Read Novel Full Chapter 668: Dark Suit of Slaughter?
Chapter 668: Dark Suit of Slaughter?
“… I believe I may have the answer to our problems.”
They all immediately turned to him.
“And what would that be?” One of them leaned in earnestly, then asked, “Do you believe her power could be the work of an Item?”
At that moment, all the other Bloodhounds perked up as a telepathic link formed, created by the one who proposed the explanation for Marionette’s horrifying offensive power.
He confidently declared.
He knitted his brows behind his mask.
As they were all about to agree on this possible explanation, one of them proposed a theory of their own.
They inquired, then added.
Understanding that he was referring to the Corruption, True Darkness, their expressions darkened.
The topic of Corruption was well known amongst most, if not all, Mages as a terrifying concept that plagued the natives of the Trial World, Hearth.
However, it was also well known that cases involving Corruption were extremely rare, especially when it involved Mages…
The Bloodhound who first proposed an answer stated,
In the next second, he whispered aloud, “But before that, let’s bring the two back…”
Without warning, he clapped his hands and caused the space between his gloved palms to combust with an ethereal, ghostly flame. Then, after another gesture, he pulled what could only be described as a lantern-bearing staff from the flames.
After witnessing this, Marionette’s body immediately tensed, the ghostly flames bringing her chills.
The staff was as tall as a man, made of a pale, strange metal that looked faintly frosty, like a silver rod left out to freeze in the snow.
At the top, it was curled into a hook, where a lantern made of dark, wicked wood swung. And within it burned a cold, ghostly cyan-blue flame — the very same flames that summoned it.
From the chills brought by the sight of it, along with its appearance, these flames matched a similar description of a particular topic she studied long ago. ‘The properties of a soul, a heatless flame… Soulfire!’
With this thought in mind, she adopted a cautious stance, then quickly summoned her darkness to probe the dangers in the form of tentacles.
SWISH. SWISH. SWISH.
Unfortunately, the Bloodhounds dodged with nimble steps and acrobatics. Though judging by how they didn’t attempt to block the darkness, it was clear to her that they were now wary of her magic.
She’d expected it to happen eventually. But that didn’t mean she was going to do something as arrogant and naive as revealing what made her magic so unique.
As she was about to get more aggressive with her attacks…
“Oh, souls embraced by the Sovereign…”
… An ominous whisper resounded from the mouth of the Bloodhound wielding the lantern-bearing staff.
It sounded like the start of a ritualistic chant.
Marionette’s gaze quickly turned intense. ‘They’re up to something. I can’t let him finish!’
With a wave of her hand, the darkness in every corner of the room lunged at the chanting man, streaking through the air. But to her surprise, she watched as he began to move mid-chant.
He slipped past the hostile darkness and continued whispering the ghostly chant into the lantern, as if it were the most important thing to do.
Though there were times he was unable to dodge by himself and required the help of his allies, who chucked him towards one another like they were passing a ball around.
They made sure to keep him safe, undistracted from his chant, even at the cost of their own lives!
After tossing his chanting friend away, one of the Bloodhounds found himself cornered by the darkness. He scowled internally, then quietly accepted his fate.
Marionette clenched her fist and obliterated him with the help of True Darkness, killing him instantly.
She raised an eyebrow at this, but chose not to linger on the peculiarity for long. Instead, she continued chasing after the chanting Bloodhound, but constantly met failure at every turn.
Even after blocking their path of escape, she just watched as they began to teleport around it, like they were becoming one with space.
Now it was her turn to be annoyed. ‘They’ve begun to deploy more of their Items.’
Fortunately, she found the perpetrator behind the teleportation and swiftly dealt with them. There were now only two Bloodhounds left, including the one chanting.
Unfortunately…
She couldn’t stop him from finishing his chant.
“Oh, the dead who lived and died with regret…”
“Oh, spirits who linger within this lantern’s sacred flames!
“As the priest of the King of Purgatory. The Supreme Ruler of Winter. The One
Who Survived True Death…
“Listen as I call you again!
“Manifest yourselves in spiritual form, in the honourable name of the Soul Sovereign!”
In that moment, a burst of light erupted from within the lantern, vanquishing her darkness. This… ultimately included True Darkness as well.
Wary, Marionette dove into the darkness until the blinding light eventually passed. And when it did, she emerged, but what she saw… shocked her to her core.
Hovering around the lantern-bearing Bloodhound were three humanoid entities;
Their eyes were closed, and their bodies were nude, composed of bright, cyan-blue, heatless flames.
Marionette widened her eyes and took a subconscious step back. In all her years working as an assassin, this was the first time she had encountered something like this.
‘Are those… Souls?’ She pondered, drawing on her knowledge of the magic world.
She then watched as the assumed Souls opened their eyes.
“Right about damn time, Number 6!” One of them shouted. “What took you so damn long to pull us out!?”
“I agree… It’s so dark and cold inside that lantern…” Another hugged himself, shivering.
The Bloodhound, identified as Number 6, waved them off. “Stop complaining, you know I can’t rush the chant, otherwise I’ll get cursed.”
“Well, you could’ve started sooner! And why didn’t you guys help me when I got skewered!?” The Soul angrily pointed at them.
Marionette, watching them from afar, slowly began to put together who this Soul belonged to.
‘Ah. It’s him.’
With a near-vacant expression, she recalled the Bloodhound she killed at the beginning. To think he wasn’t actually dead.
‘Now that I recall… I never received his kill notification from the Jester. Nor for the other one either.’
Marionette, realising where she had gone wrong, frowned slightly. She then silently scolded herself. ‘What a troublesome and novice detail to miss out.’
Had she been so overwhelmed by her emotions that she had forgotten the most basic of things?
‘5 months… it took you close to 5 months to change how I’ve operated for the last 8 years…’ Marionette swept her hand through her hair, her eyes filled with longing. ‘Lillian… oh, my Lillian. Just wait a little longer, I’ll be with you soon.’
At the thought of the Rabbit, Marionette’s condition suddenly worsened, the pain spiking.
However, it didn’t have much of an effect on the Assassin, as the thought of her inevitable reunion with her lover acted as an effective painkiller. Besides the feeling brought by her immense love for the Rabbit, all other sensations felt numb to her currently.
Though as pleasant as it was to imagine that scenario, she quickly woke herself up, then silently worked to regain control over True Darkness.
As she did that, she looked towards the Bloodhounds.
The Souls looked at one another and counted their heads.
“Wait, we’re missing Number 3,” One of them discovered, then pointed at the lantern. “Is he still stuck inside that thing tending to his Centipede? Get him out here.”
The Lantern-bearing Bloodhound quirked an eyebrow and checked. “His Soul is in here, but it’s refusing to come out. This only happens when his current vessel is still intact.”
“Are you trying to say his body isn’t destroyed yet, like ours?!”
At that moment, they all turned to Marionette, who stared at them with her arms crossed.
Knowing what they wanted to ask her, she pointed at the mysterious lantern. “Tell me about that Item, first. I’m presuming those spirits hovering over you are the souls of your friends?”
“You think we’re stupid or something?” One of the Souls shouted. “Why should we tell you anything—”
“This lantern-bearing staff belongs to one of the three Incorporeal Mystic Priests of the honourable Soul Sovereign,” The Lantern-bearing Bloodhound stated proudly. “It allows me to store the Souls and Mana Cores of whoever I wish and manifest them as virtual Souls, giving them the advantages of working as an independent Soul without any of the disadvantages.
“Though the only downsides to this thing are that I cannot share this staff with others, there’s a limit to how many I can store, and I’m unable to store my own soul—”
Before the Bloodhound could finish, his associates suddenly rushed towards him after breaking out of their surprised stupor.
“This fool’s Flaw is acting up again!”
“Cover his mouth!”
“Why’d it have to be now—this guy spoke too much already!”
Marionette, watching them restrain the Bloodhound from speaking more, was shocked.
‘The lantern can store souls and manifest them as virtual Souls?’ She repeated internally, eyeing the floating spirits keenly.
Though, a second later…
She lost interest.
‘… There’s not much difference…’
Marionette, seeing that the virtual Souls looked like rotting corpses, just like their physical counterparts, was disappointed. However, the feeling quickly disappeared once she returned to the serious matter at hand.
‘Assuming that the number of times he could manifest them like this is not limited…’
Didn’t that mean he could endlessly revive his comrades?
…
That couldn’t be the case, could it?
The Assassin grimaced. ‘Let’s try and get rid of one of those virtual Souls first. After that, I’ll come up with something depending on what happens.’
She then moved into a hostile stance. Unfortunately, before she could act on her plan…
“Now that you’ve learnt about the staff, where’s our comrade?”
It was now her turn to talk.
Marionette stared at them silently, then glanced away, as if considering responding. Fortunately for them, she eventually did.
Although…
“Who knows.”
It wasn’t an answer they were looking for.
Their faces twitched. “What.”
Marionette smirked mockingly. “I’m under no obligation to tell you what I’ve done to your comrade, nor did I promise I would. You shouldn’t place so much trust in your enemy.”
As she said that, she snuck both of her hands behind her back.
“As associates of the once-infamous Jacksmeare, you all are rather naive for people who have lived for so long. Have age and time under that dog ravaged your minds so much to make such a rookie mistake?”
At her obvious provocation, they scowled. They really shouldn’t have expected much of an answer from the beginning.
‘No matter, as long as we can knock her unconscious, or have her in one piece, by the time the Cult of Jesters arrive, we’ll be able to find the whereabouts of Number 3.’ The Lantern-bearing Bloodhound analysed the situation.
As long as he still remained, their victory was assured, anyway. Unfortunately, not everyone was as level-headed as he was.
“This bitch!” One of the virtual Souls shouted, raising his hands. “If you’re not going to tell us, then we’ll rip the information out of you!”
‘So, he’s the rash, hot-tempered one of the six.’ Marionette rolled her eyes indifferently, recalling the man’s voice. ‘Figures, since he’s the one who attacked me first.’
Before the virtual Soul could do anything with his hands, Marionette flicked out the hand she had placed behind her, which contained an abnormal-looking obsidian handgun.
‘She has a gun?!’ They all thought simultaneously.
Having summoned Regular Last Word and reloaded it while they were talking, she hastily aimed it at the rash virtual Soul. Then, with a swift squeeze of the trigger, she fired—
BANG.
—Blasting a crystalline, burning bullet towards the spiritual entity.
The rash virtual Soul, analysing that he was right in the line of the bullet’s trajectory, floated out of the way and dodged it.
Once he sensed the bullet would not make any attempt to change trajectory mid-air, he snorted. And what he said next was filled with mockery and pettiness:
“Naive girl, don’t you know Tier 3 Mages and above can react accordingly to bullet fire—”
“You’re the naive one.”
Surprised by Marionette’s sudden remark, he glanced back at the bullet, worried, and to his surprise…
Dink. Dink.
He watched as the bullet he had dodged began to ricochet off the wall, bounce off the floor, before flying back at him again.
He widened his eyes and hastily dodged out of the way, though only just barely. ‘… Its speed—!’
The speed at which the bullet flew had somehow increased! But how?!
Before the rash virtual Soul could wonder how—
“Watch out!”
—The bullet already returned, even faster!
With a hasty spin, he spun around, summoning a sword before blocking it.
CLING.
Unfortunately, the moment his sword made contact with the crystalline bullet…
BOOM!
It suddenly detonated, exploding with piercing shards of flame, like it had been a grenade!
The rash virtual Soul, being the one closest to the explosion, was instantly riddled with burning holes. He was too frazzled to put up a barrier.
As his spiritual body soon vanished, he was later brought back with a swing from the Lantern-bearing Bloodhound.
He let out a sharp gasp, like he had been deprived of air.
Marionette checked for kill notifications and widened her eyes. ‘He didn’t die?’
Once the rash virtual Soul got his “breath”, he let out a furious growl. “That’s it! This bitch is about to get it now!”
Without any other warning, he swung his arm threateningly. And what happened next caused Marionette’s eyes to widen in shock.
Crackle.
‘Flames?’
Before her, a wave of flames rolled toward her like a tsunami. It was several metres tall and as wide as the room. An attack large enough to be considered inescapable through conventional means!
Marionette scowled.
With caution, she manifested a dome of darkness over her person, then braced for what was to come.
Crackle. Fwoosh…!
Watching as the flames completely collapsed over her, the rash virtual Soul let out a bold cackle.
“Haha, shocked, aren’t you?! Since coming under the young master, we’ve been fighting with several restrictions — restrictions that would destroy our physical bodies if we breached either of them! And as you could tell, using our magic was one of them!
“Fortunately, the curse he placed on our Souls won’t do squat if we don’t have physical bodies for it to destroy—”
“Why the hell are you telling her this!?” The Lantern-bearing Bloodhound shouted. “You had a go at me for spilling secrets, but here you are spilling it of your own accord!”
The rash virtual Soul sneered and picked at his ear with his pinky. “What I shared isn’t going to help her win, compared to what you blabbered about. So, stay put and keep quiet, while we handle things, Number 6.”
As the Bloodhound was about to say something—
ZAP.
—An Item he had been wearing underneath his clothes suddenly took effect, summoning a small, electrical dome around him.
Turning around, he found Marionette several feet away, backing up after having been deterred by the sudden electrical barrier. She was holding a familiar black knife.
Marionette scowled at the barrier and asked, “If most of you are capable of working around the restrictions placed on you, why have you all played along with that mutt for so long? I doubt you all enjoyed working under him.”
The rash virtual Soul snorted. “You’re right, it wasn’t enjoyable at all working under him, even if the pay was pretty good. But why should we tell you anything about that—”
“That’s because we’ll die the instant we think to do that,” Another virtual Soul stated. “All intentional thoughts and actions that could harm him directly, or indirectly, will lead to our deaths — including the annihilation of our Souls.”
He then sighed. “It just takes one of us to have malicious thoughts for all of us to die. And unfortunately, it’s a curse that not even a Tier 3 Mage with a Curse Element was strong enough to solve.”
“Why the hell are you telling this!?” The rash virtual Soul shouted, then pointed at the Lantern-bearing Bloodhound. “You’re just as foolish as Number 6, Number 4!”
Number 4 shrugged. “Because what I shared isn’t going to help her
win, just like what you shared. Also, it’s mainly to buy time until that Priest comes back to pick us up.”
After saying that, he aimed his hand at Marionette, and it clenched into a fist. “{Air Binding}.”
Seeing this, the Assassin quickly thought to dodge, but found herself restrained in place by an invisible force.
Before she could consider what to do next, she watched as the third virtual Soul clapped his hands willfully. “{Iron Coffin}!”
With concern in her heart, Marionette sensed the metal floor beneath her shift and move. The next second, the floor rose like water, wiggling in the air like threatened serpents.
Then, without warning, they rushed in, wrapping around her body to form a cocoon-like shell. Once she was tightly wrapped inside, the cocoon gradually took the shape of a coffin…
Marionette was now firmly sealed inside the metallic construct.
“In addition to {Air Binding} and {Iron Coffin}, it’ll be impossible for her to break out any time soon.” The third virtual Soul dusted his hands. “Now, we’ll just have to wait until the Priest comes back.”
“Are you certain, Number 2?” The rash virtual Soul inquired, visibly cautious. “Having just been able to kill me, you’re definitely certain that girl won’t be able to break free?”
Number 2 nodded. “I’m certain. There have been very few who have broken out of my {Iron Coffin}, as you already know. Tank rounds, artillery rounds, not even dozens of dynamite will be able to blast it apart! Even a typical Tier 3 Mage would struggle to break out easily, much less a Tier 2!”
Sensing the slight jab at him, the virtual Soul scowled but decided to say nothing of it. Instead, he continued to stare at the metal coffin with furrowed brows.
He then gripped his sword. ‘… Is this all you had left to offer, daughter of the Crown of Roses?’
There were countless ways to gauge what a person was like. Straightforward methods, like asking them directly or simply getting to know them, were the easiest and most favoured methods.
But in some cases, methods like that weren’t applicable, thus leading to more inferential methods to emerge.
‘Such impressive swordplay…’ He reflected, looking back at their duel from earlier. ‘But it’s unbefitting of someone of her name…’
There was no doubt in his mind that Marionette was skilled. In fact, he had to say she was on par with a higher percentile of martial artists and swordsmen of his time, especially when he took into account her current Tier. Of course, looking past her reliance on her magical abilities, it was certain she had the potential to be someone great in the near future.
However…
‘Her sword and body are filled with desperation.’ It was clear that something troubled her. ‘Assassins usually fight with steady, calm minds and patience. But I feel none of that from her.’
From his perspective, it looked as though she was doing everything in her power to try to end things as fast as possible. It was…
‘Peculiar.’
Even though he was usually hot-headed and rash, the calmness he felt from appreciating the way someone fought was something that never left him, even when he joined the infamous Jacksmeare.
His eyes then became half-lidded as he glanced back at everyone.
‘… It’s unfortunate we never managed to get past the level of trainee before the guild was torn down by that man…’
Ryozan Eryndor.
He gritted his teeth. Even now, he could still vividly remember the atrocity and disaster he caused. ‘According to that Priest, that guy will arrive in this territory soon.’
Even though he detested the man, he would like to meet the man known as one of the strongest in the world. The Strongest Mercenary Mage.
As he pondered what to do when he got the chance to meet him…
“I-impossible!”
He was woken up by the sound of his associate, Number 2.
His focus quickly returned, and when it did, he widened his eyes at what he saw.
The {Iron Coffin}, which had been fine mere seconds ago, had begun to deteriorate from the inside, with dark sludge seeping out from within!
The rash virtual Soul turned his head to Number 2. “You said she wouldn’t be able to get out—!”
But the moment he looked over, dark sludge from the deteriorated {Iron Coffin} suddenly lunged at Number 2 in the form of a tentacle!
Number 2, seeing that he was now the target, sensed an immense amount of danger.
As if taken over by his instincts, he deployed every kind of defensive Shard he had, causing him to take on the form of a fully armoured knight.
Then he manifested several walls of steel in front of him and deployed a {Defensive Mana Pulse}. On top of all that, he deployed his Trait, {Steadfast Protection}, which boosted all forms of protection against an attack by 50%.
Despite being a spiritual entity, the idea of being nimble was still foreign to him, having been used to his bulky physical body; thus, the reason for all the defence. And yet, in spite of it all…
The danger he currently felt only seemed to have gotten stronger!
And before he knew it…
“Impossible—!”
The dark tentacle targeting him had pierced through all the defences he had deployed, swiftly destroying his spiritual body!
It was as if the defences he had made weren’t even there!
Everyone was left shocked, in awe at what had just happened. It just happened so quickly!
They then turned back to the deteriorated {Iron Coffin} and found it to have completely dissolved into a large, liquid dark mass that continued to expand rapidly. On top of that, Marionette was nowhere to be seen.
The Bloodhounds still alive hastily moved into the air, creating mana platforms, in an attempt to flee from the expanding darkness.
“W-what is that thing…” Lantern-bearing Bloodhound murmured, looking down. “She was able to pierce through Number 2’s defences so easily! Her offensive power is definitely not with the help of an Item!”
The air began to feel heavy with dread.
Rash virtual Soul grimaced. “I have no idea where you got the idea this power of hers is with the assistance of an Item.”
He tightly gripped his sword as he sensed the mana in the air shiver heavily with dread. “This girl… this girl contains the Shadow of a Deceased God! A manifestation of divine negativity! A Primordial Corruption — True Darkness!”
The moment he finished his announcement, he watched as the darkness below them suddenly retracted towards where the {Iron Coffin} once stood.
Then.
He heard an ominous, low feminine voice.
“Ever since that day… the thought of using this Spell instilled me with great fear.”
Like an entity born from darkness…
“Unfortunately, I have no other choice in the matter.”
Marionette began to emerge from the dark liquid mass, clad head to toe in solid, pitch-black armour. Sleek in design, yet covered in countless sharp, jagged edges.
Through the narrow slit of her helmet’s visor, Marionette’s eyes glowed a menacing blood-red. With her clawed gauntlets, she pulled the rest of her body free from the darkness.
Then, while standing tall, she whispered ominously behind the visor:
“{Dark Suit of Slaughter}…”
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