The monster kicked Huan's ribs. He let out an agonizing scream, louder than any time before. Something about it scared her. She wanted to clamp her ears and shut her eyes, not think about it. But she couldn't. It didn't feel right. It reminded her of something—a ghostly scream. She couldn't remember it, neither wished to. Her heart tightened. Painfully squeezed and curled, shivering like a wet cat.

Amaryllis clenched her jaws. She clutched the sword as if her life depended on it. Why am I doing this? She wondered as she pushed herself to her feet. I don't want to hear his screams. But that's hypocritical. I will be leagues worse than him if the puppeteer shifts his focus on me.

I don't have a savior complex. She told herself. Yet those words rang hollow. Nothing else described the self-sacrificing stupidity that she was about to perform. But she knew herself well enough. She had always been self-aware.

I am kind just like my sister. It was a lie. She knew it. Yet she didn't have a better answer for her own action. And she never made illogical actions. Trying to save Huan made no sense. How could a weakling want to help someone who had an ability? A weapon that could kill the puppeteer. And then there were two more people each of whom could easily help Huan more than her. But she would try to save.

Nothing scared her more than not knowing why she was doing something. It took away the tiny phantasmal control she had in life—the control over her own actions.

I don’t want to see him suffer because he’s not evil. That was a good enough reason. She told herself to believe it. She knew her sister would do the same thing, and that was enough for her to do it.

Amaryllis squeezed her eyes shut, shoving all the confusion, fear, and things she didn't understand into a box. Chaining it and throwing it into the darkness filled with hundreds of similar boxes. They didn't matter anymore. Only the burning rage in her heart did, for what this creature was doing and what those soulless bastards at The Soul Hunt Association were doing.

"Let's try again," she said, emotionlessly. Pointed her sword at the Puppeteer. Her eyes shimmered darkly—a pool of lightless rage.

"Oh dear, are you sure?" The Puppeteer grinned.

Amaryllis dashed. The mana pooled in the blade like water filled over the edge of a glass. Droplets of mana spilled out, glistening under the moonlight as she raised her sword and swung it at the puppeteer. His grin split threateningly. He jumped back as the blade cleaved the air where he stood. He stepped forth, kicking the blade. His speed left Amaryllis gawking.

She still held onto the sword. The kick hurled her whole arm to the side, shattering her sense of balance. She was wide open for him to hurt her. Yet he grinned, staring into her eyes. "That's it?" He asked.

Using the momentum of her kicked blade, she swiveled in her spot. Spinning in a dark arc. The blade came at the puppeteer's neck. He ducked. Amaryllis pressed her other foot to find balance.

She heaved. "Why won't you attack!" She screamed. Tried again. And again. Every possible way she could swing her blade against him, she tried. Yet none reached him.

Amaryllis didn't relent. She swung down from the top like a hammer falling on a nail. He moved to the side. She predicted that. Twisting her blade to the sideway, She churned all the mana she could muster in her swing. Thick tar clung to the air as the blade moved. Finally, she caught him by surprise. Her sword crashed into his stomach. Cut deep into his velvet suit and left a black wound on his paper-white stomach.

His expression shifted. He jumped back.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Huan gain his footing and rush at him. Amaryllis took this moment a breath with her burning stomach. Huan was faster with his lightning. He attacked him again. Unlike her, he didn't hold back against him. The base of his wrist crashed into Huan's face. He grunted. His nose swelled. Blood spurted. Followed by a kick in the stomach. Huan screamed again. His body flew and dragged in the bloody grass.

Amaryllis ran again. "Why won't you attack me?!"

He looked at her and grinned, "Can you kill me?" He asked. The wound on his stomach sewed itself. "Then..." He appeared in front of her in a blink, "What's the point when watching you struggle will hurt you more? How long will your nerves hold?"

Amaryllis ground her teeth. She swung. The blade glimmered like liquid ink. The puppeteer didn't move. Instead, he raised his hand in one swift motion and held the blade with his thumb and index finger just above the sharp edge.

Amaryllis tried to pull it back. But his hand didn't budge. Her nerves lost their sheen but bulged against her skin hideously. Her knees quivered. That one move from the puppeteer snuffed out the last ounce of adrenaline she had been running on.

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He looked at her. Pinched on the blade with a gleeful chuckle. The blade shattered into hundreds of shards. "It's over..." He whispered, "Boo!"

Amaryllis let out a panicked cry and tried to move away. Her legs gave in. She dropped on her bottom.

The puppeteer let out a hysterical laugh. Cruel and evilly. "Is that it? Is that really, really it? All those hopes. Burdens. Wishes. Thoughts.Yadda yadda yadda, and this is all you did?" He grabbed the air, twisted it like a net that caught the shards of the blade, and jerked it. They all landed in his extended hand. "Watch this trick!" he rubbed his hand and showed a card—a blank face smiled in it. Her pupils shrank. It knows. Then he spun it and hid it under his palm. He laughed like he had heard the funniest joke of his life. Every laugh stabbed her like a physical knife.

Her hands no longer moved. Nor legs. The puppeteer seemed to grow and grow—tall, twisted, and murky. She felt fear. Not of death. But because he could do much worse. It was more than just a simple monster. It was cruel. Something depraved that didn’t make sense. And it could read her mind.

"Finally!” He sniggered, “Breaking your bones would have never shown us these dramatic emotions, would it? Unlike the boy who strives for physical domination in every scenario, you’re different, aren’t you? Accepting your weakness, you knew I beat you before even standing. Fears? You’ve many. But Hidden. Nestled close to your heart. But you feel it now, can’t you? What Sanguine couldn’t do? Show you what true fear is. How does it feel? Now, we will hear the crackling laughs of your bones. One. By. One," He hung his hands. His shoulder dropped and dangled in the air like a puppet. Something slid out of his sleeve, and he grabbed it and twirled.

A hammer.

"For your performance, you get a very nice bonus! Decide which hand first, puppet?" He leaned over, placing the hammer on her ankle, and put all his weight on it. "Decide!" He shrieked.

Amaryllis blankly stared at him. Her mind refused to process anything. Her vision darkened. Sleep… Something whispered. She knew she shouldn’t hear its suggestion. But she wanted to. She closed her eyes.

Then, She felt something. A relief washed over her. Time. We need time. "Right," She said tonelessly. Everything inside her felt like lead. She didn't even know if it would hurt more or less in her current state. She hoped less.

"Something’s odd..." He uttered. "Where did the fear go?" He mused. "You know I can read your memories. Even the ones you have hidden from yourself." He smiled. "Let's try something again. Fear. We need fear. The clowns are live to scare the little child like you."

He said and moved away. Amaryllis mentally sighed. For a second, she thought he wouldn’t smash her hand. And she had been right. The puppeteer moved again, grinned, and swung the hammer. She only saw an afterimage. Then, the searing agony swarmed her vision. She blanked. Then the pain came cruelly, tearing away that blank. Filled her mind with thousands of thin razors rending her brain. She opened her mouth to scream, but the pain was so overwhelming that she could only open and close her mouth. Her lungs shrank, imprisoning all the air. Suffocatingly.

The puppeteer smiled. Yet it vanished in a blink. His body dropped on the floor like a puppet with his string cut. Limp. Every limb clung to the ground as if tied to a ton of weight. His smile vanished. He tried to move.

A white magic circle manifested beneath him.

The strings glinted in the moonlight. He tied them to the ropes supporting the main circus tent and used his string to drag himself away from the circle. Huan limped his way inside the circle, growling like a feral beast, and stabbed his sword into his chest, nailing him to the ground. Peirce him until the hilt of his blade dug into the chest.

Huan turned and saw Amaryllis still half in the circle. He dragged himself to her and pulled her to the side. He dropped beside her, coughing blood from his mouth. “Fuck,” He uttered.

Amaryllis felt the enormous mana burst that turned the night into day. Was it over? She couldn’t believe it. Not this easily. Even if nothing about this was easy. Except the fact that they were all alive. All of them. It couldn’t be that easy to survive the battle. It didn’t even resist with everything he had. Only a single half-hearted effort. He didn’t care about it at all.

She twisted her head, looking at Gisella, who seemed pale from overexhaustion. Blood trickled from her nose. Amaryllis could see Gisella had exhausted all her mana just on that single spell and the toll it had taken.

[Key Task Completed: Puppeteer Killed

Reward: 400 Points distributed among team equally

Soul shards accounted for.]

She sighed. Perhaps it was not that easy. They were barely holding on to life. Her thoughts muddled. Her lids became heavy and started to close. She tried to hold on to her vision. They still needed to escape. It proved to be strenuous.

Tap!

The clapping sound reached her ears. Crisp and loud. Her muddled thoughts cleared. It came from where the cage was. Someone else stood. Not the Puppeteer. But the real clown. In clown’s getup. Then there was something else. A man in a suit that screamed Magician. A few others. Of course. The Puppeteer was all but a single character in the carnival. There are others. Shit…

“Shit…” Huan uttered in despair, tears trickling down his face. Amaryllis found a moment to smile.

“Shit, indeed.” She said. Finding everything humorous. A real joke. “Whatever shall we do?”

“Why the fuck are you asking me? I thought you were the brains.”

“I am the stupidest one here…” Amaryllis coughed. I never even thought what if there was more than one else. Stupid me.