"Can you put me down now?" Davi grunted out.
"It's faster if I carry you!" Tori announced.
"I highly doubt that…"
Tori went to say something but was interrupted when a stray spell flew her way. It was a bolt of blood, but she luckily jumped back, dragging Sieg and Davi with her, the attack missing all of them. The blood bolt pierced through a building and sliced it in two, causing it to collapse.
Tori frowned and wrinkled her nose. "Blood magic? Someone dares to use blood magic before me."
"Hello!" From the rubble of a building, a figure stood up. He wore a white suit, which was somehow spotless, and his arm was back, the sleeve repaired. His head was that of a young ginger-headed boy with wide, flower-like eyes. "I need to kill that black-haired man. Could you give him to me? Please?"
Tori scoffed and placed Davi and Sieg down. Her lance, which had been following her through the air, suddenly placed itself into her hand as she grasped it. "So, you were the one who almost ruined my plans?"
"Your plans-" A bolt of light suddenly pierced straight through Bloom's body, blasting him into the side of a building.
Smoke began to flow off the tip of Tori's lance, and she began to walk forward at a slow pace. "You made several errors," Tori called out. "You picked the wrong side, you were born with an ugly type of magic, you reek of mutant-kind, you tried to destroy my hard-earned plans, and the worst crime of all, you've pissed me off." Tori's body ignited in a bright golden light, which then began to shift into thick flames. "For your crimes, I, the Lance of Victory, shall strike you down."
Bloom let out a chuckle and began to tear his way out of the building he had been rammed into. Blood gushed down his neck as his head rolled off, and a new one, this one of a bald man, took its place. "Oh, I smell the blood of royalty all over you. That head is so pretty; I really want it." He placed his hand over the wound in his stomach, then he brought it up to his face, smearing the blood across it. "You'll look so pretty on my neck."
Tori blinked. "I'm going to kill you now."
"I love strong women-"
"Stop talking!"
Bloom lifted his hand. "Vil Blood Petals." His blood flowed out and took the shape of several razor-sharp flower petals, which all spun through the air so fast they began to twist the wind around them. They worked like jagged blades and tore their way at Tori, but the Lance of Victory was someone who made fighting powerful monsters her day job, and something like this wouldn't be enough. She used a Mana Step and got several feet back, dodging the blades, which tore the ground she had been standing on to bits. "Row Blood Bolt."
Another bolt of blood launched her way, but lazily, Tori blocked it with her lance. She then countered by pointing her weapon at Bloom. Her Knight Gear glowed, and the spell imbued within activated. Another reason Knight Gear was so feared was due to the fact that it didn't need the user to announce a spell to activate the one imbued within it.
Bloom was unable to react as an unseen force wrapped its way across his body. He grunted as he felt several invisible hands grip his flesh and limbs, holding him in place. He tried to move, but the hands only grew tighter and began to bind their way across his chest and neck.
While that happened, Tori's fire spilled out across her weapon, and it compressed into a ball at the end of her lance. "Vil Fire Ball."
Her attack rippled out and burned its way toward Bloom, destroying the ground and melting through stone. Bloom was unable to dodge as the attack smashed into him, and unlike Adam, he lacked the ability to simply tear apart fire with his bare hands.
The flames consumed the spot he was at, and he raised his mana to its max. When it reached its peak, he was able to snap out of the bindings on his body, and he forced his way out of the flames. He came stumbling out, his suit burned away, as well as most of his flesh, revealing jagged black bones that were made of twigs and an ash-covered skull where his head was.
The skull fell off his neck, and it shattered as it hit the ground. A moment later, more heads began to appear, all floating in the air. One of them, a silver-haired woman, pressed down onto Bloom's neck, and it mended itself onto his body.
Blood started to flow out of the neck, and it coated the rest of his burnt form. The red shimmered, and then it began to bend and twist into flesh. Bloom stood, now as a naked woman, her body having fully changed, and the silver-haired lady's eyes opened, revealing the flower-like pattern. A moment later, Bloom snapped, and her white suit formed back, materializing out of nowhere and covering her body.
"You destroyed one of my collections." Bloom's voice was soft and feminine now. "That was Cezvic. He was a warrior from Gallenth. Not a member of their silly Philosophers, but still a powerful soldier. I liked his head a lot." She reached up and rubbed her neck, which was still bleeding. "Now you owe me your head for taking one of mine."
Tori raised her eyebrow, and then she gazed up toward the sky, which was filled with the severed heads. They all floated up there, hundreds of them, their eyes all closed, and streams of blood endlessly dripping out of them. In a way, they looked like some sort of twisted balloon.
"So, you heal when a new head takes its place. Your body adapts to the head and becomes a new one for it. That means no matter how much I damage you, you'll be able to survive by simply switching heads. What kind of mutant are you?" She frowned but then shrugged. "Honestly, I don't actually care. If that's how your power works, beating you should be easy."
"Oh?" Bloom's smirk grew. "And why is that?"
Tori lifted her lance and pointed it at Bloom. Then she raised it further. "Row Light Bolt." A golden bolt of energy slammed into one of the floating heads, and brain matter dropped from the sky as it popped. Bloom's eyes widened in horror, and Tori aimed at another one. "Row Light Bolt. Row Light Bolt. Row Light Bolt-"
"Stop it! Those are mine!" Bloom charged at her, using a Mana Step. The woman appeared in front of Tori and struck out with a swipe, pure mana twisting around her hand. Tori dodged to the side and struck out with her lance, but Bloom created a shield of blood roses that blocked the attack.
Tori used her own Mana Step to get several meters away and then launched a Light Bolt, followed quickly by a Fire Ball, which soared into the air and took out two more heads.
Bloom's eye twitched, and the woman gave a nasty smirk. "You're really starting to piss me off."
"As a wise man once said, it's better to be pissed off than pissed on," Tori said proudly.
"What?"
"Your weakness is so easy to abuse." Tori sneered at the mutant. "You lost this fight the moment you brought all those heads out. Once I'm done wiping them all out, you won't be able to regenerate anymore. Then I'll put you down like the rabid dog you are."
Bloom stopped and got a confused look. Then her eyes lit up, and she began to laugh. "Wait? You think these are the only heads I have?"
Tori suddenly looked a little nervous. "Oh? So you have a few more?"
"Of course I do." Bloom held her hand out, and one of the heads, this one of an elderly man with a long white beard, floated down and allowed her to pet it. "These are just a few of my collection pieces. Most of them are low-tier, but I still love them. Especially this one." She stopped patting the old man's head and instead reached up to stroke her own face. "This head was a woman named Vex. She was the queen of her own little castle. So sweet and pretty, yet she held a dark secret. She really loved maidens. So much so, she'd lock them away and play with them until they broke. I was so happy when I forced her into one of the grinders. I only needed her head, so I shoved her in feet-first and let it spin! Now look at me. I'm as pretty as Vex."
Tori closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "You're one psychotic freak. So, how many heads do you have?"
Bloom kept rubbing her face and giggled harder. "Like I'd tell you. I'll give you a hint, though. The number is five digits."
Tori stepped away in shock. "F-Five digits? That would be ten thousand?"
"Ten thousand precious identities that belong to me! What you see before you is only a drop in the bucket!"
"You horrible monster!" Tori snarled, and her eyes began to glow as her mana flowed out. "You're going to die here! The Lance of Victory will strike you down!"
Bloom reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a rusty saw. She lifted it until it was level with Tori's neck. "I'm going to become the Lance of Victory! I'm so giddy right now."
Tori growled. "Get ready, Davi. I'll show you real magic!" Then silence descended upon the battlefield. "...Davi?" Tori turned to where she left the two men. Sieg and Davi were now gone.
"Those two ran off the moment the battle began," Bloom said sheepishly.
Tori's eye twitched. "I see. Then I should kill you now and catch up with him."
"Bring it!"
***
Susie Nyx was having a really long day. First, the man she hated most of all showed up, then she lost to him, and she wasn't able to convince everyone that he was the monster who murdered her father. After losing to Davi, she gave up and was ready to die. After all, so much suffering had happened to her and those she cared about. Even now, her people were suffering.
She stood next to her friend Hannah and watched the puppets get even closer to them. The guards were failing to hold them all back, the horde proving to be too strong.
Two Arcane Knights, Pretty Face and Pock, arrived, and the two did make a sizable dent in the horde, but they were now both fighting Inyeon, who was easily dodging between them and swinging her blade of nuclear energy.
Pock was doing everything he could to block or absorb the explosions with his zipper magic while Pretty Face fired off various wind spells at the naked doll but wasn't able to hit her.
The danger was nothing compared to the Lord of Threads, however. He was no longer in Inyeon's embrace, and instead, he walked toward Susie at a brisk pace. One arm was behind his back while the other would point, and a wave of razor-sharp wires would tear dozens of guards and civilians apart.
Alice also stood next to Susie and struggled with her barriers, casting them over and over again. She was running low on mana, though, after using her healing spell on herself, and now her body was starting to lag, and her energy was drying up.
The remaining crowd of Daisy, including the guards, were now behind Alice and her servant Suits, praying the one's mana would hold out long enough for more Knights to arrive.
They had tried to call for help, but the dungeon in the sky caused the signal to not exist, making it impossible to radio for help, even though they were out of the town.
As the Lord of Threads kept getting closer and closer to the crowd of innocent people, one brave guard jumped at the Lord of Threads and swung down with a sword, but the elder man grabbed him by the throat and smashed him down.
"The human body is fascinating." Blood spilled out as the Lord of Threads shoved his hand into the guard's stomach. The guard screamed and thrashed, but the lord remained calm and easily began to pull out various organs and snap bones. "The body works as one big machine. Nerves and muscles form over bones and the organs, particularly the brain, which operate the body by inputting a series of complex commands. Rossum isn't very tech-savvy, but ever since I was a young boy, I always loved the idea of robots and machines. Gallenth is full of them, and the secrets to building large-scale giants remain locked behind their walls. Not even I can make a Titan, but that doesn't mean I can't make my own machines. Of course, the parts I use are not traditional, and many scholars would frown upon my method."
The Lord of Thread's hands glowed, becoming an inky black, and they then began to pour out an oil-like substance, which coated the now dead guard.
Susie watched in horror as the man's flesh began to shift and change. His face slid off his body, melting away, as did his hair, and wood began to form over him. Joints twisted, and from the hole in his stomach, dozens of threads flowed out of the Lord's fingers, forming new nerves and mana circuits, which allowed the newly created puppet to rise.
It lacked the weapons the other puppets had on them. It had no blades, or guns, or plasma rays, and was instead a smooth and blank doll. One that had once been a person.
The Lord of Threads looked back at Susie. "This is what I'm going to do to you."
Susie's face paled. "Y-You're going to turn me into a puppet?" She took a nervous step back and dragged Hannah with her.
The Lord of Threads stroked his beard and let out a hum. "Indeed. I won't be doing the exact same process, though. These ones are just blank dolls. I convert the body into wood and fill it with my mana, bending it to my will, and then later I can attach weapons to it. Doing this makes a weak soldier, however. They aren't very clever, and they aren't that strong either. You, my dear, will become a Face Puppet."
"A-A Face Puppet?"
"Yes. It's a different process. A lot more hands-on. It is a lot slower as well. Instead of turning a corpse into a wooden doll, I slowly turn a living being into one—bit by bit. I start with the organs that aren't needed and replace them. After that, we move on to your bones and nerves. Then the important organs and your muscles. Lastly, I'll replace your flesh with a layer of wood and carve out parts of your brain, replacing them with some of my finest circuits. You'll look the same, you'll have your Core, and in some ways, you might even still be alive in there, watching, but it won't be you in the driver's seat. Doesn't that sound fun?"
"Y-You're sick!" Susie screamed, and she charged up a golden orb of energy, launching it at the Lord, but with a casual flick of his wrist, his threads tore it apart.
"Of course I'm sick." The puppet master muttered. "This world makes sick people. It takes pretty and innocent things, and it grinds them up and spits them out as horrible monsters. That's why I won't stop no matter what. Not until I get 'her' back." He tugged so hard on his head that he nearly ripped a section out. "If this world is cruel and evil, then I will be the being of absolute despair that thrives within it." He then gave a grin. "Listen up, all of you, if you want to live, hand that woman over."
"What!" Susie's eyes widened in fear. "He's lying!"
"I'm not." The Lord of Threads gazed at the crowd. "All you have to do is give in to despair and hand her to me. When I have her, I'll take my forces and go. So I swear."
Susie felt a hollow fear in her gut. She turned to Hannah, whose eyes were wide and afraid, and then she looked to Alice, who was still trying to shield her. She could feel the eyes of Daisy's residence on her back, and she whimpered.
"Well?" The Lord of Threads frowned when none of the remaining civilians moved. "What are you all waiting for?"
"That's not going to happen…" Someone finally said.
"What?" The Lord of Threads actually looked shocked, and he stared at the guard who had been brave enough to speak.
Several of the other guards nodded, as did a few of the civilians. "You've already destroyed our homes and killed our people; we have no reason to trust your word." A guard spat out.
"Not to mention, that's Susie Nyx you're asking for. She is the daughter of Garon Nyx!" Another guard announced. "I served under him. He was a kind and just man who wouldn't hurt a fly. He did nothing wrong and always helped us out when we needed it. How could I look him in the eyes when I arrive on the other side, knowing I let something happen to his daughter?"
"We're not going to let you take any of us."
"Even if Daisy isn't able to recover, even if this is the end for our town, Daisy will do what it always has always done and hold out for as long as possible." The baron himself declared and then tapped his cane down. "If you want one of our own, then you'd better be prepared to kill us all. We've already suffered and lost loved ones. Even if it's just time, we'll ensure you lose something as well."
The Lord of Threads squeezed his eyes closed. "Han Yuan, I hate places like this. A community pretending that they're all connected and care for one another. Bullshit. Such feelings do not exist within this world!" He lifted his hand, and mana flowed out, forming into razor-sharp wire. With a twist of his finger, it launched and-
"You're fucking dead!" A flaming fist slammed into the old man's face, halting his attack and sending him rocketing through a horde of his puppets. Ken Yuan landed on all fours and roared, more fire flowing off of her as she tore her way toward her prey, ripping any doll that dared to stand before her! "I'll kill you! Vil Flame Claws!" Flames stabbed out of fingertips, but her attack had no effect on the Lord, bouncing off his flesh as she tried to shove him into the ground.
The Lord of Thread's eyes narrowed, and he used a Mana Step, flickering to the side. He studied Ken with a mildly intrigued gaze. The rest of his army was off to the side helping Inyeon fight the two Knights and remaining guards, so he was on his own. "Oh? You again? Didn't I kill you?"
"Row Flame Bolt!" Ken clasped her hands together and launched a beam of fire toward the elderly man, but he slapped it away.
"Yes, we did fight, but I guess you had some trait. Maybe I should have taken you when I had the chance. You could make a good puppet. Oh, your friend was also someone who could have been a good puppet, but she tore her own body apart so I wouldn't get any use out of it-"
Ken kicked off the ground as hard as she could. "I'll rip you apart!"
The Lord of Threads looked amused. "Oh, I know that angry-eyed look anywhere. Did I happen to kill someone you loved?" Without warning, he appeared before Ken and poked her so hard in the stomach that he blew a small hole through her body. Her eyes widened, and she spat up blood but didn't stop and punched him in the face. This time, he took the blow, reinforcing himself with mana, and her hand nearly exploded on impact. "You're mad I killed that woman, aren't you?"
Ken struck out with her other hand, but it also shattered. She growled and then bit at his neck, attempting to sink her teeth into his flesh, but even that failed, and her mouth filled with more blood, her teeth breaking.
"Emotions are a precious thing." The Lord of Thread's tone became softer. Almost apologetic as he stared at Ken with pity. "The more you care about people, the more it hurts when they leave this world." His look then grew rigid. "I should know better than anyone. After all, the Yuan clan killed everyone I ever held dear." He struck out again, smashing an elbow into Ken's face, and she went crashing through the forest. "I won't be showing your kind any mercy."
The Lord of Threads was about to walk toward the injured woman, but before he could, he felt a shift in the mana.
"Row Blood Bolt!" He took a step to the side just in time, a red beam of liquid flying past his head. Olivia stood dozens of meters away from him and had her wand out. "Row Blood Bolt!" She used it again, and the Lord of Threads tensed up, ready for another one, but it never came. Instead, the bolt he had dodged earlier glowed and fired out a second attack directly behind him, smashing into his shoulder.
Thanks to his mana, he remained mostly undamaged but did hiss in pain and looked at his shoulder wound, which was now smoking. "Her blood burns? Wait, a blood mage? What are you-"
Ken smashed her leg, fully healed, into his side, and she kicked the man away. "Liv! Get the hell out of here!"
"No!" Olivia shook her head. "I can help!" Well, she said it confidently enough, but her body was shaking, and she felt tired since she used two blood spells back-to-back. One more, and then she'd be forced to use Polymorph.
"Oh?" The Lord of Threads stood back up. "What's this? Do you care for someone else, Yuan? Interesting."
"Run, Olivia!"
The Lord of Threads used a Mana Step and appeared next to Olivia, about to strike down at her, but she dropped to her knees and ducked her head down. "Vil Ice Shard!" Bruno suddenly appeared, using a Mana Step of his own, and fired over the downed Olivia, smashing his attack right into the body of the Lord of Thread. "Vil Ice Cell!" Ice spread out and encased the puppet master, freezing him in place. "There. That should buy us a few moments." Bruno grinned.
Olivia rushed over to Ken, running by the frozen Lord of Threads. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but you need to get out of here." Ken shook her head. "That guy hates me and won't hesitate to kill you just to spite me."
"Pretty sure he'd try to kill me no matter what," Olivia said flatly. "Look, I'm not going anywhere. We're going to fight this guy."
"But-"
"No buts!" Olivia turned back to the Lord as the ice began to crack, and he broke his way out. "You can't beat him on his own. So we're going to help you."
"Do you really think you and that guy over there are enough?" Ken grunted.
Olivia smirked right as the Lord fully broke out. "Who said it was just Bruno and I?"
The Lord of Threads shattered the ice and swung his arm, firing off a wave of razor wire, but suddenly Davi appeared directly in front of Ken and Olivia. He swung his blade out and tore through the wires thanks to Storymaker, right as Sieg came crashing down. Both of them were donned in their armor once again, and Sieg had even managed to heal himself.
"Olivia is right." Davi looked over his shoulder and gave Ken a small nod. "I don't know what history you and this guy have, but you don't have to fight him alone. We'll do it together."
Ken blinked, stunned for a moment, before she eventually sighed and gave a smile. "Right. I forgot everyone in this guild is insane and suicidal. Fine. Let's all die together as we fight the Lord of Threads."
"That's the spirit!" Olivia said happily. "Teamwork!"
"Teamwork," Davi said flatly and raised his sword. "Woo."
A five on one. Five Squires versus one of history's greatest warriors. This was the battle that was about to begin.