The Elrond barony was desolate.

The lord’s mansion had long been neglected. There were spiderwebs everywhere, and the poor people within the houses had all fainted, groaning subconsciously.

Woohyuk focused on finding Alphone, while Leifina was heartbroken by the sight of her territory.

'A cursed puppeteer.'

Just in case, he went to the workshop her father used, but couldn't find any clues.

Even the dolls that were said to be produced every day could not be found.

However, there was Petos with his tracking ability by his side, so they weren’t completely clueless.

“Hmm... She has subtly erased her traces. But since I don’t track people through smell like hunting dogs, this kind of trick doesn't mean anything to me.”

Petos spoke proudly as he sniffed around, hiding in Woohyuk’s shadow.

Woohyuk was waiting for him to find his trail again, when a shabby woman came to Leifina’s side.

"My lady? Is it you, my lady?”

“…Mrs. Hudson.”

Leifina was the eldest daughter of Jean-Pierre Ecclet, the former lord, so there was no one in these lands who did not know her.

As the news that she had appeared spread, the residents began to flock one by one.

“It, it’s true…”

“The lady was alive…”

For them, Leifina was a beacon of hope.

The only child of the well-reputed lord.

She was wearing her father's sword and appeared to have come back to take over the family territory.

“My Lady, where have you been all this time? You don't know how worried I was after the witch took you away.”

“You’re still as beautiful as ever. Did you get married?”

These never ending questions.

While Leifina was expressing her grat.i.tude, a brown-haired girl gave her a purple flower.

“It's a gift for your return, my lady.”

“Thank you for the monelia.”

Suddenly, she recalled going out to watch flowers with her mother when she was young.

Leifina stroked the girl's hair and smelled the fresh scent of monelia.

“You do have a feminine and beautiful side to you.”

“How did I appear in your eyes until now…?”

Woohyuk spoke as he approached and Leifina's face was flushed by the words he muttered.

The girl who saw Leifina’s blush whispered into her ear.

“I hope everything goes well between you two. Good luck!”

“…”

Leifina was baffled and stared at her. The girl giggled and ran into the crowd of residents and disappeared.

The moment she shook her head and tried to stand up,

[Kill him.]

A girl's voice echoed in her mind.

“…?!”

Leifina looked around, wondering if it was an auditory hallucination.

However, there is n.o.body around her other than the residents.

When she started to doubt her ears, the voice resounded again.

[Kill your lord. Otherwise, one resident will be killed every night.]

She was certain to have heard it this time.

Leifina immediately focused her mind.

'Someone is spying on this place.'

She had to tell her master about this.

However, the girl sent another warning as if she had read her mind.

[If you let other people know about this, I will immediately slaughter all the residents.]

A cruel scheme.

Leifina bit down on her tongue and swallowed the words that were about to exit her mouth.

“Is something the matter? You don’t look good.”

“It, it’s nothing…”

When Woohyuk asked in concern, Leifina smiled to him.

However, her heart was breaking on the inside.

He was the very last person to whom she wanted to lie to.

'What should I do about this...’

The enemy was obviously Alphone, the executive of the Witch Cult.

However, hiding the fact that she had gotten threatened wouldn’t solve the situation at hand. Rather, it would worsen it.

Petos spoke while Leifina was wracking her brain.

“Ah, that way. It took some time to find the correct trail.”

“Then let's go. Ah, Leifina, stay here and keep talking with the residents. They might know some useful information.”

“…Understood, My Lord.”

Leifina couldn't speak up her mind until the end, because the townspeople could get slaughtered.

Now that she thought about it, the threat didn’t contain any important information, so she thought it would be a good idea to stay here on her own until Woohyuk returned.

As she watched her master walk away, Leifina’s expression darkened

***

“Is this the place?”

[Yes, I am certain. The flow wasn’t cut midway.]

Petos grinned widely and placed his hand on the doork.n.o.b to check if there were any traps installed.

After a while, he shook his head towards Woohyuk.

[There is nothing here other than concealment magic. But if you are anxious, I will go in first.]

“Then open it.”

Woohyuk spoke without hesitation.

In any case, Petos was a high-cla.s.s demon, so he wouldn’t be injured by most attacks.

It didn't matter if Woohyuk used him like a meat s.h.i.+eld.

Creak.

As the door opened, the gloomy air leaked out.

Petos' eyes widened as he tilted his head to look inside.

[Woah, there are a lot.]

“A lot of what?”

[Dolls. I think they were all handmade by Alphone.]

An old two-story wooden building.

Even though the sun had set and the night had covered the sky, not a single candle was lit on the first floor.

As he followed Petos, Woohyuk looked down at the countless stuffed toys on the floor.

“She’s hiding herself using these.”

[Yes, I guess we could call it a cloning technique? It’s similar to my lord Dantalion's.]

Although he followed Woohyuk, the fact that Petos' main lord was Dantalion had not changed.

So Woohyuk was being treated like an overlord.

He had three demon kings under his command, so it was worth attaching that t.i.tle on him.

“Can you find out where Alphone is hiding?”

[Well… It's possible, but it’ll take way too long. First of all, it would be faster to get rid of all these ugly dolls.]

Amongst these stuffed dolls were hidden Witch Stigmas.

However, since they were made up of Alphone's magic, Petos' ability could not function properly.

“There are too many individuals to eliminate. Setting a fire won’t do because the  clues might disappear.”

[Then it can't be helped. Shall we search from the first floor for now?]

Petos flew from place to place, looking closely at the place of interest.

It was a pitch-black room because the curtains didn't let the light in, but he was a demon. His vision was not limited in the darkness.

‘Is she not intending to run away?’

Woohyuk thought to himself, expanding his senses and watching the movements around him.

No matter how much time she was trying to buy, her location would be discovered sometime soon if he did this.

He didn’t worry about other kinds of schemes at all

'I'm a bit worried about Leifina.'

He could summon her at any time with the Call to Arms skill, but he was worried that she would get done in without a chance to retaliate.

Woohyuk attempted to start a telepathic conversation with Leifina to get a report on the situation over there,

Step. Step.

I heard someone walking from a distance.

Leifina was walking towards him with a blank expression, Argent in hand.

Woohyuk's eyebrows frowned upon understanding the situation.

‘So that’s what happened.’

Alphone knew from the very beginning that he would come.

So, she was deliberately wasting their time here and made Leifina fall into a trap.

Someone disguised as a resident had probably helped her.

[What a wicked trick.]

“…You’re the one to talk.”

[Not every demon behaves in an evil manner. Well, it is true that most of us tend to be like that though.]

Petos lifted his index finger with a smirk on his face.

Woohyuk ignored him and walked to the door to check on Leifina's condition.

'…She’s being manipulated by someone.'

It was Alphone's handiwork.

Leifina had a high resistance to debuffs and status conditions, so someone who can control her must be greatly skilled.

While Woohyuk observed the Witch Stigma on the back of her hand, someone slowly descended from the second floor.

Clang. Clang.

It was not a stuffed toy, but a marionette.

It was a doll in the form of a girl like Agnes, but the joints were tied with a fine thread, allowing precise manipulation.

Before Woohyuk could even turn his head, Alphone spoke to him first.

[Welcome to the Cursed Puppeteer's House, Asura. I have been waiting for you.]

“What a timid welcome. Are you afraid to show yourself?”

[Obviously. Even Lady Angrboda would try to avoid a head-on collision with you, someone who defeated three demon kings.]

Alphone maintained her confident tone.

It seems that this level of foul play was normal for her.

Woohyuk opened his mouth again as he watched Leifina gradually getting closer to him.

“Do you think this childish trick will work on me?”

[Who knows? Don’t you think it's a good idea to test it?]

Leifina was one of Woohyuk's favorite va.s.sals, so Woohyuk would not want to harm her.

Alphone was planning to use his emotions against him.

“You are courting death.”

[Hmm, I can sense some anger in your voice. Why, why don’t we have a bit of fun?]

The stuffed dolls scattered on the first floor stood up at once and flew toward Petos and Woohyuk.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The explosive power comparable to a time bomb.

As they self-destructed, they also bursted out sharp metal fragments.

[This is really annoying.]

“You don't have to worry too much.”

Over the past 40 years, Woohyuk had experienced countless sly tricks planned out by demons.

As a result, he didn't feel a sense of crisis even in this situation, but rather, could see the loopholes in Alphone's plan.

'She has no intentions of harming Leifina yet.'

The dolls on the first floor were tools to keep him busy.

It was obvious that the main, important trick was hidden on the second floor.

Woohyuk first summoned the undead Amy and sent her to the second floor.

[Oh, aren’t you the executive who followed the Witch of Envy? You were quite skilled back when you were alive, but now you’re dead, I don't think there’s much to see.]

The marionette’s eyes flashed red and raised both its hands.

Then, a morning star in its hands.

Clang!

Clang!

The two weapons crossed paths, creating a dissonant sound.

Since the duel didn’t seem to end any time, Woohyuk summoned Agnes.

“Go and help her.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Agnes had three of her restraints released, so she was stronger than most of the executives of the Witch Cult.

As she joined the battle, burning with eagerness, the marionette stepped back and gathered more dolls.

It intended to attack them by bursting them all at once.

‘She’s definitely skilled in buying time.’

Woohyuk laughed bitterly as he cut down the dolls flying at him.

If he tried to head to the second floor, Leifina would be harmed first and the situation would derail.

So he came to the conclusion that it would be better to save Leifina first, but then too much time would’ve pa.s.sed.

'You can’t stop me merely with these tricks.'

He knew how to solve this challenge.

However, his body and mind would be overwhelmed, so he would rather refrain from using it as much as possible.

Clang!

Sparks flew as Argent, wielded by Leifina, struck Verserios.

Woohyuk stepped back and stabbed Verserios on the floor.

Immediately, a pitch-black darkness covered the entire surroundings!

Asura's absolute s.p.a.ce began to absorb everyone.