Chapter 184

Chapter 184

Luzark’s expression was full of concern.

“Well...”

Pandora was hesitant to answer his inquiry. Just then, an eerie sight came into both Roxana’s and the Red Heir’s view. A group of unknown individuals turned the corner of the hallway just behind Pandora. Their movements, however, were quite unnatural. Their bodies also appeared to be covered in dark-brown splotches.

Creeeak.

Strange sounds also issued from the approaching group. Roxana felt a sudden rush of cold alertness, which she surmised was the realization that she had seen the creatures once before. The instant the recognition registered in her mind, her survival instincts blared like war trumpets inside her mind.

Luzark’s purple eyes widened as he took note of something unsettling and hollered for her to do the same. “Behind you, Miss Fip—!”

The blue-haired woman looked back after having sensed the disturbance on her own.

Whoosh!

In that same instant, one of the brown-spotted individuals lunged forward toward her while raising their arm in order to slash a diagonal line across her exposed torso.

“What th—?!”

Slash!

Thanks to the heightened dexterity she had honed while traveling from one demon monster habitat to another, the Fipellion woman managed to dodge the attack reflexively. Unfortunately, roughly half the length of her light-blue hair was sliced off in the midst of her maneuver and left to float through the air before her coal-black eyes. There was no doubt in the Agrece’s mind at that point that they were standing mere feet away from a horde of Vertium warrior puppets.

But what are they doing here?

Even as the creatures continued their advance, she still knew there were far more pressing matters at hand, and therefore could not spare another second pondering what the answer to that question might be. The warrior doll once again attacked Pandora. Without a moment’s delay, Roxana withdrew her hair ornament.

“Wh-what is the meaning of this?! Just who are you?! Do you have any idea who you’re atta—?!”

“Miss Fipellion, get down!”

Crack!

Within mere seconds of leaving her fingertips, the ornament swung with swift precision to pierce the center of the puppet’s forehead. Unfortunately, the mechanical creature’s blade had also managed to slice one of the stone pillars behind Pandora.

“Argh!”

Both she and Luzark were shocked at the deadly accuracy with which the beautiful woman had thrown a mere hair accessory, as well as at her readiness to strike someone dead without a moment’s hesitation. Roxana, however, was the only one of the three who understood that she had merely delayed an impending horror.

Her head was already abuzz with a cluster of colliding signals from her poison butterflies. The puppet with the pierced forehead halted momentarily while tilting its head. But as she expected, that was all it did.

Fwick.

Fwick.

Fwick.

Fwick.

In an instant, the other puppets that had been marching by without taking notice of the trio simultaneously turned their heads toward the three. The one Roxana had attacked merely continued to stare at them as it stood in place.

“Good heavens...”

Both the Fipellion and the Castro whimpered at the inexplicable sight unfolding before them. Then as if on cue, the dolls commenced their assault.

The Agrece woman withdrew every hidden knife and adornment from her sleeves that she could while hurriedly sending messages back to her butterflies.

* * *

“Don’t let them get any further inside!”

“Yes, sir!”

Cassis was in the thick of what could only be described as pure carnage. Both injured knights and attendants were sprawled this way and that while groaning in utter agony. Quite a few weren’t even showing any signs of life.

In a mere hour, the once peaceful Yggdrasil castle had become engulfed in nightmarish chaos. The scene was akin to a playground in that the grounds were filled with a number of its guests trying to flee as others relentlessly pursued them with the intent to kill. Had it not been for the cautious nature of Pedelian forces on patrol that morning, the threat would have been discovered much later and the current hellscape would have been far bloodier.

“Get into position, men! Ready... CHARGE!”

The Blue Knights moved swiftly and without delay on the Blue Heir’s command.

“Aaaah!”

“H-h... Help me!”

Shwng.

The invaders had made their way to Yggdrasil without almost anyone noticing them. It wasn’t until reaching the castle grounds that they encountered the foolishly helpful attendant who they had perceived as an “obstacle” on their path. They even began to pursue those who sought to escape by cutting them down with their weaponized limbs.

With their every step, the ground was left soaked with the blood of their victims while the air was heavy with screams of horror and agony. Although they had managed to enter the neutral territory in humanoid form, they were as far from being human as the demon monsters they had slain at the border. It was a scene Cassis had already seen back in the Gold lands.

“These are Noel Vertium’s puppets!”

He grit his teeth the moment their true identities dawned on him. Armed with the realization of who they were up against, the Blue Heir marched forward to give his men orders on how to at least stop the dolls from leaving the area. They could not sit back and allow the creatures to advance while awaiting the return of the knights who had gone to the castle armory for more weapons.

It was apparent that directly in front of them stood well over a hundred combatants with blades and spears for limbs. Not one of them apart from their captain and lieutenant could have imagined that such an army had been hiding away in Vertium. Moreover, how they had managed to march all the way to Yggdrasil from the Gold lands without a single alarm sounding was an even greater mystery.

Was that ominous aura hanging over Yggdrasil not a by-product of the demonic beasts that tried to rampage yesterday?

A wave of desperate screams immediately snapped Cassis back to his senses like the raging sounds of the sea crashing into a shore. Those who had chanced coming out to see the cause of all the commotion turned right back around in pale fear of the emotionless aggressors.

“Aaah!”

Cassis pushed aside an attendant who had been less than an inch away from getting stabbed by one of the puppets’ weapons. He then channeled his strength into his fist and smashed the creature’s head in.

It convulsed somewhat violently while creating even more eerie, metallic sounds. However, unlike the run-of-the-mill demon monsters, the dolls simply refused to roll over and die.

The Blue Heir’s golden eyes appeared overcast by a dark cloud as his attacks seemed ineffective against the things that were neither alive nor dead.

“Remove... obstacles...”

The one he had just walloped continued to spasm while repeating those same words in a sluggish manner. That at least suggested it had sustained minor damage.

Whoosh!

He then twisted the creature’s spear-like limb as it lunged toward him, before driving it through his assailant’s jaw. The weapon was left protruding out of the crown of the doll’s head where it remained lodged in place. However, even with its head impaled, the puppet whipped its remaining arm through the air in a vertical, slicing motion.

Just as the Blue Heir parried the attack, the doll managed to slash through another of its fellow creations as it attempted to flank the Pedelian’s side. The now entangled puppets moved in sluggish unison.

“Stop them!”

“They’re getting inside!”

Before the knights could act, several more puppets had managed to break through the castle’s defensive line and were making their way further onto the grounds. Without proper weapons, it was impossible to stop the intruders from advancing. On top of that, their sheer number suggested it would only be a matter of time before they would overwhelm the humans.

To their collective relief, those who had left for the armory returned just in the nick of time. Cassis quickly gave them orders to hold the line before turning back to assess the approaching enemies. To his surprise, he felt a sudden prick on his left hand, which caused him to lower his golden gaze. One of Roxana’s butterflies had perched itself on his hand and was flapping its wings. It was one of the few signals the young couple had agreed to use in case of an emergency within the castle walls.

To receive such an alert at a time like this can only mean...

He grit his teeth once again as the meaning of her message immediately set in. He knew that she was still an Agrece and was therefore not so feeble as to require his protection. Instead, he needed to focus on completing the task she had already entrusted to him. Nevertheless, he couldn’t curtail the invisible grappling match within himself between his reason and his emotions.

Her butterfly left a scarlet trajectory in its wake as it flew away from him. He winced once before reopening his eyes and preparing for his unit’s advance.