With both hands gripping a massive sword radiating a light aura, the magical puppet began to attack without saying a word.

Magical puppet.

They possess their own souls, thoughts, and consciousness, and they also have their own emotions.

However, since they were created, they must absolutely obey their masters.

Who created this puppet?

And what orders were given to it?

Questions like these can only be answered once the puppet master is found.

At this moment, Shirley had already changed into her battle armor and was holding the "Rapier of the Starry Night."

It wasn’t a battle that would drag on, so Shirley immediately showcased all her strength from the start.

Blood and light collided, and the power that erupted shook the surrounding environment.

However, the mysterious field of light remained completely unshaken, keeping the battleground confined within it.

Red blood emerged from the ground beneath Shirley’s feet, corroding the earth.

She was trying to establish a "blood domain" to resist the light.

Simultaneously, the luminous sword in the puppet’s hands shone brightly.

The sword attack transformed into a beam of light, aiming at Shirley’s body.

Although Shirley avoided the strike by rising into the air, the blood domain she had created also dissipated.

"Dorga..."

There was no denying that, in terms of oppression, the puppet's rigid movements were not as intimidating as Karina’s, but the strength of the light on it perfectly suppressed Shirley.

"Blood Penetration Formation!"

The remaining blood on the ground quickly gathered around the puppet, forming a magical circle glowing with a blinding red light.

From the circle emerged numerous stakes, targeting the puppet’s body.

However, all were blocked by the light enveloping the puppet.

"Damn it!"

Seeing her attack neutralized so easily, Shirley felt growing desperation.

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Would she have to use that mode?

When she forged this battle armor, she chose two modes.

One was the mage mode with the pure white dress she was wearing now.

The other was the "Berserker" mode filled with violence.

Although this design was perfectly crafted by Shirley’s mother, there was a fatal flaw.

If Shirley didn’t have enough power, she couldn’t enter the "Berserker" state.

She could only change modes by forcing the release of the power from her own battle armor.

This was the state Luna wanted to show during her fight with the puppet.

Unfortunately, the cost of this was that, after the state ended, the battle armor would also break.

Unless absolutely necessary, no one would want to activate such a mode.

"Huh?"

At that moment, Shirley noticed that the barrier wasn’t fixed but was slowly diminishing.

"If this continues..."

"Bartoli..."

Suddenly, the puppet, which had remained silent, spoke with a clear female voice.

"Who... are you?"

Shirley, surprised, asked.

"I... am..."

The puppet’s mouth opened as if about to speak, but it only trembled a few times before launching a fierce attack at Shirley, who was still in the air.

Since it was a puppet, Shirley couldn’t sense the murderous intent, but she was still able to assess the speed, position, and force of the strike.

If she didn’t dodge, the sword would pierce her head.

"Hey, what’s wrong with you?"

Taking advantage of her aerial position, Shirley deftly avoided the attack.

She also didn’t rush to counterattack.

It seemed this puppet was behaving a bit strangely.

Hearing Shirley’s question, the puppet focused on the top of the barrier and, after a tremor, began attacking again without saying anything further.

Was it a defect in the puppet, or something else?

Shirley considered many possibilities, but it seemed that no explanation could stop the attack.

In the end, she could only defeat it first...

Shirley sighed, "No matter what orders you are following or what you are thinking now, it doesn’t change the fact that you killed Luna..."

Strange red patterns began to emerge on her body, spreading a faint red light.

Her eyes continued to shine with a red light, and a blood aura began to rise around her.

Maintaining this level of power seemed sufficient...

In the end, Shirley did not enter the second state of the battle armor.

Instead, she released a part of the power contained in her blood.

With a swift movement, a curtain of blood separated Shirley from the puppet.

The light blade struck the curtain, producing a metallic sound, but due to its nature, it was destroyed with just two strikes.

"Blood Explosion!"

The puppet, which had breached the barrier, didn’t get a chance to attack and was hit by a spell Shirley cast to the chest.

This powerful attack was clearly more effective than Luna’s final strike.

A small crack began to expand from the small wound Luna had inflicted.

Seeing this, the puppet seemed to become more cautious.

Instead of attacking aggressively, it assumed a defensive stance on the ground.

It seemed it didn’t intend for a quick battle, but rather to wait until the light barrier shrank enough that Shirley couldn’t maintain her aerial advantage, and then fight.

"Since you’ve adopted a defensive stance, I hope you can hold on until then..."

Shirley’s words were laden with murderous intent.

The blood spun and condensed into a sphere in her hands.

"In the name of Shirley Bartoli, I summon the ancestral blood—"

The patterns on her body spread to the blood sphere she was forming.

"Blood Roar—Divine Blood Sphere!"

In an instant, the entire interior of the light barrier was covered with blood.

...

"This vibration..."

Outside the field, Yuri watched worriedly as the light field continued to shrink.

Even through the field, she could vaguely feel that Her Highness Shirley had begun to summon the power of blood.

This meant that from now on, the battle wouldn’t last much longer.

"Whoever is there, come out!"

Beside her, Sheila suddenly noticed something and looked into the depths of the forest...