Southwest outskirts of Tivian, a forest path far from Duke Barrett’s mansion.
On the dark street, a black carriage is parked. Inside the dimly lit carriage, Dorothy sits, using her Marionettist ability to influence the events unfolding several kilometers away at Barrett’s mansion.
Under Dorothy’s influence, her corpse marionettes move stealthily within Barrett’s mansion. While one marionette, a male servant, frantically searches through documents in the underground hidden room, Dorothy continuously switches control between the marionettes to monitor the movements of the Eight-Spired Nest assassins inside the mansion.
As a result, Dorothy witnesses Kenk’s conversation with the Face Spider and his use of an injector on one of his subordinates.
“Priest of Fangs... A White Ash-rank vampire shows such reverence to him. This old man is likely a Red Completion-rank Beyonder! A high-ranking member of the Eight-Spired Nest…”
Using the vision of one of the corpses in the mansion, Dorothy observes the old man who emerged from the painful transformation of George, the Shadow Facade. She hadn’t expected that the importance of Barrett’s documents would draw the direct involvement of a Red Completion-rank figure.
“From their earlier conversation, this series of actions targeting Barrett was orchestrated by this Priest of Fangs. At least four White Ash-rank individuals involved in the operation are likely his subordinates. The reason he couldn’t come to Tivian himself seems to be his fear of the Radiance Archbishop in the Cathedral District.”
Dorothy ponders this in her mind. Thanks to Vania, she has some understanding of the Radiance Archbishop in the Cathedral District.
“Francesco... Sent from the Holy Mount to Tivian, he oversees all religious affairs in the Pritt Diocese and is the highest representative of the Holy Mount in Pritt. It seems now... he might be a Red Completion-rank Beyonder. Along with him, every major diocese in other countries likely has a Red Completion-rank archbishop stationed. The position of Radiance Archbishop might be synonymous with Red Completion-rank.”
“According to the earlier conversation, the archbishop in the Cathedral District possesses an ability called ’Rank Vision’. Because of this ability, the Priest of Fangs can be detected as soon as he approaches Tivian, which is why he has been using White Ash-rank subordinates to carry out his plans.” “This so-called Rank Vision... seems to be a detection ability specifically tailored to high-rank Beyonders. Although this ability appears to be a Red Completion-rank ability of the Lantern path, for some reason, even a Red Completion-rank Shadow Beyonder like the Priest of Fangs cannot counter it. In theory... a Lantern of the same rank shouldn’t have such overwhelming suppression over Shadow.”
“So... this Rank Vision might not necessarily be the archbishop’s own ability. It could be a mystical artifact or something else. But this item might only be usable or held by a Red Completion-rank Archbishop.”
Dorothy analyzes this. Back at Smith’s Villa, she had already witnessed the Radiance Church possessing mystical artifacts that further enhanced their detection abilities. As the largest organization in the world, their resources in mystical artifacts are unmatched by any other group.
“This Priest of Fangs... seems to have used blood to possess and take over a Shadow Facade. This isn’t his true body but a derivative. Additionally, he mentioned using some artifacts, so this derivative has somewhat circumvented Rank Vision. It seems the Eight-Spired Nest really values the documents in Barrett’s possession. Even a Red Completion-rank figure has resorted to using his mystical resources to get involved.”
“Also, this method of using blood to possess others and create derivatives is somewhat similar to Deer Skull’s Bone Curse avatar. Both use a part of their own body as a medium to create avatars or derivatives. But this old man uses blood, while Deer Skull uses bones. Feels like Deer Skull got the short end of the stick…”
“Although I don’t know how this old man plans to find the hidden room, I need to speed up regardless.”
Dorothy continues to think. She keeps monitoring the situation inside the mansion, trying to see how the newly arrived Priest of Fangs will locate the hidden room, while also controlling the male servant marionette in the hidden room to speed up the search through the documents.
At this moment, Dorothy’s bird-shaped marionette, carrying the holy symbol, has successfully removed the iron grate at the entrance of the hidden room’s ventilation shaft. Through the ventilation pipeline, the bird marionette has made its way to the surface, reaching a disguised ventilation exit outside the mansion.
However, at this exit, Dorothy’s crow marionette encounters a second iron grate. Faced with this situation, Dorothy feels a bit helpless. She can only have the bird marionette, enhanced with the Devouring Sigil, continue to claw at the grate with all its might. Fortunately, the efficiency is decent, and it won’t take long to break through.
Although the sudden appearance of a Red Completion-rank derivative to search for the hidden room is unexpected, Dorothy remains calm. Her true body is a full eight kilometers away from the mansion, so her safety is assured. All she has at the mansion are marionettes. As long as the bird marionette can break through the grate and bring back the emblem, everything will be fine.
With this in mind, Dorothy divides her attention three ways: controlling the male servant marionette to search through the documents as quickly as possible, monitoring the movements of the Eight-Spired Nest assassins inside the mansion, and guiding the bird marionette to break through the final grate.
At this moment, inside the mansion, the newly transformed Priest of Fangs begins to act.
The moment George, the Shadow Facade, is fully possessed, the consciousness of the Priest of Fangs descends into the young man’s body from a distant place. As the transformation completes, the Eight-Spired Nest assassins surrounding him feel an overwhelming sense of oppression and obedience. Including Kenk, they all immediately kneel, bowing deeply to the thin, balding old man. None dare to show any dissatisfaction or fear over George’s fate.
Many of the Eight-Spired Nest assassins present don’t recognize the old man, but they can feel the immense pressure emanating from him. Under this pressure, their minds are filled only with the desire to obey. They understand that this is the effect of the higher chapters of The Queen’s Procession.
All members of the Eight-Spired Nest have read the mystical text The Queen’s Procession. Those influenced by its cognitive poison experience varying levels of reverence depending on the chapters they’ve read. Those who have read higher chapters exert greater suppression force over those who have read lower chapters. The reverence this old man inspires is even greater than that of Kenk, so the assassins naturally understand his status. Without him saying a word, they all kneel.
Inside the mansion’s room, the Priest of Fangs remains silent in the face of the kneeling assassins. He calmly adjusts his neck, the sound of bones cracking as he adapts to his new body. After a moment, he glances around the room and slowly walks to a window, gazing out at the night view.
“Your Excellency… Priest of Fangs...”
Seeing the old man’s actions, Kenk, still kneeling, begins to speak. But at that moment, the Priest of Fangs standing by the window becomes hazy, transforming into a swarm of bats that fly out the window.
Seeing this, Dorothy is slightly startled, wondering if the noise from her bird marionette dismantling the ventilation grate outside the mansion has been detected. However, upon closer observation, she realizes the bats aren’t heading toward her bird marionette but are instead flying high above the mansion, out of sight of her marionettes inside. Dorothy quickly switches to the perspective of the marionettes outside the mansion, but due to the darkness and the bats flying too high and scattered, she still can’t see clearly.
In the night sky above Barrett’s mansion, the swarm of bats transformed from the Priest of Fangs flies rapidly, moving faster and faster. As they fly through the darkness, the bats begin to change.
Bang!
Suddenly, the flying bats begin to explode mid-air. As their flesh bursts apart, they disperse into clouds of blood mist. The crimson mist spreads through the darkness, the tiny droplets of blood merging into the air.
The red mist, formed from the bats, grows larger as it disperses. As the area of dispersion expands, the crimson color fades, becoming almost invisible to the naked eye within moments.
Once the blood mist has spread to the point of being invisible and odorless, it slowly descends from above the mansion, enveloping the entire building.
Countless tiny blood droplets, invisible to the eye, disperse throughout the mansion, seeping into every floor, every crack in the walls. The entire mansion is now shrouded in this invisible blood mist, yet no one inside notices.
“This guy turned into a swarm of bats and flew out... and now there’s no movement... What is he trying to do?”
In the distant carriage, Dorothy, observing the mansion through her marionettes, thinks to herself. The same confusion is shared by the assassins inside the mansion.
Although the Priest of Fangs has transformed into bats and flown away, the assassins remain kneeling. Many of them look around with confusion and awe, their faces filled with fear.
Silence, a deathly silence, envelops the entire mansion. This silence leaves Dorothy momentarily unsure of what to do. She can only continue monitoring the mansion, waiting for something to happen.
In this silence, outside the mansion, at the disguised ventilation exit hidden under a pile of grass, Dorothy’s bird marionette finally breaks through the last iron grate. It takes off into the dark night sky, carrying the holy symbol.
The successful escape of the bird marionette allows Dorothy to breathe a sigh of relief. At least her primary task is now complete. What she wants now is to gather more information about the Eight-Spired Nest and Barrett’s documents. With this in mind, she continues to monitor the situation inside the mansion, wanting to see how the Red Completion-rank Priest of Fangs will locate the hidden room.
The silence inside Barrett’s mansion continues for several more minutes. Although the bats have long since left, the Eight-Spired Nest assassins remain kneeling, not daring to move. Their kneeling posture hasn’t changed since the Priest of Fangs was present, and some even look more fearful than before. Seeing this, Dorothy feels a hint of confusion.
“These guys... are kneeling so obediently. Even though he’s been gone for so long, they’re still kneeling... Usually, when a strict teacher leaves the classroom, even if the students don’t start causing trouble, they’d at least relax a bit. But these guys are all still tense. It feels a bit strange…”
Using the perspective of a marionette lying on the ground, Dorothy observes the kneeling assassins. As she ponders the reason behind this odd behavior, the situation inside the mansion suddenly changes.
Red mist, a crimson blood mist, begins to materialize in the air, gradually thickening. The mist grows denser and quickly converges toward a single point, eventually forming a humanoid shape.
Under some will, the tiny blood droplets scattered throughout the mansion rapidly gather toward one point. These droplets coalesce into visible blood mist, which then condenses further into a blood humanoid. Finally, the blood humanoid sheds its crimson hue, revealing the figure of a hunched old man. The Priest of Fangs reappears before Dorothy and the assassins, causing Dorothy’s heart to skip a beat.
“Blood mist! This guy... can transform into blood mist!? So that’s what he was doing earlier…”
After the Priest of Fangs reappears, he calmly turns to face the kneeling Kenk and speaks slowly.
“Barrett’s hidden room... I’ve found it... Also...”
The Priest of Fangs speaks, and just as Kenk’s eyes light up, ready to say something, the Priest of Fangs’s gaze shifts to another direction. There, lying on the ground, is one of Dorothy’s marionettes, used to monitor the scene!
At this moment, Dorothy’s gaze meets the Priest of Fangs’s through the marionette. Dorothy’s brows furrow slightly.
“Also... I’ve found the puppet that’s been spying on you...”
Hearing the Priest of Fangs’s words, Dorothy’s heart skips a beat. She immediately tries to sever the spiritual thread connecting her to the marionette, but to her surprise, the connection won’t break.
Not only can she not sever the connection, but Dorothy also realizes she can no longer control any of the marionettes inside the mansion. It feels as though she’s trying to control living marionettes who are resisting her commands with all their might.
These marionettes... seem to have gained a will of their own! At some point, the nature of her marionettes has quietly changed.
Inside the mansion, the Priest of Fangs waves his hand lightly. The marionette he’s focused on begins to convulse violently. The flesh beneath its skin seems to melt, and a torrent of blood gushes from its orifices. The entire marionette rapidly shrivels.
In front of everyone, the corpse quickly dissolves into a pool of blood.
The pool of blood then evaporates into blood mist, flowing toward the Priest of Fangs. New droplets of blood cover his skin, merging into it as though they were always part of him.
After absorbing Dorothy’s marionette, the Priest of Fangs closes his eyes, silently gauging the spiritual threads now connected to him.
When the Priest of Fangs opens his eyes again, he slowly turns to face a specific direction—the direction where Dorothy’s true body is located.
“Now... the puppeteer controlling these puppets... has also been found…”
“Heh... Are flesh puppets fun, you self-righteous behind-the-scenes mastermind?”
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(T/N: Finally, she F*ck Around and Found Out again. Been a while since the last time Dorothy was pushed into a corner.)