Read Novel Full Chapter 610: Control and Imprisonment?
Chapter 610: Control and Imprisonment?
The orb of water vanished into a cloud of steam, leaving Lillian befuddled, but also in disbelief at what she saw.
"Huh?" Lillian breathed, catching sight of the glowing devices on the wall; they were the ones responsible.
Up until now, she hadn’t given those devices much of a glance, having assumed they were used to regulate temperature or other environmental things that went in the basement.
When she had been playing as Millis, she had seen several kinds of devices placed in other mansions’ basements - most of them mainly helping to remove humidity and prevent moulding.
’So, these are what they are...!’ Lillian thought loudly in recognition.
Marionette smiled a bit, seeing that Lillian had deduced the cause of what happened.
"Were you aware, Lillian, that far underneath this mansion is a large water facility?" The Assassin dragged her finger against Lillian’s jawline, gently pushing the girl’s face so that the Rabbit would face her.
"It was said that with the construction of Darkhounds’ territory, they had discovered a rather large opening deep underground, allowing for the creation of a huge water facility that took care of all water-related matters.
"Because of this, whenever there was to be a large leakage, the water from underground would steadily make its way to the surface. And because there are no plants to take advantage of and drink it, it would somehow make its way into people’s homes, thus leading to either mould or another kind of fungi."
Marionette ran her fingers through Lillian’s hair as she shuffled on the girl’s lap.
"The occurrence of mould mainly appears on those from the inner circle, in the Darkhounds’ territory, mainly because they have the ability to travel back and forth from the Surface and the Underworld.
"Thus, they had decided to install these devices into people’s homes, which works by eliminating every moisture in the rooms, except that found in living organisms."
Lillian grimaced as she heard these words.
Slowly shifting her eyes from Marionette’s face, she took a look at her girlfriend’s entire body - more specifically, what she was wearing.
Marionette was no longer wearing her beautiful red and black dress. Instead, she now wore a black buttoned-up shirt and pants, a simple set of black pyjamas.
The Rabbit wasn’t certain if it was because the Assassin was sitting on her lap, but...
’It looks really good on her...’
She was getting a bit aroused.
Marionette, seeing that Lillian was about to turn her eyes away from her again, immediately pulled her face back; she smiled at the sense of Lillian’s attention returning.
The Assassin then muttered:
"I had been thinking quite hard about how to keep you stuck in one place without the risk of you escaping; to think the basement would be the answer to my predicament, having everything needed to keep you from escaping. Quite the fortunate coincidence, isn’t it?"
Lillian sighed, raising her eyes to meet the Assassin’s. Then, she smiled wryly, silently agreeing with Marionette; it was quite the coincidence.
"Alright, fine. So, what if I can’t escape with water? I can just break these chains can’t I?" Lillian rubbed her wrists together, moving against the chains, "Nothing is stopping me, you know?"
There had to be more involved to keep her here, besides some moisture-evaporating devices; surely, the True Darkness controlling Marionette hadn’t dummed her down enough, right?
Clink. Clink. Clink.
Listening to the soft clinking of the chains, Marionette smiled, then smirked as she whispered:
"Sure, nothing can stop you~..."
Afterwards, she got up from Lillian’s lap before making her way over to the exit.
Seeing this, Lillian narrowed her eyes; something was off...
Why did Marionette not seem even the slightest bit worried that she would break the chains?
Lillian grew suspicious.
With curiosity, the Rabbit decided to analyse the chains, with the intention of seeing if there was anything truly special about them.
==
[Item Name: Notifying Chains]
==
’Eh?’
Upon reading the name, Lillian grew deeply concerned.
Skipping through the irrelevant information like its type, ranks, grade, and description, Lillian began to read through its enchantments.
==
[Enchantment: Notify Breakage]
[Notify Breakage: The moment this chain were to break, the owner who had bound this chain to them will be notified instantly.]
==
’Huh!?’ Lillian’s eyes widened largely, shocked by what she had just read.
If she assumed that Marionette was the obvious owner, then that would mean...
’She would know if I were to escape...’
While Lillian grimly dwelled on the thought, Marionette - who had reached the exit - grabbed the door handle before turning around.
"Before I leave you here, I should let you know..."
She looked back at Lillian and pulled something out from her right chest pocket, holding it in between her index finger and thumb.
The Rabbit, noticing what Marionette was doing, snapped out of her thoughts and looked at what she held.
It was a plain-looking metal ring with traces of mana; the ring was small enough to fit on Lillian’s finger.
The Rabbit’s eyes shot wide open to an extreme degree. She sensed a connection to it, specifically from her Mana Realm; it was a Shard.
She only had a few Items she would voluntarily link to.
The first being her lucky necklace, her Mask of Deceit, her gauntlets, the Jungle Lord and Beetle, her Abyssal Crown, her earring, and lastly...
’Spatial ring! That’s my spatial ring!’
"W-wait! You can’t take that away, Marionette! All of my weapons are in there!"
Marionette tilted her head, still smiling.
"You won’t need them. It’s not like you’re going to be using them anytime soon."
Afterwards, she pocketed the ring and summoned what seemed to be a large stuffed rabbit from her own spatial storage - hugging it tightly against her chest.
"I’ve made sure to inform all of the servants about your punishment, so don’t think that asking them for help will do you any good. I’ll come down here every hour to check up on you."
"O-okay, but what if I need to call for you, then?" Lillian asked nervously.
"I’ll have someone stationed outside the door; you can ask them to come get me." Marionette smiled innocently before leaving the room, hugging the plushie tightly as she left Lillian behind.
Watching as Marionette was actually about to leave her behind, Lillian screamed out:
"Hold on, Marionette! You can’t possibly leave me here all by myself without any way to defend myself, righ—!?"
But before she could get her words across, Marionette had already closed the door on her.
Door shuts.
Lillian was speechless.
Then, her eyes became large - becoming puppy-eyed - as she whispered somberly:
"Mari..."
...
Door shuts.
Marionette closed the door; her eyes were still latched onto the door handle, which she tightly held.
The smile that was on her face immediately began to curl downwards into a frown; she felt like she did something wrong...
She knew she had done something wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Her mind felt foggy, like she was trying to walk through a pool of water that reached her waist...
But the fog soon cleared slightly when she heard—
"Mari..."
—Lillian’s sorrow-filled voice.
Marionette’s eyes widened, finding her cognitive functions returning slightly.
And when it did...
"Urgh...!"
Dropping the stuffed rabbit, Marionette shot her hand towards her neck, tightly strangling herself and the True Darkness, which continued to increase in length and reach.
And while strangling herself, Marionette clenched her jaw, cursing the dark veins inside her mind:
’This vile thing...!’
Now she understood why Lillian was so desperate to get her to drink her blood!
She had been so distracted by the scenarios of Lillian being stolen from her that she hadn’t even thought about her own condition.
To think she had let it progress this far, and to think she hadn’t even thought about it until now!
Marionette continued to strangle herself, using her magic to force back the darkness inside her veins, even able to make progress.
It was no longer near her face or jawline.
As Marionette continued to try and push it back, whilst trying to open the door to Lillian, the dark veins suddenly bulged in agitation - blackening even further.
Her resistance towards the True Darkness had angered it.
Having flooded Marionette’s circulatory system with itself, the True Darkness suddenly pulled itself back, reducing its progress of control back to zero.
Marionette’s veins returned to normal.
Had the Corruption just given up?
The Assassin didn’t know, but she shouldn’t stop to think about it.
So, as she was midway into turning the door...
’Lillia—’
She felt a tingle in her spine, more specifically, her spine.
Having just pulled itself back, the True Darkness suddenly changed its direction of attack. Instead of attacking through Marionette’s skin, it had decided to attack her spine!
Invading the insides of Marionette’s spinal cord, it travelled up through her nerves - soon, making contact with the Assassin’s brainstem.
Marionette paused in her actions, her hand dropping from her neck - revealing a red strangle mark that soon faded.
Her eyes were blank, but only for a brief moment.
’What was I doing again...?’ Marionette thought, having just forgotten her self-strangling, ’Ah, right... I should release those I trapped in my darkness...’
Letting go of the door handle, Marionette turned around, leaving after retrieving the stuffed rabbit on the ground.