Just as Lilith discovered something abnormal inside Sorren's residence, a figure seated upon the throne in the throne room slowly raised his head.
"...Have I been found out?"
As that mutter fell, the figure sitting on the throne revealed his full appearance.
Upon closer inspection, it was actually Hendrick.
Hendrick, who should have already died, was now sitting upon the throne.
However, if someone familiar with him were present, they would immediately notice that something was wrong, because the Hendrick of the past was nothing like the man sitting on the throne at this moment. Not only was his gaze incomparably sharp and full of edge, but even his tone carried an unmistakable air of dominance and authority.
"Was it Riezel Brynhart?"
Hendrick, seated upon the throne, began speaking to himself.
"It seems you've exposed yourself earlier than I expected."
A figure clad in a black robe suddenly appeared beside the throne and let out a low chuckle toward Hendrick.
"It is indeed a little early..." Hendrick said with a sneer. "If I had been given a little more time, this kingdom would have completely fallen under my control."
"What do you plan to do now?" the black-robed man asked in a frivolous tone, as though he were merely watching a show unfold. "Sit back and do nothing? Or make a move yourself?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Hendrick replied without the slightest hesitation. "Of course I'm making a move."
"Heh, as expected of you. You perfectly embody what it means to act without restraint..." the black-robed man said with a laugh. "But don't blame me for not reminding you. If the one who noticed something was that man, you won't be able to take him down so easily, you know?"
Hendrick, however, paid no attention to the black-robed man's cold warning—or rather, he had already made preparations long ago.
"Don't worry. I prepared a gift for him a long time ago..." Hendrick said as a sinister smile spread across his face. "I'm sure he'll be very pleasantly surprised."
"Fine, then I'll look forward to seeing it..."
Immediately after those words fell, the black-robed man shrugged his shoulders and vanished in a flash.
Hendrick ignored the black-robed man's departure and slowly rose from the throne.
"Heh, the good show is finally about to begin... Hahahaha..."
Accompanied by that pleased laughter, Hendrick's figure also disappeared from the throne. At the same time, a series of black shadows emerged behind him and vanished along with him in the very next instant, heading toward some unknown destination.
===
*Clang!*
Inside a spacious room, an intense clash of metal suddenly rang out, causing a surging shockwave to burst forth and send numerous pieces of furniture flying in all directions.
Lilith's figure drifted lightly through the fierce wind as she received the strike from the silent figure that had rushed straight toward her head-on, appearing remarkably relaxed and effortless throughout the exchange.
*Swish!*
As the hollow-eyed 'Sorren' failed to land the first strike, he immediately shot forward once more. With a flip of his hand, he gripped a sharp weapon resembling a claw and slashed toward Lilith.
Seeing that, the alluring smile on Lilith's face grew even wider as she slowly raised her right hand.
At this moment, that right hand had already changed in appearance.
It was no longer a fair, soft, jade-like hand. Instead, from the elbow all the way to the fingertips, it had transformed into a hideous, demonic hand. Not only was it covered in pitch-black scales, but its nails were also unusually long.
At first glance, it did not resemble a hand at all, but rather a savage-looking weapon.
In fact, Lilith used it exactly as a weapon.
*Clang!*
With an extremely swift flash of her arm, she deflected the incoming slash, causing the claw-like weapon to strike her demonic hand and collide with the hard scales, scraping out a shower of bright sparks.
Immediately afterward, her arm flashed again. As though it could pass through space itself, it reached the enemy before her at astonishing speed and landed directly on his chest.
*Pu-chi!*
Amid the tearing sound, Lilith pierced through the man's chest, her demonic hand stabbing into the place where his heart should have been.
"Hm?"
At that moment, Lilith, who had been smiling all along, revealed a look of surprise.
"No heart?"
Yes, the man before her had no heart at all.
He possessed no heart, moved as silently as a ghost, and carried a weapon that emitted cold, gloomy energy.
"Ahh, I get it now..." Lilith instantly understood and sneered. "You aren't that Mad Dog Prince. You're a magic doll."
When summoned beings were called forth by a magic caster using summoning magic, they could obtain the knowledge they needed through their spiritual connection.
Needless to say, that was also why summoned beings immediately knew what they should do after being summoned, knew who their master was and who their enemies were, and could cooperate and attack their master's opponents even without receiving direct orders from the summoner.
Thanks to that, Lilith likewise knew of the existence of magic dolls and understood who the enemies Riezel had faced in the past, and was facing now, truly were.
Hence, after Sorren's characteristics had been fully revealed, she finally understood why his life form and even his soul had seemed so strange.
Clearly, it was because he was not human at all, but a manufactured magic doll.
'Sure enough, just as Master thought, the Mad Dog Prince has joined forces with that mysterious organization.'
After confirming that point, Lilith was just about to withdraw when she was stopped by the magic doll before her.
With the mask on his face having fallen away, both of the magic doll's hands suddenly grabbed Lilith's arm that had pierced into his chest, preventing her from pulling it away.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
At that exact instant, a series of air-piercing sounds rushed in from all directions—they were none other than the sounds of magic dolls charging toward them.
Evidently, they had hidden themselves nearby, and taking advantage of the moment when Sorren's substitute restrained Lilith, they launched a sudden assault.
Attacks emitting cold, gloomy energy came from every direction at once—some stabbing, some slashing, some chopping, and some sweeping, all converging on her simultaneously.
"Hellfire Wall."
Just as she was about to be struck by the dangerous weapons wielded by the magic dolls, Lilith calmly cast her magic.
*BOOM!*
In an instant, a burst of black flames appeared out of thin air, surging upward from beneath the ground and forming a towering wall around Lilith and Sorren's substitute.
Regardless, the surrounding magic dolls charged into the black flames without slowing down in the slightest. Yet in the very next second, groans of pain and sharp screams rang out one after another as they leaped back out of the flames in panic.
Even though there were no burn marks on their bodies and no obvious external injuries, the moment they touched those black flames, these magic dolls—who had already lost their sense of pain and should not have been capable of suffering—actually groaned and screamed in agony.
It couldn't be helped.
Hellfire Wall produced black flames that did not inflict external injuries. Instead, they directly burned the target's soul.
Even though magic dolls did not know what pain was, they were not completely lifeless objects either. They were combat puppets modified from human bodies, capable of communicating with one another and unifying their consciousness. As such, they could barely be considered living beings.
When beings like them came into contact with the flames of hell that directly burned the soul, it was no different from having their souls burned alive, so they naturally still felt the searing pain.
Thanks to that, Lilith's magic successfully halted the advance of the magic dolls.
At the same time, she raised her other hand and transformed it into a hideous demonic hand as well.
*Pu-chi!*
Lilith then stabbed the demonic hand of her left arm into Sorren's substitute before her. Immediately afterward, she exerted force with both hands and forcibly tore him apart, ripping his body into two halves.
No matter how one looked at it, the scene was both bloody and evil.
"What a shame. No heart..."
Lilith muttered with considerable regret, her voice sending a chill through anyone who heard it.
Bathed in a rain of blood, not a single drop managed to stain her body.
It gave people the feeling that the woman standing before them was the most evil creature in the world, making them instinctively want to turn around and flee.
Faced with such a terrifying enemy, even the heartless magic dolls who knew no fear seemed to be intimidated.
"...Dangerous."
"...Cannot be fought head-on."
"...Retreat."
"...Agreed."
All the magic dolls communicated with one another through vibrations in the air, and after a brief exchange, they all retreated sharply at the same time.
Lilith naturally had no intention of allowing them to leave.
"Hell Flame."
Lilith activated her magic once again without any hesitation, extending her sharp, demonic finger and causing a trace of black flame to appear at its tip, which looked as though it could be extinguished by a single breath.
In the next second, she released it, and under her control, it shot forward at astonishing speed, reaching the retreating magic doll in the blink of an eye before landing directly on his body.
*BOOM!*
As soon as the faint black flame touched the magic doll, an explosive burning sound erupted.
In less than the blink of an eye, the black flame expanded violently, engulfing his entire body as it blazed fiercely. As though even space itself could be burned away, the black flame seemed capable of directly incinerating a person's soul, causing the magic doll to let out a miserable scream on the spot.
Immediately afterward, the screaming magic doll was burned out of existence, as though he had never been there at all.
Not even a speck of ash remained behind.
"!!!"
Witnessing the miserable fate of their companion, every magic doll froze for an instant before immediately turning around and rushing toward the exits at top speed.
"Widen Magic - Hellfire Wall."
Lilith raised her brows and immediately summoned a massive black wall of fire that surrounded the entire room.
Whether it was the main door, the windows, or even the walls on every side, black walls of fire appeared out of thin air and began burning fiercely, completely sealing off every possible escape route.
"!!!"
Knowing full well that those black flames could threaten them, the magic dolls naturally did not dare charge through recklessly and could only stop in place.
"Heehee..."
Only then did Lilith's laughter ring out, echoing throughout the room engulfed in black flames.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave."
"Since you've already made a move, why don't you stay and play with me?"
"While you don't have hearts, and I have no interest in you at all, if I can capture you, my master will surely be happy, right?"
"For my master's sake, I'll have to trouble you to stay here, okay?"
Hearing that cruel and bloodthirsty laughter, the magic dolls unconsciously tightened their grip on the weapons in their hands.
On this day, they experienced a miracle.
Something long buried within them was awakened.
What awakened was the deepest and most instinctive fear hidden within their hearts from when they had still been human.
===
[Master...]
[Master...]
[Can you hear me? Master...]
In his sleep, Riezel vaguely heard a somewhat familiar voice slowly trying to wake him.
"Huhh... who is it?"
He tightly furrowed his brows, rarely showing a trace of displeasure.
As for why, this sleep had probably been the most comfortable and peaceful sleep he had enjoyed since obtaining the Dimensional Magic Cube and crossing into another world, so being awakened under such circumstances, he naturally could not help but feel somewhat irritated at having his rest disturbed.
[I apologize for disturbing your rest, Master.]
Perhaps having sensed the displeasure in Riezel's tone, the voice that rang directly inside his mind immediately spoke with fear and sincerity.
[I will withdraw at once.]
After saying that, the other party was prepared to cut off the communication.
Only then did Riezel recognize the owner of the voice.
[Wait... is that you, Lilith?]
Riezel asked through his mind with a slight frown, the last traces of sleepiness quickly fading from his mind.
[It is indeed me, Master.]
Lilith's respectful voice immediately rang out through Message.
[I am currently using Message to report the situation on my side. I did not expect to disturb your rest while doing so. For such an offense, I truly deserve death.]
Even through the magical communication, her tone remained as respectful and apologetic as ever.
[It's fine. I'm the one who told you to let me know if anything happened. What's going on? Did something happen?]
Riezel relaxed his tightly furrowed brows and pressed a hand against his temple.
[Yes...]
Lilith hesitated for a moment before continuing in a low voice.
[Following your order, I came to the residence of Third Prince Sorren Jinas and began monitoring him.]
[But just now, I discovered something.]
[At present, the third prince residing in this residence is not the man himself, but a substitute disguised through a magic doll.]
Upon hearing that, Riezel's still slightly hazy consciousness cleared completely.
[A substitute?]
Riezel opened his eyes fully in surprise and abruptly sat up.
As he did so, the blanket covering his body slid down and fell off the bed.
Many pieces of clothing were scattered across the floor beside it in complete disarray.
"...Master?"
Just then, the beautiful young woman sleeping beside Riezel was also startled awake. Rubbing her eyes, she sleepily tried to prop herself up.
"Hm?"
On the other side, another woman, far more mature than the former, was likewise awakened, her wine-red eyes slowly opening as she looked toward Riezel with a confused expression.
Both women were in an indescribable state at this moment. Not only were they completely bare, but their bodies were also covered with various marks.
"It's nothing."
Seeing that they had awakened, Riezel quickly reached out and stroked Lizbeth's and Euryale's heads, soothing the two women who had unfortunately fallen into the wolf's mouth.
"You two should keep sleeping."
Riezel comforted the women beside him in a gentle voice he had never used before.
"Mm..."
They seemed extremely tired, and their minds had yet to fully clear. Under Riezel's soothing, they quickly relaxed and drifted back into a deep sleep.
Riezel beckoned with his hand, and the blanket on the floor instantly flew up, landed in his grasp, and was gently draped over the two women.
Looking at the two women with an especially gentle gaze, he closed his eyes once more and began communicating with Lilith through Message.
[Explain the details to me carefully.]
[Yes!]
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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