The finance minister no longer has the confident attitude that she will be able to escape with the soulbounds that are around her. Knowing that her capture meant that the plans of the great liberation will be finished, she decided on using the most drastic approach. She opened her mouth and swallowed the Depraved Man's Hand.

Even Adrian did not expect that she will do that as eating an artifact means that they will be possessed by the cursed artifact. The moment the female finance minister ate the cursed relic, she exploded in powerful miasma that blew away all the soulbounds that are surrounding her. Adrian had to ran towards the seventh prince as he needed to protect the latter from the miasma.

The powerful burst of miasma also destroyed the entire barrier covering the imperial city. This also led to the immortals that were not able to go inside the imperial capital to go over. A loud shriek of something inhuman erupted in the air as waves of miasma are being spread throughout the imperial city.

The female finance minister is no longer the beautiful plump woman that she was as she turned into an amalgamation of a humanoid hand monster. The face of the female finance minister is actually the Depraved Man's Hand with a mouth on the palm. Her hair became numerous fingers that are clumped together.

Monster Name: Depraved Man's Hand Puppet

Tier: Mythical

Level: 300

HP: 100%

MP:100%

Description: A monster born from the Depraved Man's Hand that possessed a human. It is a puppet that only serves the remaining will of the Depraved Man's Hand. It is full of miasma, and it will continue to create and release miasma until the vessel's body deteriorates.

"Destroy the traitor!" The voice of the Celestial Emperor sounded as all of the golden statues charged towards the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet. Since the Vermillion Bird destroyed all of the Corpse Legion (Jiangshi), the soldiers are able to go against the immortals that suddenly charged through the city.

The imperial soldiers moved in unison as the immortals started to rain chaos in the imperial city because they seem to be looking for something. The beautiful imperial castle started to smoke as fire seems to have been created from the inside. The Vermillion Bird could not bear to see the beautiful imperial city to go down in flames which is why it decided to swallow all of the flames.

What the Vermillion Bird did not expect is that the flames were actually tainted with miasma. The Vermillion Bird weakened and had to land to consolidate the miasma it just inhaled. The Vermillion Bird started to burn itself in order to cleanse itself of the miasma.

"What happened?!" Levin Cloud asked as the others also arrived at Adrian's location.

"That happened." Adrian stated as he pointed at the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet.

Just as Adrian pointed at the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet, the God Xing Tian that has yet to be unsummoned jumped high and slammed its axe on the enemy. The Depraved Man's Hand Puppet is sent crashing down due to the unrelenting force that the God Xing Tian exuded.

"Go! Uncle!" Prince Reishi stated as he cheered for the God Xing Tian. A headless demigod and a Depraved Man's Hand Puppet are now in battle. It is a battle that no one ever expected to happen, but it is.

The Depraved Man's Hand Puppet released miasma in all directions. The miasma that the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet is releasing has the appearance of dark purple hands. When anyone is grasped by this miasma, they are already infected, and their flesh started rotting.

Some of the imperial guards infected by the miasma are suddenly overtaken by weakness and their skin melting. If not for Saena cleansing the miasma, then the imperial guards would have died under the threatening energy. The Vermillion Bird also aided in cleansing the miasma by releasing another heat wave that cleansed the impurities in the air.

The Vermillion Bird might be able to cleanse the impurities for a moment but the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet is able to release more into the air. The only way to shut down the production of miasma is to defeat the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet which even the demigod Xing Tian is having difficulty as the enemy is not an easy one.

The Depraved Man's Hand Puppet suddenly released an ear-piercing shriek that made everyone cover their ears. It then started to release miasma like a flood and the body of the puppet could be seen getting progressively drier as it is close to dying. They just needed to push it to the edge a bit more but the miasma that flooded the imperial city started to infect even the normal citizens in the shelter.

"I am on it." Levin Cloud stated as he immediately activated Guardian of the Forest.

Levin Cloud transformed into his true form and spread-out numerous trees in the imperial city that absorbed the miasma. This was very effective, but it was also very detrimental to his well-being as even he cannot absorb that much miasma by himself. His body started to break down as well due to the powerful miasma that even Saena could not easily purify.

Just as his body started to break down, lightning started to course throughout his body that actually acted like a purifying agent for the miasma. This was the lightning that he absorbed when he was hit by the tribulation lightning. Peridot also helped in trying to make sure that the miasma does not spread by aiding Kanlaon in pushing the air upwards.

Miasma is like energy that has a physical manifestation which means it can be sent away as well. They might be able to alleviate the others, but they still need to cut off the source. Kabrakan charged towards the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet and tackled it with all his might.

The Depraved Man's Hand Puppet is sent flying to the northern edge of the gate. With the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet farther from the imperial city, the miasma that it released became thinner which made the soldiers safer. Adrian also noticed this and told all his soulbounds to knock the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet farther away.

The Depraved Man's Hand Puppet did not like this though as it was still trying to accomplish something in the imperial capital as it tried to enter it once more. Adrian noticed this and released ten arrows that were attached to chains. The Depraved Man's Hand Puppet avoided all of these arrows but they were never meant to hit it.

The chains suddenly attached to something in the air as a coffin suddenly manifested behind the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet. The coffin then released a powerful suction force that caught the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet. As soon as the coffin sucked in the enemy, Adrian immediately grabbed it and teleported away from the imperial city.

Adrian teleported all the way to the Scarlet Mountains where no intelligent life is located. The coffin is then released with screaming Depraved Man's Hand Puppet. Adrian waited for the timing correctly as he released Orion's Wrath. Three powerful arrows powered by aether energy and primordial energy shot directly at the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet.

Each arrow dealt quite a bit of damage, but Adrian's won damage output is not enough to finish the job. The Depraved Man's Hand Puppet then released miasma and aimed it towards Adrian to which the latter did not even avoid. The miasma enveloped Adrian's body as the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet started to laugh as if some parts of the finance minister's personality was still left.

The laughing did not last though as the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet realized that Adrian was not being infected by miasma. To be precise, Adrian is being infected by miasma but a being that is made of pure aether like himself easily cleanses it away. In other words, Adrian is immune to the miasma that the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet is releasing.

Seeing that its miasma is not working, the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet wanted to ignore Adrian and go to the imperial city again. It was about to leave when chains suddenly came out of the ground and bound it in place. Adrian did not stop as he shot arrows in the air which released magic circles that created more chains as well.

The Depraved Man's Hand Puppet is now bound but Adrian's mana is draining faster than he anticipated. He had to do this fast if he is going to succeed. Adrian proceeded to chant in an unfamiliar language but the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet seem to know it instinctively and tried to break free.

"I give this body to the Gods of the Underworld. Punish the wicked being that has committed an atrocious act of defiling the souls of the innocent." Adrian stated as a magic circle suddenly appeared below the Depraved Man's Hand Puppet.