King’s Campus underground, the second level of the ruins.
Before the desecrated Mirror Moon statue, a masked nun wields a steel longsword, piercing through the chest and abdomen of the vampire. The vampire, his body covered in burns, stares in shock at the scene before him. He cannot comprehend why the enemy, who should have been hypnotized, suddenly counterattacked, catching him off guard and leaving him impaled.
However, Dorothy pays no attention to Claudius’s astonishment. She controls Vania to reach out with one hand, grabbing Claudius’s wrist, while using the other hand to increase the force on the sword, twisting the blade inside Claudius’s body to maximize damage to his internal organs.
As Vania twists the blade, Claudius lets out a scream of agony. To prevent further damage to his organs, he grabs the blade with his free hand, gripping it tightly to stop Vania from twisting it. His palm is cut by the sharp edge, and blood flows down the blade.
Soon after, Claudius’s body begins to be enveloped by a dark shadow. Within three seconds, the shadow spreads across his entire body.
Then, the shadow shatters into fragments, each transforming into a bat. These bats, far fewer in number than before, quickly fly away from Vania and regroup in the distance, reforming into Claudius’s figure in an instant.
Using his bat transformation, Claudius successfully escapes Vania’s grasp. However, due to his lingering injuries, the number of bats he can transform into is barely above the critical threshold. He dares not to use these few bats to attack Vania.
The number of bats Claudius can transform into is tied to his physical condition. The more injured he is, the fewer bats he can produce. If the number of bats falls below one-fifth of his maximum, Claudius will die. After being severely weakened by the corpse marionette gas canisters, which drastically reduced his bat count, Claudius no longer dares to use his bats in combat. Otherwise, Vania would have no way to deal with him.
"Hmph... So the Vampire’s bat transformation is now only useful for escaping, huh?"
Watching Claudius clutching his wound and gasping for breath in the distance, Dorothy controls Vania to speak in a mocking tone. Claudius grits his teeth and responds."Why... Why can you still move after being hypnotized?"
"Hypnotized? Did you really think that would work on me? I was just pretending to be hypnotized to lure you into making a mistake."
“Vania” mocked as she looked at Claudius. Hearing that he had been deceived, Claudius clenches his teeth even tighter. He immediately cancels the ongoing hypnosis on Vania to avoid wasting any more of his spirituality.
In Claudius’s view, the nun before him must possess some kind of mystical item that resists mental interference, allowing her to counteract his hypnosis. This item is continuously neutralizes the spirituality he uses for hypnosis, rendering it ineffective.
After seeing the faint glow in Claudius’s eyes fade, Dorothy secretly controls Vania to clench one of her fists. While it appears to be a simple fist, she is actually digging her nails into her palm. Feeling a sharp pain, Vania’s mind suddenly jolts awake.
“Huh... What just happened? Why did I suddenly feel so drowsy in the middle of a fight? What’s going on now? Why... Why can’t I move? Move! He’s still right there!”
Vania panics internally, her eyes fixed on Claudius not far away. She desperately tries to move her body but finds herself completely immobilized.
Just as Vania is overwhelmed with panic, a familiar voice echoes in her mind.
"Great Aka, please let Vania know that her body is currently under my control. Tell her not to worry, as I will soon return control to her..."
“Is that... Miss Dorothy’s voice? Is she controlling me right now?”
Hearing Dorothy’s voice in her mind, Vania feels a sense of calm. Then, she hears Dorothy’s voice continue.
"Additionally, this battle can no longer be dragged out. Both the remaining weapons and the duration of the sigils are running out. It’s time to bring this to an end. Sister Vania, please follow my instructions..."
“It’s time... to end this? Understood…”
Listening to Dorothy’s voice, Vania focuses her mind. Soon, she feels control of her body gradually returning.
Meanwhile, Claudius, having put enough distance between himself and Vania, finally catches his breath. He pulls out a small syringe and injects himself with a dose of blood, slightly alleviating his injuries. Then, he takes out a sigil and slaps it onto his body.
"Shadow Blade Sigil..."
As the Shadow spirituality is consumed, Claudius’s claws become shrouded in darkness. Using the sigil, he expends additional Shadow spirituality to further enhance his Shadow Enchantment.
Claudius has now realized that he doesn’t need to resort to any fancy tricks. He just needs to engage in a straightforward fight with the nun. As long as he can destroy all of her steel swords, she will be left defenseless.
Claudius has formulated a plan: his goal is to shatter all of Vania’s steel swords. To this end, he uses a precious sigil and additional spirituality to strengthen his Shadow Enchantment. Now, Claudius’s Shadow Enchantment is powerful enough to shatter Vania’s steel swords in just two strikes.
Claudius intends to play it safe, systematically destroying all of Vania’s swords.
"Die..."
Muttering under his breath, Claudius transforms into a blur and charges at Vania once more. This time, his speed is even faster than before.
However, Vania does not assume a defensive stance. Instead, she raises one hand into the air, her expression filled with solemn piety.
Seeing this, Claudius feels a pang of unease. He senses that the nun is preparing something. Determined to interrupt her before she can complete whatever she’s doing, Claudius pushes himself to move even faster.
Claudius’s attention is entirely focused on Vania. What he doesn’t notice is that, while he’s still in the midst of his charge, a nimble figure emerges from the shadows behind a nearby pillar and rushes toward the battlefield. This figure is none other than Dorothy!
Dorothy bursts out of the shadows and quickly closes the distance between herself and the battlefield where Vania and Claudius are fighting. Just as Claudius begins his charge, transforming into a blur, Dorothy opens her mouth slightly, and from it comes an ancient, resonant voice.
"—Tiid—"
The voice, originating from the dawn of time, echoes through the ritual chamber. Unlike the raw, explosive force of Unrelenting Force, this sound is more ethereal and profound, reverberating through the soul.
The moment Dorothy’s shout erupts, time itself trembles. The relentless flow of time, moving from past to future, slows in this area due to the shout. Everything around Dorothy, including the charging Claudius, slows down.
Dorothy’s Slow Time Shout reduces the speed of everything around her by 30%, except for herself. To Dorothy, Claudius’ speed has noticeably decreased. However, even slowed by 30%, Claudius, as a White-rank Vampire, is still fast. To finish him off, Dorothy needs to do more.
With that, Dorothy begins her next move. She focuses her gaze on Claudius, who has already been slowed, and concentrates her mind. She connects her spiritual threads to Claudius through the Marionette Mark on his wrist!
Why does Claudius have Dorothy’s Marionette Mark?
Because Vania’s left palm bears a Marionette Mark, drawn with non-drying red ink. When Claudius hypnotized Vania and tried to subdue her, Dorothy controlled Vania to counterattack. Vania grabbed Claudius’s wrist with her left hand, seemingly to prevent him from escaping. In reality, this was to imprint the Marionette Mark on Claudius, allowing Dorothy to connect her spiritual threads to him.
Dorothy’s Living Marionette Control requires the target to have a Marionette Mark. As long as the target bears the mark, Dorothy can connect her spiritual threads to them and attempt to control them.
Under normal circumstances, controlling even an ordinary person would be difficult for Dorothy if they resisted. However, she can expend additional Revelation to strengthen the control. Of course, even if Dorothy used all her Revelation, she wouldn’t be able to forcibly control a Black-rank Beyonder, let alone a White-rank like Claudius.
But being unable to forcibly control doesn’t mean she can’t influence him. With enough Revelation, Dorothy can slightly interfere with Claudius’ movements.
Here, Dorothy invests 6 points of Revelation, using her spiritual threads to forcibly manipulate Claudius’s actions. For a moment, Claudius’ movements are slightly delayed, as if entangled by countless invisible threads.
This delay would normally be insignificant to Claudius, but under the effects of Slow Time, it becomes fatal. Already slowed by 30%, the additional delay causes Claudius’ speed to drop by nearly 50%, almost half of his normal speed. It is at this critical moment that Vania seizes the opportunity.
"Lord, grant me light..."
Vania murmurs as a radiant golden light gathers in her raised hand. The Sunlight Spear once again takes form in the hands of the devout.
Although time has slowed due to Dorothy’s shout, Vania, connected to Dorothy by spiritual threads, shares Dorothy’s immunity to the Slow Time effect. Thus, Vania is unaffected by the slowdown, while Claudius is slowed by nearly 50% relative to her, not just 20%.
At this reduced speed, Vania, as a Lantern-path Beyonder, will not miss.
Aiming at the charging Vampire, Vania hurls the Sunlight Spear with all her might. The radiant beam pierces through Claudius’ chest, leaving a gaping hole the size of a bowl. Claudius’ expression twists in agony.
Even slowed by 50%, Claudius’ speed and reflexes are still far superior to an ordinary person’s. Facing the incoming Sunlight Spear, he manages to dodge just enough to avoid having his heart and spine pierced. Though he suffers severe damage, it is not fatal.
At this moment, the effects of Slow Time and the spiritual thread manipulation wear off. Claudius, now back to normal, lets out a pained scream. Severely wounded, he collapses to the ground. Though his chest is steaming from the hole, he does not die immediately.
Seeing this, Vania strides forward with her sword, ready to deliver the final blow. However, Claudius uses his last resort. With a trembling hand, he pulls out a vial of dark red liquid from his clothes and smashes it on the ground. The liquid instantly transforms into a thick, dark red mist that envelops Claudius.
This mist is infused with high concentrations of Chalice and Shadow spirituality. The Shadow spirituality interferes with detection, while the Chalice spirituality suppresses the severe injuries of the person it protects.
In the mist, Claudius takes a few deep breaths, allowing the concentrated Chalice spirituality to slightly alleviate his critical injuries, buying himself some time. Then, his body transforms into a dozen bats once more, flying out of the mist toward the staircase leading to the first level.
Vania, charging into the mist, only manages to kill two bats before watching the rest fly toward the exit.
"Miss Dorothy! He’s getting away!"
Vania points at the bats flying toward the first level, her voice filled with urgency. After such a long fight, letting him escape would be a huge loss.
Hearing Vania’s words, Dorothy smiles lightly and responds calmly.
"Don’t worry. Let him go."
The ten remaining bats, the minimum number Claudius can transform into without dying, fly into the first level of the ruins and head straight for the exit. Claudius’ bat count is at its lowest limit. Losing even one more bat would mean his death, reflecting his critically weakened state.
As the bats fly, Claudius’s thoughts race.
“If I can just reach that place... If I can just reach that place…”
Just as he thinks this, he notices something ahead in the corridor.
Squinting, he sees a stack of neatly arranged glass bottles blocking the path. In front of the bottles stands a man holding a revolver, aiming it at the bottles.
“What... What is that…”
"Die..."
Somewhere in the campus, Nephthys, wearing the Corpse Marionette Ring, murmurs. At the same time, she controls the marionette in the corridor to pull the trigger.
Bang!
Boom!
As the bullet shatters the gas canisters, a fiery explosion erupts, engulfing the corridor in flames. The bats, unable to turn back in time, are swallowed by the inferno. The remaining bats are forced to merge back into a human form—a figure with skin cracked and burning like charcoal.
"Ahhh!!!"
Claudius, his entire body smoking, lets out a scream of agony. Having lost too many bats, he can no longer sustain his life. He collapses in the scorching heat, his life extinguished.