Scott quietly stepped back; his gaze fixed on the Feral Marionette. He watched as Zara advanced, her steps deliberate, almost mechanical.

Champion Interface Basic Stats

Name: Zara. Level: 69. Experience Points: 6900/7000

Race:

* Feline!

Class: Feral Marionette.

Party Members:

* Scott Dorsey.

* Orion Audeus.

* Ember.

* Fi-Fi.

* Slim the Grim.

Title:

* Hound Extermination Crew Party Leader.

* Calamity in charge of Area D-15.

Rank:

* 1.

Energy Sources:

* Imprint of Madness – Partial.

* Chaos Zone – Partial.

* Aga’dz Domain: ???

Abnormal State:

* Aga’dz: Excited.

* Zara: Excited.

Blessings: Illusionary Mirror - Mimicry. Incarceration: Godsfall Island !

Rule of Absolute: Aga’dz Strings.

Physical Stats Strength: 50. Agility: 89. Endurance: 66. Dexterity: 89. Toughness: 50.

Skills Mind Puppetry (Level 3) Feral Reflexes (Level 6) String Mastery (Level 4) Blood Weave (Level 2) Aga'dz’s Will (Level 6) Predatory Instinct (Level 5) Party Communication (Level 2)

Abilities [High-Tier]

* Blood-Threaded Armory: The puppet strings can be shaped into various weapons, each infused with chaotic energy. These weapons are highly lethal and unpredictable, delivering devastating blows in combat.

* Aga’dz’s Embrace: Once fully attached to an enemy, the puppet strings grant control over the target’s movements, turning them into unwilling puppets to fight alongside the user or to sow confusion among their ranks.

* Frenzied Convergence: When merging with the apparition, speed, agility, and strength are dramatically increased. This state triggers a heightened frenzy where attacks become more brutal and relentless.

* Carnage Strings: Extend the puppet strings to attack multiple enemies simultaneously, causing them to bleed profusely while sapping their strength.

* Chaotic Marionette: Imbue the puppet strings with chaotic essence, causing them to lash out unpredictably at enemies, creating a whirlwind of destructive force around the user.

Quests

Main Quest: Reach the end of White Hell – Ongoing! Side Quest: Announce yourself at the Point of no Return – Not Started!

Scott skimmed through Zara’s stats, his brows furrowing despite his familiarity with her abilities. He still couldn’t figure out who Aga’dz was—he had his suspicions, but nothing certain. Shifting his focus, the voidweaver eyed the ninjas on the opposite side of the pathway. Shuriken dangled loosely between the fingers of some, while others gripped swords, chain sickles, and iron claws.

Unlike Zara, who advanced with a swaggering confidence, the ninjas remained still, their eyes—the only visible part of their bodies—trained on the feline. Although she moved like a mannequin, none of them underestimated her. Yet, they hesitated, holding back their attack. Even as Scott stood motionless, they kept him within their sightlines.

With less than a hundred meters between the shinobis and Zara, the assassination squad made their move. The group wielding shuriken unleashed a storm of projectiles toward the puppeteer, while half of the masked warriors charged, their forms blurring like smoke caught in a windstorm.

Zara, her robotic smile unwavering, paused just as the projectiles reached her. The Aga’dz strings recoiled, and a sharp slap echoed through the pathway. Several strings intercepted the shuriken, corroding them with an eerie crimson hue. After a moment, the strings snapped forward, sending the projectiles whizzing back at breakneck speed. The shuriken embedded themselves in the foreheads of the shinobis who had dared to approach.

The ominous strings whipped back again, and bloody projectiles materialized at their tips. With another snap, the new projectiles sped toward the stunned warriors, striking before their companions’ bodies even hit the ground.

“Stop it!” a voice roared, and a spiked iron curtain manifested in front of the shinobis, blocking the attack. The barrier's impact sent tremors rippling through the pathway.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Both Zara and Scott turned their attention to the walls, where a fresh set of shinobis had emerged. The new arrivals wore horned asura masks, with steel gauntlets covering their forearms. Leading them was a towering figure, over seven feet tall, his form slightly hunched. His right hand rested on the iron curtain, while his left held three blackened, gyrating balls. The rest of the group held similar weapons; their bloodthirsty eyes fixed on the prisoners blocking their path.

“If you let us pass, we will let you live!” the figure declared, his voice hoarse.

Scott remained impassive. Zara, however, stretched out her right hand, and the strings began to move once more. The shinobis braced themselves for the puppeteer’s next attack, but to their surprise, the strings didn’t race toward them. Confusion flickered in their eyes as they watched the strings dart toward the fallen corpses. Before they could grasp what was happening, the strings embedded themselves in the bodies, and in a mere heartbeat, the corpses began to rise.

“Kill her now!” the lanky leader bellowed, hurling the blackened balls toward Zara. The orbs exploded mid-air, unleashing hundreds of pellets that expanded and elongated as they neared the puppeteer. The other shinobis followed suit, launching their own projectiles toward Zara and the still motionless Scott. The airborne items crackled, some emitting bolts of lightning, while others spewed acid and poisonous gases as they hurtled toward their targets.

The strings wiggled like sentient snakes, propelling the puppets forward into the onslaught of incoming pellets. The echoes of breaking bone, tearing flesh, and the nauseating stench of fresh blood quickly filled the air. Despite their perforated bodies, the puppets continued their relentless charge. Any pellets that managed to slip past the corpses were swiftly intercepted by the strings, corroded, and hurled back at the ninjas with even greater ferocity.

The lanky shinobi struck the iron curtain once more, causing its spiked exterior to extend toward Zara, aiming to impale her. But this time, strings appeared above Zara’s head, and with superhuman agility, she dodged the spikes in a blur of motion. The spikes then hurtled toward Scott, who remained motionless. A nihilistic portal materialized inches from his face, effortlessly devouring the pointed projectile.

Zara, on the other hand, appeared among the ninjas like a ghoul, her presence sudden and terrifying. Aga’dz strings lashed out, ensnaring several stunned warriors before they could react. They howled in pain, but only for a moment—then their heads slumped to the side, their movements turning disturbingly robotic.

“What sort of demon is this?” the lanky shinobi muttered, instinctively taking a step back as he reached for a fresh set of pellets. But before he could act, an iron claw raced toward his neck. He twisted his body, delivering a ruthless kick to the assailant’s neck, snapping it with a sharp crack. Yet the attacker kept moving, undeterred.

“Damn you!” the shinobi roared, pulling his hand from the iron curtain, causing it to vanish instantly. He then performed a series of hand seals and blew out a blazing inferno, obliterating everything within twenty meters.

What sort of wicked ability is this? he wondered, his gaze lingering on the charred corpses of his companions, who still moved. The fact that he couldn’t distinguish who had been possessed from who hadn’t was maddening. Zara had cunningly deceived them, making them believe only those who moved mechanically were under her control. Several ninjas had fallen to unsuspecting sneak attacks, and those who survived were brutally finished off by other puppets.

This is not a battle I can win, the shinobi realized, his eyes shifting momentarily to Scott. Something tells me that one is an even bigger threat. Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine. Why did it suddenly get so cold? At that moment, a blur zipped past him. He turned instinctively toward Scott, but the voidweaver was gone.

Instead, a thick, whitish mist had begun to gather deep within the pathway. Hoofbeats echoed, the sound of hooves running on ice. The shinobi frowned behind his mask, doubting what he was hearing. He glanced at Zara, but she had vanished as well. However, in the distance, he caught glimpses of the feline and the voidweaver sprinting down the path with all their might.

Panic surged through the shinobi. “We must run!” he bellowed, unleashing a burst of frightening speed as his voice echoed through the corridor. Some of his comrades immediately followed suit, mimicking his actions as they fled. Meanwhile, a few remained behind, dazed and brutalized from their brief encounter with the Feral Marionette. Like the lanky shinobi, they suddenly felt an unnatural chill creeping up their spines, their breaths exhaling clouds of condensed ice. They stared at each other in stupefaction before turning toward the path ahead. Thick, icy fog blighted the pathway, and the unmistakable sound of hooves galloping on ice grew louder.

The Calamity of Ice has arrived!

A notification appeared before the stunned champions, but none could speak or move, their bodies frozen in place by ice. The galloping echo intensified, and the outline of a centaur emerged from within the thick fog. The champions could only blink in helplessness, watching as the named calamity closed the distance. With each passing second, the centaur’s silhouette grew more defined, and the eyes of the frozen ninjas widened in shock. The twenty-foot creature barreled through the area, shattering the immobilized warriors as if they were mere icicles beneath its hooves.

Meanwhile, farther ahead, Zara and Scott pushed their muscles to the limit as they raced through the pathway.

“Shit, shit, shit… why did it have to come here?” Zara grumbled, her feet pounding the ground in desperation.

“Forget about that. Just run!” Scott urged, not daring to look back. As they sprinted forward, the voidweaver manifested several nihilistic portals along their path. The portals gradually merged, forming a massive gateway that spanned the entire pathway. Scott knew he couldn’t take on the named calamity in a direct fight, but he also knew the creature might not survive a trip to the nihilistic zone.

“No! Why is this here?” the lanky shinobi’s voice echoed from behind, filled with despair. But neither Scott nor Zara paid him any attention, their focus entirely on the path ahead.

“I can see an exit up ahead!” Zara called out, glancing at Scott. Her excitement palpable. “We can—huh?” She suddenly paused; her breath visible in the cold air. Before she could react, Scott grabbed her arm, his voice urgent in her ear. “Don’t let go, no matter what!”

In that instant, the walls a few feet away shattered, revealing the Calamity of Ice in all its terrifying glory. Scott skidded to a stop. “I suspend all laws within my domain!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the corridor.

Reality itself seemed to warp at Scott’s words, as darkness and spatial distortions engulfed the area within a five-hundred-foot radius around him. In a flash, Scott and Zara were pulled into one of the distortions, vanishing from sight as the space-time continuum snapped back to normal. The Calamity of Ice remained motionless, seemingly frozen in time.

A displeased grunt echoed through the pathway, and a shadowy figure emerged from the darkness. “What a clever brat. I was hoping he’d descend into the nihilistic zone…” the hazy silhouette muttered with a sigh. “All that effort for nothing. What a waste.” The figure moved toward the spot where Scott and Zara had disappeared. “It’s not a total waste, though. At least now I have an inkling of what his domain can do. This is going to be fun.”

With those words, the figure vanished, leaving the Calamity of Ice staring at its surroundings, dazed and confused. The confusion was fleeting, however, as the creature slammed its hind limbs into the ground, shattering the thick icy layer beneath it. Without hesitation, it began to descend, charging through the fractured ice.