321 Freeze

(Kiyomi POV)

"So weak…" I sighed, watching the six feet tall bear crash down onto the forest floor.

All it took was a simple freezing Technique and it was helpless to resist the death I imparted it.

I idly wondered how bear meat would taste since I've never actually eaten one before. I'm sure Master would still be able to turn this into a heavenly meal though.

I stored the carcass in my storage ring without much thought, my mind occupied with what kind of face Master would make when He witnesses my prey.

Just when I thought to return back to the beach, a Quark burst exploded outwards from the centre of the island. The fact that this happened just as the forest plunged into the darkness of night was not lost on me.

I sniffed the air, noting the sudden staleness present, the smell akin to a room that hasn't been visited in a long while.

The scent of nature was gone, replaced with something that smelled quite… Artificial? It's like being on stage again with all the props around me, like the plants, the wind and everything else were just stage props.

The fact that elder sister had not contacted me through telepathy is also a cause for concern, meaning she was unable to do it either because something happened to her or she was blocked from doing so.

The best course of action right now should be to reunite with Master, which I am confident to assume that all the other girls would be thinking as well.

Making up my mind, I started walking towards the direction of the beach, directly opposite of where the Quark blast had originated from.

I barely took ten steps before I heard a loud groan from the tree on my right, prompting me to turn towards that direction.

It was only thanks to my natural night vision that I saw the tree collapsing towards me, missing me by mere inches when I hopped backwards away from its landing zone.

The tree crashed into the ground with a loud boom, throwing up dust and bits of earth from the impact.

Frowning at the tree, I thought to find out what had caused it to fall so coincidentally on top of me.

I thus made my way towards the direction of where the tree had collapsed from, it ended up as a bit of the walk as the tree turned out to be unusually large.

Upon reaching the end of the trunk, I noted that it was relatively smooth with clear indications of being cut.

This was rather interesting since I didn't hear any sounds that suggested someone had been cutting wood at all prior to the tree's collapse.

Going further down, I was even more intrigued to find a doll made of cloth sitting on top of the tree stump, a lumber axe laying right beside it.

The doll itself was unremarkable, it looked like any other cloth doll that a parent might purchase for their daughters. It was made of woven cloth with black beads for eyes wearing what looked like farmer overalls while the hands ended in stumps without any fingers.

Interesting.

My eyes remained on the doll as I bent to pick up the axe. It remained unmoving even after I hefted the axe in my hands, testing the weight of the tool.

Without any indication of my intentions, I dropped the axe on top of the doll, cleaving it in two.

The doll exploded into a mess of cotton, the two halves falling to the sides and rolling off the stump.

I waited for a moment more, fully expecting the doll to turn into some kind of monster but nothing of that sort happened even after several breaths.

I tossed the axe away, letting it embed itself onto another tree a distance away before resuming my trek back towards the beach.

I walked for a total of five meters before I encountered another doll, this time suspended from a tree with a rope that was tied around its neck.

My eyes followed the rope and within the tree's canopy were even more dolls that were in a similar position as the first one, each of them with various different designs and hanging by their necks.

Feeling a gust of wind blow past me, I turned back to see a handful of what looked like clothing mannequins that one might find in a boutique shop standing behind me in various different poses.

Looking further back, I realised that most of the trees that I had walked past were also filled with various dolls where moments before, I was very sure they hadn't been there when I walked past.

Huhuhu… How amusing~

What kind of person do they think I am? A helpless, scared little girl who can be frightened by a couple of emotionless constructs being arranged around the forest?

How laughable.

I have witnessed the power of my beloved Master and stood beside Him as we faced down a terror that clawed its way up from the abyss.

I have seen my Master wreck destruction the likes of which have never been seen with merely a snap of His fingers.

My own sisters have done much more terrible things to the non-believers who had spoken ill of Master behind His back, smiling and laughing as we each dissected those insufferable mongrels while ignoring their cries of mercy.

The powerless shall be food for the strong and I serve the strongest there is. Master stands at the pinnacle of power, these dolls would not even be qualified to stay at the mountain's foot, nay! They aren't even qualified to behold it!

I had been in theatre, do they actually believe that such theatrics would be enough to unnerve me?

If whatever being here thinks that a bunch of these dolls can make a fool out of me…

I reached up and ripped the doll that had been hanging beside me from its noose, smiling down at it when I flipped it over to face me.

I let an aura of cold envelop my hands, freezing the doll solid before crushing it into tiny pieces. I paused for a moment before slowly looking up towards the other dolls and mannequins, my fist opening up in a dramatic fashion and letting the icicles drop onto the floor.

I let a small grin crawl across my lips before stepping forward, activating my ice Technique that froze the ground with each step that I took.

The ice slowly spread outwards, freezing even the trees and the dolls that hung on them, encasing them as solid ice statues.

Trying to scare me are you?

Huhuhuhu… You are all a thousand years too early to try and scare the likes of me!

You powerless, insignificant little constructs are unworthy of standing in my presence.

The price for trying to stand in my way to reaching Master… I shall be your guide to non-existence.

Fear not, when I am done… No one will remember you.

Not that anyone would in the first place, you all being the faceless constructs you are. But with me, not even a trace of you all shall remain.