Leave a comment

In the room where Lesiah and the others waited, the thick white smoke grew even denser, reaching a point where one could not even see their own fingers when they held their hands up in front of them.

Durance tightened his grip on his rapier, focusing his mind and fully activating his domain while remaining vigilant of his surroundings. Lesiah shed her carefree demeanor, and looked a little more serious, while Thea and Brea scanned the area, hands resting on their weapons, ready to draw at a moment’s notice. From the unusual changes in the atmosphere, it was clear that their enemy was getting serious!

Durance was taken aback as an unfamiliar figure appeared before him. His pupils shrunk and he felt a ripple of unease in his heart. Why was there no reaction from his domain when the enemy was already so close?

Without hesitation, Durance took a step forward. His rapier gave off a brilliant golden light as he cut through the space, creating a large crack in the rolling smoke that seemed like an abyss that could swallow everything in its path. Yet, no one was in sight.

“Damn! It was a trap!” Horror, shock, and anger filled Durance’s heart as he swung his rapier. Golden Stella, his sacred artifact, immediately released countless golden threads that shot out in all directions. Despite penetrating the smoke, the threads failed to capture any physical object.

“I got… teleported?” The expression on Durance’s face turned ugly as the threads failed to capture any physical objects, indicating the absence of any such objects around him. Just moments ago, there were tables, chairs, sofas, a bed, women, and even an array of sex toys in the room. Hence, Durance could not think of any other possibility except that his recklessness had allowed the enemy to transport him elsewhere.

[That doesn’t seem like the case. There was no energy fluctuation.]　

Durance’s troubled heart was immediately calmed by the sweet, otherworldly voice that belonged to his beloved, the artifact spirit of his sacred artifact.

“Then… this is…”

[It should be some kind of trick that deceives perception, similar to the figure you saw earlier. It fooled you into thinking that the threads you condensed from your imperfect domain were shooting out in all directions but in reality, they were merely sweeping through empty spaces, making no contact with anything.]　

“That means I’m still in the room right now?”

[That’s right, but this is why you must be careful. There are others in the room, if you attack without thinking, you could inadvertently hurt someone else.]　

Durance felt a wave of relief wash over him. Fortunately the threads were merely a feature of his imperfect domain, and did not possess any offensive capabilities.

“So what do I do now?”

[Wait,] Stella replied.

“Wait? What about the others? The enemy deliberately isolated me, it must be part of their scheme.”

[Don’t worry, this ability won’t last too long. Have more faith in the others, they are all special in their own ways.]　

Durance gave a slight nod of agreement. The Crown Princess of an empire, a former saintess of a theocracy, and a seemingly delicate young girl whom Durance was certain she was anything but ordinary because she could share a room with Lilith. He knew that an enemy with only a few tricks up their sleeve would not be able to easily defeat them. Moreover, there was also another person who would not just sit back and do nothing when things got dire, especially since the girl was technically Lilith’s daughter.

Hmm? Hold on, why did the enemy attack now? Since Durance could not do anything for the time being, he started thinking.

The enemy suddenly attacked after a long period of silence. It was unlikely that they had forgotten about their existence until now. Rather, it was more likely that they had been defeated by Lilith and decided to redirect their focus towards them, because they were unwilling to give up so easily.

What would a villain who was defeated by Lilith and refused to give up do at this point? They would attack those who were close to Lilith, either taking them as hostages, or seeking direct revenge.

Who were the people close to Lilith in the room? It seemed like except for himself, all of them were.

So there were two reasons the enemy deliberately isolated Durance. One was because he was being a nuisance, and two, because he was not even a target.

Since the enemy was defeated by Lilith, they must be greatly weakened, which could explain why they relied on disposable magic relics earlier.

At this time, how would the enemy choose in order to ensure success? As Princess Lesiah said, they would pick the weakest. Or at least… the one who looked the weakest. And the weakest looking among them was definitely…

A smirk spread across Durance’s face as he contemplated the situation. What seemed daunting at first glance could often be simplified and handled with laughable ease upon closer inspection.

[Did you remember something good? You seem happy,] Stella commented.

Durance smiled and shook his head. “No, but this should be the end of this matter.”

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

The blanket on the pink bed suddenly squirmed, as if there was a caterpillar crawling under it, from the edge of the bed to the pillow. Shortly after, an ugly doll’s face emerged from the tightly tucked corner of the blanket, not far from where Cornelia was sleeping.

The ugly doll turned its head 180 degrees, moving slowly and cautiously. It made sure not to make any noise as it rubbed against the blanket. Once it was certain that no one had noticed it, the doll’s button eyes gleamed with an eerie light. As soon as it gained control over the little girl, nothing could stop it from achieving its goals. Lacey would not make the same mistake of writing down the wrong enemy’s name again.

Since this body was not capable of making facial expressions, Lacey could only smile wickedly in his mind. He then directed his gaze towards the cute and helpless little girl. If she had to blame someone, she could only blame herself for being born in the wrong body.

“Eeyah?”

“?!” Lacey was startled as the little girl, who had been sound asleep, was suddenly awake now and was fixated on him with her large, curious and watery eyes.

“A… dwoll…?” A tender voice escaped from Cornelia’s small cherry lips. The words she uttered were like the gibberish of a young child who had just begun speaking. She was perplexed to find a doll beside her pillow.

“So… ugwyy…”

WHO ARE YOU CALLING UGLY!

Lacey’s heart was filled with rage as he could hardly believe that even a young child would have the audacity to mock him.

Despite his anger, Lacey did not dare to move. If a child woke up to find a spider on their pillow, they would observe it curiously. If the spider suddenly moved, the child would most likely start howling and crying in fear. Similarly, Lacey could not move because in the little girl’s eyes, he was a doll and dolls should not move on their own.

Gaining control of others was a process that required time and effort. Even if the target was just a little girl, all the effort Lacey put in would be in vain if she suddenly started crying and screaming.

The deluxe room they were in was full of people, and the only weakness of the white smoke was the fact that it was not soundproof. Lacey was also afraid that he would suddenly be attacked with a strange flying kick or something similar when he was in the middle of the process. He could handle such a surprise once, but not two or three times. Although he was only a doll now, he could still keel over from the shock.

Lacey was starting to feel impatient. He knew that the deceptive ability he used on Durance would not last long, and once Durance recovered, he would instantly be discovered even if Durance’s domain was still imperfect.

The little girl continued to stare at him. She neither moved nor showed any signs of distress. For some reason, her calmness left Lacey feeling a sense of unease.

Damn! Why do I still have to go through such torture when this was clearly a life or death situation?

As time passed, Lacey’s patience began to wane. Just as he was about to take a risk, the little girl finally made a move.