LotM: Surviving as a Marionette

"Alright, let's not talk about this for now."

Don steered the conversation back on track. He hadn't come here specifically to look at Demonesses.

Through the Euclidean space, before finding Owen, Don had roughly scanned the surroundings and hadn't discovered any traces of that Dark Side of Universe divine descent.

He might be in the garrison of Intis or Feynapotter stationed in this region, or he could be in the wilderness—in any case, he was at a distance beyond Don's observable range.

And this was, after all, a demigod, a divine descender. If he truly wanted to hide himself and wait for the opportune moment to reap the benefits, without an Spectator pathway high-sequence demigod, even with demigod-level Beyonders stationed here, they might not necessarily be able to find his traces.

The fate fluctuations Don had seen earlier came from the Hornacis Mountain Range, from this dry Orkney Highlands. The location of his fate fluctuations was in this area, and the timing of the fate fluctuations could also be determined by continuing to observe the astrolabe.

Don himself, through his spiritual intuition enhanced by multiple entries into that space, vaguely sensed that this might be the opportunity.

The prerequisite for achieving cooperation with the old man and clearing out Amon's avatars in Tingen City.

"Do you still remember that previous one, the demon who might be a divine descender from the Dark Side of Universe?"

"A divine descender demon? Your speculation? Wait... are you certain? He's appeared here?" Owen straightened up, his expression even more horrified than when he'd just heard about the Sequence 7 Demoness.

Don nodded, then made the Sun Scepter in his hand disappear into the system space like magic.

"I can only say it's a possibility," thinking of something, his expression also became somewhat gloomy, "Father has met him face to face. I'm very certain that's a vessel for the Cosmos's Dark Side divine descender."

"He wanted to cooperate with Father to stir up a new Pale Disaster in Backlund, but Father refused. I suspect the Rose Redemption's rituals in other places succeeded, allowing the Dark Side of Universe to cast down more power, and they're planning to conduct another, more powerful ritual in the Orkney Highlands, in a place adjacent to three nations where battles could break out at any moment and potentially trigger a national-level war..."

Well, every sentence I'm saying is true, but confirming that the demon is a vessel for the Dark Side of Universe divine descender, and knowing that the demon appeared here, was through what I saw via the Euclidean space and astrolabe...

Don explained the scene he had previously witnessed through his secret puppet, as well as the words his father had said, finally concluding: "The Dark Side of Universe divine descender has malicious intentions. You must be careful during this period. That demon, that divine descender, is probably really hiding somewhere here, just waiting for the ritual to be completed, under the ritual conditions of massive blood sacrifices..."

To make the evil god descend.

If that divine descender truly succeeded, then the Orkney Highlands would face an unprecedented disaster, and this disaster's influence would likely affect the entire Northern Continent.

This might be a severely polluted body cast down by the Dark Side of Universe, or it might be the evil god behind Him, with power penetrating the Seven Orthodox God's seal and affecting the entire land.

Either possibility was chilling.

And at the border, the churches' power wasn't that great.

Most of those belonging to the churches here were mid and low-sequence Beyonders. Even demigods, when facing the disaster they might have to confront, would similarly find it difficult to protect themselves.

"I'll pass some information to the Tranquil Church and the Storm's Abyss. I'll also stay in this area for the near future."

Incidentally dealing with the problems here.

Coincidentally, his potion digestion progress had exceeded half not long ago, allowing him to control a second secret puppet.

And the Theater With Curtains That Never Draw was also in urgent need of some new marionettes supplements.

Having marionettes versus not having marionettes, good versus bad marionettes—for Beyonders of the Seer pathway, that was quite a significant difference.

Don turned the Ring of the Curator on his left pinky finger, seriously considering in his heart.

---

The crimson moon was tranquil and distant. Under the night sky, a carriage slowly drove into a small manor.

When the carriage stopped, Lilianna Bernstein stepped down from the carriage and walked into the manor surrounded by servants.

This was Colonel Bernstein's residence, but Colonel Bernstein hadn't returned here for a long time.

The maid carefully removed Lilianna's cloak and arranged her appearance. "Miss, do you need a bath prepared?"

"Wait a moment. I'm a bit tired and need to rest first." Lilianna's voice was very pleasant. She looked at the maid beside her very gently, causing even the female maid to have a moment of confusion.

Realizing her improper behavior, the maid quickly came to her senses, though her face was still flushed as she secretly regretted her earlier mistake.

"Yes, miss. I'll come back later."

The maid hurriedly left the room. Lilianna looked at herself in the mirror and, in the room where she was now alone, showed the most perfect smile to her reflection.

She quietly touched her own cheek, her eyes seemingly filled with appreciation. Her features were beautiful—a young face maintained properly over the years.

Every glance and smile was filled with innocence and gentleness. In this area, at the border, with such looks and such status, she was well-received by everyone.

That smile was incredibly sweet. Lilianna gradually cupped her own face, her eyes clear and bright, making it difficult to notice the deeply hidden, intense disgust and hatred in those eyes.

She laughed softly, her voice the same as before, yet carrying an untraceable sinister quality.

After a while, waiting for herself to calm down, waiting until she had adjusted her emotions, she stood up, and her body shattered like an illusion.

Her figure disappeared, entering some unknown depth underground.

There, a full-length mirror cracked with a snap, rapidly disintegrating, scattering silver-gleaming fragments across the floor as a figure materialized in this place.

With the lighting of a candle, the candlelight illuminated this dark space, revealing a bloody scene.

This underground room of unknown depth contained a simple operating table, with several empty glass containers on a nearby table, along with various unsterilized knives stained with dark red.

The air was thick with the smell of blood. The floor was covered with various dried bloodstains that could no longer be cleaned, and the walls and ceiling were the same.

This place was like a slaughterhouse.

Lilianna's sweet smile was completely at odds with the bloodiness of this place, yet she seemed extremely familiar with it, her steps light as she opened another door in the room, revealing a clean and tidy room inside.

This stark contrast gave rise to a twisted pleasure in one's heart, and Lilianna felt the same way.

She stepped into the clean and orderly room, looking toward the only storage shelf in the room.

The shelf was densely packed with various glass bottles, and in the firelight's reflection, each bottle contained viscous liquid, keeping the organs inside in their most vivid state.

And Lilianna, as if looking at the most perfect collection, gazed at this shelf of vessels and showed a pure smile without any malice.

(End of Chapter)