

Connors, the ‘Lord of Fear’ among the seven Devil Monarchs, was once infamous across the myriad planes for his advanced Pale Calamity Blaze, which could burn souls through emotional fluctuations, striking terror into all who heard of it.

But hadn’t those energy-rich planes, brimming with laws, already become disconnected from this desolate world?

As for orthodox devils and angels, they absolutely wouldn’t appear in such an impoverished plane! And an Archduke of Devils, no less!

‘Could it be that those beings never left this plane? Were my companions’ detection results flawed?’

‘Moreover, those cunning devils, who delight in tormenting souls, might disdain our Old Ones faction, but they wouldn’t harbor such intense hatred towards me…’

Gone was the earlier contemptuous mockery, gone was the furious humiliation of being bitten by an insect.

The Star-Prowler’s heart was now alight with repeated warnings, and it began to truly acknowledge the opponent before it.

After all, an Archduke of Devils was a being of roughly equal rank to itself.

Yet, out of its inherent arrogance and grandiosity, it still harbored some doubt.

‘Could it be a bloodline inheritance from an Archdemon? But her composed and tranquil demeanor doesn’t suggest it… Never mind, I’ll blast her first.’

“Ahahahahah!!! This is truly excellent! So, there are still bastards left behind by devils in this world! It seems I am incredibly fortunate today! By using you as a breeding ground for my kin, my kin will undoubtedly become even more powerful once they acquire devil blood!”

Wildly arrogant and ecstatic, the controlled puppet laughed uproariously in the sky.

“Sea Demons! Seize her for me!!”

Countless viscous, slippery tentacles, equipped with suckers and sharp mouths, erupted from the dense summoning circles behind the puppet.

They writhed and coiled, extending towards the doll.

“Dreamfall! Blade Rain Mode! Blood Rain Burial!”

“Nightmare! Maximum Output! Starfall Embrace!”

With two consecutive sharp shouts, an endless storm of blades and fire erupted around the doll, who was on the verge of being doubly encircled by magic and tentacles.

Under the malicious onslaught of the myriad tentacles, the doll’s simmering frustration, which had been accumulating since she entered the castle, finally erupted!

“Since you have so many tentacles! Then allow me to turn you into charcoal-grilled calamari!! Die, ahhh!!”

A prolonged howl!

A whirlwind of blades and fire, composed of blade auras and fiery rain, instantly coalesced!

The tyrannical tornado dispersed the mist and the torrent of negative energy.

It sliced the Sea Demons tentacles summoned by the Star-Prowler into minute fragments.

Under the scorching Pale Calamity Blaze, through the puppet, it could even faintly discern the genuine aroma of calamari.

The tornado drew near.

However, instead of frantically dodging the destructive vortex hurtling towards it, the puppet charged straight into it.

“Got you!” it declared with a bizarre smile.

The doll, at the center of the storm, startled.

Instantly, she felt a cold glint flash behind her.

A Western rapier emerged from her chest.