LotM: Surviving as a Marionette

"I think I have nothing that requires cooperation with you." A cold voice rang out.

Don hadn't yet made any move when, after hearing this sentence from his father, shrill laughter came from the marionette's side.

That voice stirred emotions, and even through a layer of marionette separation, it made Don feel as if his recent anger was inflating like a balloon.

Under attack—no, it was simply the release of divine power.

Don made a decisive decision, wanting to cut off the Spirit Body Thread's control over this Wraith marionette.

As long as the 'Bionic Marionette' module was there, temporarily cutting off the Spirit Body Thread's control wouldn't be a problem even if he wasn't a Bizarro Sorcerer.

Mid to high-Sequence Beyonders of the Abyss pathway were all experts at manipulating others' emotions and leading others into corruption.

When dealing with such creatures, one must maintain emotional stability and never let the devil find any weakness.

Like now.

The marionette under Don's control had also been exposed due to the sudden surge of emotions, giving the Devil a handle to grasp.

Marionettes shouldn't have their own emotions or thoughts, but with Don manipulating this marionette, he became the one affected.

"Hahaha, Death Consul, a Death Consul actually showing mercy to these ants—Salinger really chose the wrong person."

"No, He didn't choose wrong."

The sharp laughter immediately subsided, like a death serpent hiding its venomous fangs. The cold, icy feeling made one's scalp tingle even through the marionette.

The Demon looked at the man before him with bronze-colored skin, cold yet lofty, like a deity.

"I underestimated Him... Oh, a marionette? A Beyonder of the Seer pathway actually managed to hide a marionette beside the Death Consul?"

"You value him greatly. Who is he? Your friend? Your relative? Or your child?"

"Salinger indeed acted rather unethically, splitting his own child's soul to bear part of His resurrection contingency."

"But—"

Frenzied ravings seemed to come with the other party's words, with the other party's cadenced voice, transmitted through hearing into the marionette, into Don's ears.

That was mental contamination.

Too late.

The System's warning sounded. Don closed his eyes, preparing for his Spirit Body to leave his physical body, ascending in rank to resist the contamination.

With his own high position, while in Spirit Body state, even without obtaining divinity, Don had certain resistance to contamination below his own rank—he wouldn't go mad, nor would he be on the verge of losing control.

The contamination spreading through the Spirit Body Threads wasn't much, but it all originated from some extraordinary source of contamination.

A vessel for divine descent... This wasn't an ability a Demon should have, but something that belonged to a true deity, to the true Abyss.

A deity mad beyond imagination—He had poured down more power than imagined.

But he had a higher rank than these contaminations!

At this moment, a hand reached from outside a pocket, grasping the gold coin hidden within the clothing pocket.

Just as he was about to leave his body and resist contamination with his Spirit Body, Don felt some powerful force enveloping this gold coin, making all sounds and all sights become obscured.

Along with it, those contaminations that should have rushed over along the Spirit Body Threads fell into dead silence, into slumber.

The Demon's power appeared no more. All senses from the marionette's side were shielded by his father.

The gold coin was covered. Azik Eggers withdrew his hand from his pocket and extended it outward, palm upward, as if holding up something.

Light appeared in his hand.

It was dim, decaying light.

Countless rays of light twisted into clusters, bursting forth successively.

All things around, anything touched by that dim radiance, were decaying, rotting, entering the final path of all living beings.

Flowers would wither, living beings would die, and even 'existence' itself, under the guidance of this light, uncontrollably fell into the bottomless river of nothingness, sinking into death's eternal slumber.

At this moment, the Underworld and Spirit World—countless rich hues burst forth successively. The Underworld actually descended into the real world for an instant!

It would ferry the dead, freeing all spiritual beings around from the shackles of their bodies, leading them to the realm of the deceased.

Death pathway Sequence 2, the Death Consul who once ruled the Balam Empire, child of Underworld Emperor Salinger—he, no, He himself represented the absolute power of this pathway.

Standing deep within overlapping layers of rich colors, Azik Eggers looked at the Demon not far away and raised his hand again.

The Demon raised his head. His face already showed traces of decay, and countless feathers stained with yellow filth grew from those rotting wounds.

A Sequence 2 who had recovered all his memories was not someone a vessel for divine descent, a mere Sequence 4 Demon, could defile!

Under the gaze of those brown, indifferent eyes, his body rapidly expanded, as if trying desperately to escape.

Azik Eggers tightened his hand, grasping that cluster of light symbolizing decay and death.

The radiance swept rapidly—wherever it passed, all things would wither!

...

Don stood before the floor-to-ceiling window for a long time. There was no movement from the marionette's side, and Don couldn't control the Spirit Body Threads there either.

The Spirit World was shielded, twisted by even more powerful force. The 'Bionic Marionette' module couldn't successfully connect him to the marionette there to observe the situation.

Don looked at the cursed 8 AM students outside the window and sat down in his chair with a long exhale.

After a long while, new movement finally came from the marionette's side.

"It's already over."

When the Spirit World appeared again and the marionette could be controlled, Don instantly manipulated the Wraith marionette, making the marionette emerge from the gold coin.

He had just consulted the System, confirming that the System could also send some things to the marionette through Spirit Body Threads. Don was prepared that if one method didn't work, he would first use up the remaining charges of the Sun Scepter on his side, then send the Sun Scepter over to give that Demon a big surprise first.

It would be the contamination of the Chaos Sea surfacing. Even if the System had said that each subsequent solar surfacing wouldn't be as strong as the first time, the contamination itself could severely injure that Demon.

Dark Side of Universe, if you're so idle, then have another contamination—after all, more debt doesn't weigh one down.

Maybe it could even turn misfortune into fortune, right?

However, looking at the situation, it was much better than he had thought.

At least it didn't escalate to the point where he had to crack open the opposing Demon's skull with the Sun Scepter.

Azik was now sitting in what appeared to be a somewhat cramped room, with bright yellow candlelight illuminating the space.

There were no windows here, and the air carried the unique dampness and moldy smell of a basement.

His father seemed to have just arrived here through the Spirit World. Don surveyed the surroundings but didn't see that Demon, nor did he discover any large-scale death scene or anything of the sort.

"He's already gone."

Azik said in a low voice, "You took a great risk, Don."

(End of Chapter)