Chapter 734: The Vile Puppeteer

Chapter 734: The Vile Puppeteer

After the identical triplets merged, their size enlarged to be as big as a mountain. Their feet crushed the trees below them as their skin bubbled like it was out of hot goo. Arthur could smell a distinct odor resembling foul blood, which seemed to come from the monster before him.

"I thought humans were following us," muttered Arthur with disappointment. "It turns out that even monsters can take human forms. I wonder how far away you are to be able to control these puppets."

Arthur addressed the man controlling these puppets, and then he realized something. In Runera, Arthur met corpses controlled by someone, but that mystery was never uncovered. At that time, he met Mistletoe for the first time in this timeline, which blew his cover as a fake Arthur Silvera.

Li and Arthur met the corpses of the missing runemasters, which someone from Runera was controlling. Arthur uncovered that clue from the artifacts used by the bodies. However, he never got to know who was behind the attack.

It must be someone who tried to get into the ruins but failed when Mistletoe and Arthur arrived. A puppeteering ability was relatively rare; chances were that the two were the same person.

"I wonder what a prestigious master from Runera wants here," said Arthur toward the giant, who then froze. The fact that Arthur revealed his identity was enough for the puppeteer to be shaken. Arthur picked on that. "Have you grown bored of the ruins?"

The giant did not answer and stared at Arthur with its eyeless hollows. Then, without missing a beat, it raised its fist to smash Arthur with it, making him grin.

"Are you trying to bury the truth?" grinned Arthur with amusement as he side-stepped, making the fist graze his black robes. He was not here as Arthur Silvera but an average face in the crowd and the puppeteer did not know that.

Arthur would have never made the connection if not for his encounter with the puppets inside the ruins. Sier was not the culprit behind this, as the puppets were the reason the Ghost Ruler discovered his infiltration.

The artifacts used by the corpses exploded when Arthur touched them, but Arthur held the runic lines together to discover their manufacturer. Moreover, they had the emblem of Runera craved on them. All these clues gave Arthur a hint of their identity, which would not have been possible without his ability to control runic lines.

The fist landed on the ground, making it cave with a resounding impact that bent the trees. Arthur rushed toward the giant as he took out another rune called clairvoyance. It consisted of four lines as well:

- Detect – mana frequencies.

- Detect – direction.

- Detect – distance.

- Visualize.

Arthur used the mana frequency controlling the puppet to estimate a location and show the source. It was a rune he invented on the spot by thinking of the four runic lines that could help him find out who it was.

His hand grabbed the rune, and Arthur struck the giant's forehead, sending his mana through its body. The giant was not harmed, but Arthur retraced the source of his controller, and an image appeared in his mind.

After he saw the source, the connection suddenly disappeared. Arthur could not see the exact face of the puppeteer, but what he saw nonetheless shocked him. It was a meeting of the upper echelons of Runera, hosting the four families, their leaders, and several important characters.

Since the connection was severed, the giant started to dissolve into goo that destroyed the trees and the land. Arthur stared at the scene with a frown, watching the once mighty giant dissolve like an ice statue.

Yin was observing the scene from the cave when Arthur descended back from the sky. She was looking at the giant harming the land, her eyes carrying unfamiliar emotions. The once beautiful forest was ruined, and she seemed more heartbroken to see it.

"I can restore the forest," said Arthur as he noticed that she didn't look at him even after he landed beside her. However, Other Yin shook her head to refuse his offer.

"Perpetual wink is inevitable, and revival harms the orb."

"No one would agree to that," said Arthur. "Everyone hates death, and it's alright to do so. The end is never pleasant."

"All hates perpetual wink, yet it grants meaning to what ere it. Thus, a story with no end is a story none wants to read."

"A story is different from life. Stories have endings so that people can enjoy a resolution. However, if you die, nothing matters, so there is no meaning to whatever happens before it if you are not there to feel it."

"Thou receive that, yet hast thou died ere?" asked Other Yin while staring at the forest. "Hath the dead visited thy window every day, making thou so certain of what comes behind it?"

"I did not receive any dead visitors, but I once visited death," said Arthur, forcing Other Yin to look at him. She seemed confused as if seeking to recognize him. But then, her eyes changed.

"The two of us met ere, hast we not?" she asked with almost certain recognition. "Thou are the man who once harmed me for his selfish desires."

"I deny such accusations," said Arthur while raising his hands in defense. "We never met before. This is the first time we meet if you are different from Little Yin."

"I am her other brow and the one causing her much trouble," replied Other Yin before she lay down on her bed again. "I don't resent thou, although thou caused me much harm. Yet keep care, for the orb thou love so much shall be undone if thou doth it again. Perpetual wink must exist, or it shall be unprevailing to live."

Arthur suddenly had some doubts about the identity of the person talking to him, but she closed her eyes. Then, she was asleep, replaced by the same Little Yin that Arthur knew.

The events of this night were far from what Arthur expected, making him doubt many things. Finally, he turned to look at the forest covered in the goo, which made him go down the mountain again.

The last words of Other Yin bothered him since he understood that she referred to herself as death itself. If she believed such a crazy notion, did she mean that Arthur harmed her when he revived Ai in Freda?

It can be the words of a crazy person since Little Yin already has a separate persona that awakens when she sleeps. However, what would make a prestigious family of Runera seek a crazy person, even spending months of labor just to find her?

Do the ruins of Runera have hints or records of where to find Other Yin? Is this just the natural cascade of events that the puppeteer had in mind?

Those two questions made this matter, which Arthur came across due to his visit to Ilios, make this situation critical. If so, then the reason that the black cat appeared would be for that reason. The will of the previous Arthur knew the identity of Other Yin, which Arthur has yet to figure out.

[Analysis-IV]

Arthur used his rune on the goo, which detected its compositions. A report was made moments later, telling Arthur of the elements inside it, and it was primarily organic compounds. However, the report also mentioned that this matter had different traces of people in it.

"What kind of sick bastard created this substance?" muttered Arthur with a frown as he stared at the numbers his rune gave him. It said that there were different traces of organic matter inside this, making Arthur believe some inhuman acts were behind it.

As he was staring at the goo on the ground, Arthur noticed it was moving. He assumed it was designed to return to Runera since it was so precious. However, Arthur was conflicted since destroying this would mean that the puppeteer would have to kill more people to create another.

"I doubt such a man would wait for his weapon to be stolen to get another," corrected Arthur since his thinking was flawed. The ancient fire appeared on his fingertips before Arthur threw it at the goo.

The sizzling sound made him uncomfortable, and Arthur walked back toward the cave. Even though the goo covered the forest, the fire was designed to burn only the target material in a given radius. It would not harm anything else.

Arthur returned to the cave with a heavy heart. The fact that such a vile person is a ruler in the city Arthur created made him sick. Therefore, he knew his destination after Ilios. It was time to go back to Runera and find out the truth.

After he returned to the cave, Arthur found Little Yin awake. She was rubbing her eyes while staring at him. The sunset appeared behind Arthur, casting its rays on her drowsy face.