Chapter 86: Coordination

Chapter 86: Coordination

A bright, slightly silver-white moon slowly rose within Witch King Karaman’s eyes, swiftly occupying his pupils.

It was completely different from the common crimson moon, and it was not the blood moon that occasionally appeared either. It somewhat resembled the moon’s abnormal state not long ago, yet there was also a certain difference.

It illuminated Karaman’s eyes. It illuminated his body, instantly severing his connection to the crimson moon.

In other words, before returning to normal, Karaman could no longer attempt Moonlight Transformation, nor could he “Flash” within a certain range covered by crimson moonlight.

All at once, a single word surfaced in this Witch King of the Moon domain’s mind:

“Lilith!”

The ancient god Lilith, who had once governed the Moon pathway!

This change was beyond Emlyn’s expectations. But Sharron, who excelled at restraining her emotions and thoughts, was not affected. While already transformed into Karaman’s puppet, she raised her right hand and pulled down a lock of black-and-white hair from her forehead.

Almost simultaneously, from the head of Witch King Karaman, a lock of grizzled hair fell of its own accord without being attacked by anything.

The Gate of Summoning he had opened just now dimly dissolved and broke apart inch by inch within the full eruption of sunlight from the Pure White Sight.

It was not that the summoned Rose School of Thought angel could not resist this Grade 1 sealed artifact, Pure White Sight. Rather, the Gate of Summoning itself could not endure an attack of such intensity and nature.

In addition, the King of Curses, Baranca, had only just extended two hands. The power He could descend with from afar remained quite limited, and the evil aura that seeped into reality had also been purified by the Pure White Sight, preventing it from influencing Sharron and Emlyn.

At this moment, without the Gate of Summoning as a medium, Baranca could only retreat to wherever He had originally been and wait for the next summoning, or for Witch King Karaman to pray again.

As an angel, His status was sufficient for Him to respond to prayers across the whole world!

After seeing that lock of hair drift down, Sharron’s puppet-form Karaman did not hesitate. She let her right hand naturally slide downward a little from her forehead, pinched the exaggerated slit inlaid with the blood-red full moon, and forcefully closed it inward.

Karaman let out a scream he could not suppress. The flesh and blood on his forehead blurred bizarrely, surging into that horrifying slit and covering the miniature “full moon.”

This was one of the Beyonder powers of the Mutant pathway’s Sequence 4 Puppet. It was called Source of Curses.

Aside from being able to influence nonliving objects, Puppets could also turn into secret-art puppets, mystical paper figurines, and other items, then curse targets in all kinds of ways through the connections they established.

This Beyonder power would undergo a qualitative change at Sequence 3. At the current stage, it belonged to the type that injured oneself while injuring the enemy, so under ordinary circumstances, Puppet demigods rarely used it.

In other words, Puppets harmed enemies by harming themselves.

Sharron dared to do this because she was certain that, since both sides were Sequence 4, a Wraith and Zombie would definitely endure damage better than a vampire.

Because she had known beforehand that Witch King Karaman possessed the Grade 1 sealed artifact Pupil-less General, Sharron had never expected her initial Wraith possession to truly succeed. Its main purpose was to establish a connection with Karaman through that method, preparing the way for the following curse.

Pulling down that lock of hair was the formal sign that the curse had begun. Destroying the blood-red full moon on the target’s forehead was to prevent him from once again creating a Gate of Summoning and pulling a Rose School of Thought angel onto the battlefield.

Of course, as a demigod, Karaman would not be cursed to death so easily.

In the past, he would have been able to use methods such as Moonlight Transformation and Bat Transformation to weaken the damage brought by the curse. He could also keep moving at high speed, evading attacks while reciting the honorific name of a Rose School of Thought angel. But beneath the bright moon dyed with a touch of silver-white, his body seemed frozen and solidified, unable to complete similar actions.

As Karaman’s thoughts raced, the puppet sitting on his shoulder—the Pupil-less General—stood up and released an ear-piercing shriek.

The surrounding glass windows shattered one after another, turning into bullet after bullet that shot toward Sharron, who floated in midair. Meanwhile, the eyeball-shaped glass orb, no longer under anyone’s control, flew up on its own, causing a huge pillar of light wrapped in countless flames to descend from the air.

The pillar of light enveloped Sharron, making the surroundings completely bright, as though daylight had arrived.

The Pupil-less General could influence mystical items that had lost their holder, making them help it!

Inside the Solar Flare, Sharron’s figure, which had taken on Karaman’s appearance, began visibly melting. The expression on her face twisted beyond her control. Half of the many glass fragments dissolved inside the beam of light, while the other half pierced through her body.

Karaman screamed again. Emlyn’s body turned cold at the sound, and his blood seemed to condense into frost.

One blood-red hole after another appeared across the Witch King’s body. His entire person was like a candle thrown into a fireplace, slowly softening and dripping fat.

Any damage to the Source of Curses would be reflected upon the target!

As a demigod of the Rose School of Thought, Karaman unquestionably knew this. His action just now was intended to trade injury for injury, forcing Sharron to voluntarily stop the curse.

Under Sun-domain divine arts, dark and evil creatures such as Puppets, Wraiths, Zombies, and Werewolves would clearly suffer heavier damage than vampires, Potion Professors, Crimson Scholars, and Witch Kings.

In other words, continuous Solar Flare strikes would cause Sharron to directly vanish, but could only heavily injure Karaman. And demigods of the Moon pathway possessed extraordinary self-healing.

In that single second, Witch King Karaman relied on his rich experience and profound mysticism knowledge to accurately grasp the Source of Curses’ weakness, choosing the method most suitable for himself and most effective in the shortest time.

Yet at that very moment, Emlyn White, who had lost the Pure White Sight and summoned that strange moon, had already recovered himself. He took out a hard-shelled copper-green notebook and flipped to one of its pages.

Crackling sounds followed. Bolt after bolt of lightning leaped out of thin air, intertwining into a storm filled with an intense aura of destruction, sweeping Witch King Karaman inside at once.

Leymano’s Travels—Lightning Storm!

Having temporarily lost the ability to transform into moonlight and Flash within a certain range, Karaman had no way to dodge. One silver-white bolt after another struck him hard.

Sharron seized the chance to end her Source of Curses state, preventing the damage the target suffered from reflecting back onto her.

However, her face had clearly grown much paler than before, and her aura had become rather weak.

The erupted ball of silver-white light soon faded. Karaman’s entire body had turned pitch black.

His charred skin and flesh continuously fell away, while new flesh and blood wriggled and grew in their original positions.

The Pupil-less General’s body rapidly turned illusory, seeming to become a ghost. It was preparing to possess Karaman and bring him sideways out of the current area, avoiding follow-up attacks.

At that very moment, a blond-haired, red-eyed head abruptly appeared and bit down on the exquisite doll’s head.

Karaman, who still retained some paralysis, instinctively looked over and saw a headless lady.

The lady wore a gloomy, complicated gothic dress and carried four blond-haired, red-eyed heads.

Reinette Tinekerr!

…

Inside the boundless desert, Reinette Tinekerr, who was besieging Abomination Suah together with Azik, Arianna, and the silver-white giant snake, suddenly had her gaze turn blank and her movements stiff. She began acting purely on instinct.

This was one part of Klein’s plan. When the battle on this side stabilized, and Abomination Suah could not break free for the moment and was temporarily in no danger of death, Reinette Tinekerr’s true body would leave the concealed state, return to the real world, and help Sharron and Emlyn swiftly resolve the battle.

Glancing at the pitiful mummy projection shown in midair, Klein controlled the three great angels to entangle Abomination Suah. At the same time, he used the influence of Their auras upon the surrounding environment to switch from Teleportation to Flame Jumping, continuing to maneuver against the Rose School of Thought’s Witch King.

During this process, he appeared relaxed and unrestrained, but in reality, he discovered that the compatibility between his body and soul was falling bit by bit. His body was gradually becoming a prison for the spirit, making his movements stiffer and heavier.

This reminded Klein of the core description of Prisoner:

The body is the cage of the heart, and the world is the cage of the body.

As time passed, he experienced the meaning of that sentence directly from another angle.

After Abomination Suah began paying attention to him, even without a chance to attack him directly, He had silently caused him to suffer erosion!

…

After using one head to control the Pupil-less General, Reinette Tinekerr lifted another head, which held the black cane in its teeth.

The cane was inlaid with many gemstones, and a hazy radiance lit up across it.

A figure rapidly took shape. It was Gehrman Sparrow, wearing a top hat, dressed in a trench coat, and holding the Death Knell revolver.

Bang!

A silver-black streak of light flew out and accurately struck Karaman’s body.

Karaman’s thoughts froze at once, and his entire person stiffened completely in place.

Spirit-Control Bullet!

This was the Spirit-Control Bullet fired by Gehrman Sparrow and reproduced through the Staff of the Stars!

This sealed artifact, numbered 0-62, could allow Beyonder powers and people that surfaced in its holder’s mind to “descend” into reality. In the latter case, the person could launch one attack.

On the other side, Sharron immediately transformed once more into a puppet identical to Karaman. Drawing back her right hand, she plunged it fiercely into her own chest.

Blood sprayed out violently. Karaman opened his mouth, but no sound came.

For a Wraith, the heart was definitely not a vital point. But to a vampire, it was extremely fatal.

Not giving Karaman the chance to endure it, Emlyn once again flipped through Leymano’s Travels, released the Recorded “Summon Historical Projection,” and took out the Unshadowed Crucifix covered in verdigris.

His finger pressed hard against one of the thorns, letting blood flow out and “wash clean” the mottled stains of the cross.

A spear, pure and incandescent to an extreme degree, instantly condensed.

After Sharron ended the Source of Curses state, Emlyn hurled the spear of light and watched it pierce through Witch King Karaman’s chest, pinning him to the high wall of the cathedral.

Brilliant light abruptly expanded, completely extinguishing the last trace of Karaman’s aura.

Unshadowed Spear!

…

Inside the vast desert, Klein suddenly stopped. Facing Abomination Suah and the Witch King, he removed his top hat, pressed a hand to his chest, and gave a bow.

His body immediately faded and vanished.

During this process, Klein was not at all worried he would be interfered with, because it was not he himself attempting to leave. Rather, Reinette Tinekerr had ended the maintenance of the historical projection.

That meant the operation on the other battlefield had succeeded!