East Tivian.
As soon as Mossance and his gang step out of the carriage, they head into the alley where Nephthys entered. Soon, they spot her walking deeper into the narrow passage.
"Let’s go, keep following her."
Mossance whispers, leading his lackeys as they continue to tail Nephthys.
As they follow her through the winding alleys of the city, one of Mossance’s lackeys asks curiously.
"Boss, why did that girl suddenly turn into these alleys? Did she notice us and is trying to escape?"
"Maybe. We’ll have to keep a closer eye on her."
Mossance replies, while also pondering Nephthys’ deeper motives.
In Mossance’s view, Nephthys is trying to lose them by navigating the maze-like alleys and then make a break for it. If that’s the case, she’s sorely mistaken. They know this area like the back of their hand, and she’s the one who’ll end up getting lost.
Smirking to himself, Mossance continues to lead his lackeys in their pursuit. After what feels like an eternity, they finally see Nephthys walk into a dead-end alley, with no way out."Here’s our chance. She’s trapped. Let’s move in."
Seeing this, Mossance chuckles and whispers to his lackeys. The group quickly moves in, cutting off Nephthys’ retreat.
"Hey, miss, we meet again."
With his lackeys behind him, Mossance smiles at Nephthys, who stands facing the wall. As she slowly turns around, her veil reveals a playful smile.
"Oh... what a coincidence, Mr. Mossance. Is the world really that small, or have you been following me all along?"
“Her tone seems a bit different…”
Mossance frowns slightly but doesn’t dwell on it. Instead, he continues.
"Haha... ’Following’ is such an aggressive word. We’ve just been looking out for you, miss. As a newcomer to the mysticism world, it’s dangerous to carry valuable resources alone. So, we’ve been keeping an eye on you.”
"But now that I think about it, it’s too risky to leave such precious resources in the hands of a novice... Why don’t you just hand them over to us? We’ll make sure they’re kept safe."
Mossance smiles, his words laced with thinly veiled threats. His lackeys begin to crack their knuckles, adding to the intimidation.
Seeing this, "Nephthys" maintains her smile and replies.
"It seems like I’m being robbed. If I hand over my things, will you let me leave safely?"
"Of course. We don’t harm or harass. We just take a little wealth. And we won’t take any of your mundane possessions—just your mystical resources. Whether it’s ritual materials, mystical items, spiritual storages, or mystical texts, we’ll take them all.
"I suggest you hand them over willingly, miss. If we have to resort to force, I can’t guarantee you won’t get hurt."
Mossance spreads his hands as he speaks. In response, "Nephthys" calmly takes off her elegant handbag and holds it out.
"Take it. Everything’s in here."
Seeing this, Mossance signals one of his lackeys with a glance. The lackey steps forward to take the bag.
As the lackey approaches with a smirk, "Nephthys" coldly adds.
"If you can take it, that is..."
With that, her other hand swings out violently, striking the lackey in the face. The lackey’s head snaps to the side, teeth flying, as he collapses unconscious.
"She’s fighting back! Get her!"
"You’re done for, girl!"
Seeing this sudden turn of events, Mossance and his lackeys charge forward.
Facing them, "Nephthys" smiles slightly. She grabs the strap of her handbag and swings it like a flail, smashing it into the nearest lackey and sending him flying with a scream. She then swings it again, striking another lackey’s leg with enough force to break it, causing him to collapse in pain.
To create a weapon without alerting her pursuers, "Nephthys" had picked up two bricks earlier and stuffed them into her bag, turning it into an improvised flail.
Meanwhile, the real Nephthys screams internally.
“My makeup! My bag!”
Indeed, the one currently controlling Nephthys’ body is Dorothy, far away in her underground chamber. The ability she’s using is her new skill as a Marionettist—Living Marionettism.
As a Marionettist, Dorothy is no longer limited to controlling corpses. She can use a Marionette Sigil as a medium to infiltrate a living being with her spiritual threads, then control their actions like a puppet.
The limitations are that the target must have the Marionette Sigil marked on them beforehand, and the Marionettist must be within their line of sight.
If the target resists during the spiritual thread invasion, even an ordinary person would be difficult to control. While Dorothy can force control by expending a significant amount of Revelation, it won’t last long.
At her current level, Dorothy can barely force-control small animals. Forcing control over an ordinary person is extremely difficult, let alone a Beyonder. However, if the target doesn’t resist during the spiritual thread invasion, it’s too late to resist once the threads take hold.
On the carriage, Dorothy had Nephthys draw the Marionette Sigil on herself. Using the visual feed provided by the information channel, Dorothy remotely controls Nephthys. Unlike controlling corpse marionettes, controlling a living marionette has no distance limit, as long as the Marionettist can see or sense the sigil.
However, controlling a living marionette is more costly. Activating a living marionette consumes 1 Chalice and 1 Revelation, and every twenty minutes, an additional Chalice and Revelation is consumed to maintain control. If Dorothy can’t pay the spiritual cost, the control is lifted.
Under Dorothy’s control, Nephthys moves deftly among the thugs, using her expensive handbag-turned-flail to knock them down one by one. Her speed, strength, and precise movements make it seem like she’s effortlessly dominating the fight.
Logically, Nephthys’ physical abilities are far inferior to these thugs. No matter how skilled Dorothy is as a "pilot," if the "machine" itself is weak, many techniques can’t be executed. The reason Nephthys is so effective is due to another ability of the Marionettist—Spiritual Thread Manipulation.
As a Marionettist, Dorothy can now not only control marionettes but also manipulate the medium of control—the spiritual threads.
Dorothy can now use the spiritual threads to transfer certain states from herself to her marionettes, whether they’re corpses or living marionettes. These states can be passive effects from mystical items or other enhancements.
For example, Dorothy can activate a Devouring Sigil on herself, then transfer its effects to any corpse or living marionette through the spiritual threads. This is the mystical connection of spiritual threads.
Thus, Nephthys is currently under the effects of the Devouring Sigil, granting her physical abilities far beyond those of an ordinary person. This is why she can effortlessly take down the thugs.
Just as Dorothy is enjoying controlling Nephthys in the fight, a powerful fist suddenly comes at Nephthys from the side. It’s far more forceful than any of the thugs’ attacks. Turning her head, "Nephthys" sees that it’s Mossance.