Using vibrations from the ground, Goffrey successfully sensed the corpse marionettes that had been engaging him in guerrilla warfare. He immediately directed his bone blades into the buildings, swiftly cutting them down. The corpse marionettes were decapitated and dismembered in large numbers, and in an instant, all four of them were harvested by Goffrey.
“Heh… did you find my marionettes using some kind of technique? According to that old man, this should be what’s called an Earth Listener Sigil.”
Somewhere within the school, inside a spacious and well-lit room, Dorothy, who was perceiving the front-line situation, chuckled softly and murmured to herself. Beside her stood Vania, clutching a longsword in her arms with a tense expression.
“M-Miss Dorothy, what’s the situation outside now?” Vania asked with unease as she turned to Dorothy.
Vania had originally planned to return to Tivian in just a few days, but out of nowhere, she received an invitation from Dorothy, asking if she would like to participate in another mission. Recalling the dangers she had faced at the Field Manor, Vania had initially intended to refuse. However, the moment Dorothy mentioned that this was related to the Will of Akasha, she found herself unable to turn her down.
Though Vania had no idea why a divine gaze would be cast upon such an unremarkable place as Igwynt, nor what exactly the Will of Akasha referred to, divine will was absolute. As a seasoned member of the clergy, Vania knew that divine will was unfathomable and not to be disobeyed. Therefore, the moment Dorothy mentioned the Will of Akasha, she agreed without hesitation.
Of course, she had no idea that the Will of Akasha was, in fact, merely Dorothy’s own will.
“The situation isn’t too bad. Those guys have some tricks up their sleeves. After all, they’re Black-rank—so they won’t be easy to deal with…”
“Black-rank… Dorothy, why do you keep getting yourself tangled up with Black-rank enemies? Aren’t you just an Apprentice yourself?!”
Vania shouted internally, but Dorothy continued manipulating the battlefield from afar.Back in the school courtyard, after cutting down all the corpse marionettes, Goffrey recalled his bloodstained bone blades to his side. Just as he stood up with a grin, preparing to shift locations and destroy the surrounding stone statues, several figures suddenly emerged from behind windows and columns, firing their weapons at him once more.
Some of them were fresh reinforcements, while others were the very same old men Goffrey had just severed limbs from or pierced through the chest—now standing up again, full of vitality, and resuming their attacks.
Gunfire once again roared through the air above the school, forcing Goffrey and Oswan to retreat into defensive positions behind their bone shields.
Dorothy’s corpse marionettes were no different from zombies—so long as their spinal nerve system wasn’t severely damaged, they could keep moving. Goffrey’s previous assault had only managed to eliminate two of them, while the remaining two were still operational. Moreover, Dorothy summoned additional reserve corpse that had been hidden within the school, bringing her marionette count back to the full five. The assault against Goffrey and Oswan, who believed the battle was over, resumed in full force.
Throughout the school, Dorothy had stored more than twenty corpse marionettes, all serving as her "manpower" reserves. Whenever losses occurred on the front lines, replacements were immediately sent in. This ample stockpile meant that Dorothy could sustain this battle for a very long time.
“They’re coming again! These guys aren’t human—they’re marionettes! They’re flesh marionettes of the Chalice!”
Once again forced into a defensive stance behind the bone shield, Goffrey cursed in frustration. The current situation reminded him of the battle on Knight Street just days ago, where he had been utterly toyed with by another Beyonder who wielded marionettes of the Chalice.
“Could it be the same person?”
Goffrey considered the possibility, but there was no time for further thought. He turned to his companion, Oswan, who was still focusing on defense, and asked, “Do we have any more Earth Listener Sigils? I need to wipe these things out again!”
Hearing this, Oswan turned with an irritated expression and replied, “There are only two left. These things aren’t easy to get, and we have no idea how many marionettes that bastard still has left. If we run out of Earth Listener Sigils and still haven’t cleared out the marionettes, we’ll be in serious trouble.”
“So forget about the flesh marionettes! Find the mastermind! Take them out, and everything else will be resolved!”
Oswan shouted at Goffrey, and Goffrey had to admit, it made sense. The sigils were in short supply, and the number of enemy marionettes was unknown. Their best option was to locate and eliminate the enemy controller directly.
Making up his mind, Goffrey recalled all of his bone blades and released the spirits attached to them. These spirits autonomously scattered and phased through obstacles, scanning the surroundings at high speed. Meanwhile, Oswan continued to focus entirely on defense. Occasionally, stray bullets managed to hit him, knocking him down several times. The fractures on his body increased with each hit. If they couldn’t get rid of the corpse marionettes, there was no way they could move freely within the school.
Soon enough, the spirits returned with reconnaissance information, and among the details, Goffrey caught something crucial.
“Over there! Inside that chapel! There are two women inside!”
Goffrey pointed toward a tall, spired chapel at the far end of the open courtyard, away from the school’s main complex. The information from the spirits suggested that the marionettist was likely hidden there.
“Alright! Let’s go!”
With that, they began advancing under the protection of the bone shield, moving rapidly toward the distant chapel.
The mid-sized chapel was built on a grassy field, detached from the main school buildings. As they closed in, they left behind the complex school environment, making it harder for the corpse to ambush them. With fewer marionettes attacking, their movements became much less restricted. Seizing the opportunity, they charged straight for the chapel, determined to kill the mastermind hidden inside.
“They’re coming, Sister Vania. Get ready.”
Inside the grand hall of the chapel, in front of the altar, Dorothy leaned on her cane and spoke to the nun beside her. Vania nodded, gripping her sword tightly and pulling out a sigil.
Dorothy, meanwhile, remained standing in the most conspicuous spot before the altar, awaiting the arrival of her enemies.
“There are statues of Aldrich inside the school. They aren’t just reservoirs of his spirituality—they form part of his workshop’s foundation. They can’t be destroyed or relocated. They are the key to this battle, the cornerstone of Aldrich’s victory.”
“Thus, protecting the statues is the top priority. If we fought recklessly within the school, Aldrich’s statues would undoubtedly be caught in the crossfire. So… the true battlefield mustn’t be inside the school. It must be here, inside this chapel, far away from the main complex.”
“And to lure them here, there’s only one option: the mastermind must act as bait.”
Standing at the altar, leaning on her cane, Dorothy quietly waited. Soon enough, Goffrey and Oswan burst through the chapel doors, their bone blades and shields at the ready—only to find a young girl standing before them.
“What?! It’s just a little kid?!”
“Doesn’t matter! Kill her!”
Oswan barked at Goffrey, who wasted no time, commanding his bone blades to slash through the air toward Dorothy.
Just as one of the bone blades was about to reach Dorothy, a gleaming steel sword intercepted it with a sharp clang, deflecting it away.
Clad in a nun’s habit and gripping her longsword, Vania stood firmly before the altar, shielding Dorothy from harm.
“Sister Vania, from here on… I entrust my life to you.”
Dorothy’s gaze was solemn as she looked at the nun standing protectively before her.
Without hesitation, Vania responded, “Understood, Miss Dorothy… I will protect you with everything I have.”