*TAP* *TAP* *TAP*
With resounding footsteps, Puppet reached the final door of the underground facility, which remained unscathed after his brief yet intense battle.
This door was filled to the brim with arrays to secure the door. From behind this secured door, sounds of hurried steps and muffled sounds came.
'Well, well, well, rats are here, huh?'
Puppet thought as he moved towards the door and caressed the door with his hand, which caused sparks to form between his hand and the door. This caused Puppet to take his hand back.
'Hiding behind a door, filled with defensive arrays. Well, sad for you because I have this.'
Thinking this, Puppet bought out the anti-magic sword.
He touched the gate with the sword and…
*THIII*
…all of the magical arrays suddenly broke all at once.
As this happened, the sounds from behind became more prominent.
Following this, Puppet unsheathed his Galatine and cut the door, then kicked it.
*THUD*
With a thud, the metallic cutout collided with the floor, which kicked up a cloud of dust. From that cloud of dust, fireballs were launched at Puppet, who quickly parried them with a shield of water that formed clouds of steam, further decreasing visibility for the people inside.
Before allowing the enemy inside to further up with the attack, Puppet quickly shot inside a blast of wind, to spread the steam inside, and to also stun.
"AAAAHHH!! IT BURNS!!!"
"MY EYES!! IT GOT IN MY EYE!!"
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
Haunting shouts full of pain and desperation reached Puppet's ears, who, despite the urgency and panic inside, walked calmly inside, and suddenly, from his foot, ice sprouted everywhere in the room.
This ice completely encased everybody, just leaving their heads out, while the rest of their body was completely frozen stiff.
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
"IT HURTS!!!"
"ZIII—IIITISCOLD!!!"
Everyone started to say one thing or another in unison, to which Puppet replied in his own way.
Of the portion of the head that was exposed, the mouth was soon covered by ice to stop their whining.
"…"
For a moment, in the room, there was only silence and fear, but this silence was broken by Puppet, leaving fear behind.
*SHING*
With the characteristic sound of metal, a saber was produced by Puppet, which Puppet dragged on the floor, scraping it and creating the sounds that only served to increase the heartbeats of the frozen occupants of the room, despite them being frozen.
He brought the blade near the feet of everyone, which made them feel as if it were a guillotine around their neck.
After taking one round of the room, and seeing that everyone was completely quiet and watching every move of his with rapt attention, Puppet spoke.
"I am going to restore your ability to speak.
You shout, you die.
You ask questions, you die.
You cry, you die.
You whine, you die.
You answer my questions, you get to live."
Then, without waiting for their confirmation, even through their eyes, Puppet removed the portion covering their mouth.
Just as it happened…
"UNHA-"
…someone spoke.
*THUK*
They paid the price.
Suddenly, the person who was speaking moments ago was suffering from a medical condition called 'Lack-of-Head'.
"EEE-"
One of the people shrieked seeing the brutality.
*THUK*
He too became part of the said brutality.
"…"
This time, no one made a sound.
Swift execution of two of their peers, serving as an example for them, they collectively decided to remain silent. Though they could do nothing to hide the desperation and fear on their face.
Letting the silence simmer for a while, Puppet began.
"Where is Morris?"
"…"
At his question, everyone looked at one another as if seeing who would speak, not willing to risk their neck, but that still happened.
*THUCK*
One more swing, and one more dead.
"Speak."
Hurriedly, one among them started to blurt out, his survival instincts kicking in.
"Mo-Mo-Morris is in Spade Kingdom!" He man replied, closing his eyes, waiting for the attack that never came.
"Why did he go there?"
"H-he said his work here was done and was needed at Spade Kingdom." Another man replied, seeing that the previous one survived.
"What were you doing here?"
"Infusing people with artificial magic." The one who answered first said, competing with his peers, which they recognized. Now, instead of fear, a spark of competition ignited within them to outdo their colleague to survive this peril.
The answer caused Puppet to stop in his steps for a bit.
'Infusing artificial magic? You can do that?'
He thought, but then quickly continued to ask questions.
"Who was that Zenon Zeogratis outside?"
"He is someone of high rank from the Spade Kingdom. He just came here to visit randomly."
"Your experiments, what is the result of them?"
"We are at 37.29% success."
'That much!' Puppet's eyes widened at the number, realizing the fact that if 100 people partook in their experiment, around 37 would leave with additional magic that would be invaluable.
"Side-effects?"
"Personality issues, brain-related diseases, critical body failure, or fast aging in some."
'Yeah, that makes sense.' Puppet sighed internally with relief.
"Where are the records of the experiment?"
"On the computer over there." The scientist pointed with his eyes, which caused Puppet to look at the sight with a deadpan expression.
'They didn't have a train until now, but suddenly have a computer. The technological progress of this world does not make sense.'
"Why is the royalty so absent in controlling the kingdom?"
"We don't know, just that every member of royalty has contracted some disease."
'Well, they are not wrong about that.'
"If everyone in the royal family were to die, who would lead this kingdom by right?" Puppet asked, crossing his arms, which caused the group to think about the answer carefully, when one of them spoke, afraid that the delay would cost him his life.
"Th-there-the crown will be passed to a family o-of duke. Th-he duke with hi-highest chance is Cyrus Green."
'Hmm…this is all I need.' Puppet thought, with the expression under his mask glazed, not giving anything in mind.
...
"When will he come back? It has almost been a month…" A lady who looked clearly of noble descent thought as she looked out of the window with longing eyes. The air around her screamed melancholy and dread for the fate that was to come.
As this atmosphere kept on building up, it was suddenly shattered by the opening of the door, and the rushing in of a maid, who, despite breaking all of the etiquette, quickly said with wide eyes and bated breath, when the lady's attention was turned to her.
"Wha-?"
"Sorry, mistress Rosalind, for cutting you off, but you need to see this. It is very urgent. Please come."
Seeing this, Rosalind looked with a pensive expression and thought as she got up in an unsteady manner.
'What more bad news has God blessed us with?'
Getting up, she said to the maid with as much confidence as she could muster, "Lead the way."
"Yes, Mistress." The maid replied and then started to walk out of the room with a pace that was suitable for Rosalind's body, sick with tension. Through twists and turns, Rosalind observed that many servants were looking agitated, which caused her to expect the worst.
Finally, she stopped behind the family vault, if it could even be called that, seeing the nonexistent amount of money they had left.
But this vault was different today.
"So…much gold and jewels…where did they come from?" She mumbled, looking inside the vault that had gold spilling out of the entrance, and the inside was stacked to the top.
While she was inspecting this, she did not observe that a woman wearing clothes belonging to nobility, who had signs of aging, crept up behind her and…hugged her.
Sudden action took her by surprise and caused her to yelp, but when she looked up, she saw the face of the lady, where tears were flooding out of her eyes.
"Mother…? What is happening? Why is there gold in our vault? Why are you cr-"
"He…is dead." The woman replied between her sobs, which were shifting from happiness to loss.
"Who is dead?" Rosalind asked, and that was her mother's final breaking point. Clinging to her harder and drenching Rosalind's shoulder with her tears, her mother replied between her sobs.
"Ev-ev-every…iii…one!! Ahhaaaaaaaa…!" She wailed as she spoke the last word, and seeing her Mistress's mother's state, the maid who had accompanied Rosalind stepped forward carrying a piece of paper, and handed it to Rosalind, who, without argument, opened it. On one side of it, a letter was written that she started to read.
Hello Miss Rosalind,
I hope that you are well, and my letter reaches you in good faith.
I am sad and happy to say that I have come as a bearer of bad and good news, the latter more than the former, if it brings you any comfort.
Personally, I like to hear bad news first, so it prevents me from falling that comes from hearing it after good news, but today, I am going to break that rule for you.
The good news, Karyon is dead. I have killed him.
"Karyon is…dead." She said it fearfully, almost as if he could appear from anywhere, but her legs became unstable and she too, slid down on the ground with the wall as her only support, along with her sobbing mother, and continued to read with rapt attention.
Yes, you read it right. I have killed him, so you will not have to fear for your dignity as a woman any longer.
I have also gone the extra mile, and have made sure who were with Karyon and were hoping to erase your family's breath no longer, nor do their bloodline exist anymore.
You do not have to fear the retaliation that comes with it.
Your kingdom had long lost its king, but I won't trouble you with this information any longer.
Bad news…
I have killed your brother, Marvin Solis.
'Marvin is dead…?' Rosalind thought as her life that seemed to be gaining colors suddenly lost them once more.
'I got freed, but I also lost Marvin…'
So, not knowing how to respond, she continued to read the letters.
I know you will never forgive me. I don't ask for it. Doing so would mean that I regret my actions till now, and the only thing in this world I fear is regret.
Saying this, I would like to add…
Following the desires of your brother, you are now, from henceforth, the Queen of the Diamond Kingdom. Your coronation shall happen in three days.
I have 'talked' with a certain group of people, who will make sure everything happens smoothly.
Sorry for giving you a bit of good news after bad news, I am a creature of habit, it seems.
Your Tormentor,
Puppet
***
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