Chapter 445 - 443: Magic Puppet Defection?
"You don’t want to?"
Hilia looked down at the Deep Sea Leader, a flicker of unease in her eyes.
Even with Rose as a safeguard, when it came down to it, she was still somewhat afraid.
More importantly, she lacked experience, only remembering that a major trait of the cult was to get people to commit suicide or sacrifice impulsively, which she blurted out in a moment of heat.
This trick worked well on low-tier mages and ordinary believers, but seemed ineffective on higher tiers?
While the Deep Sea Leader was stunned, Hilia suddenly noticed figures slowly appearing outside, carrying traces of battle, seemingly returning from combat.
They rushed over and then froze in place, uncertain of what had occurred.
Seeing the unresponsive Deep Sea Leader, Hilia quietly glanced at Rose’s shadowy figure beside her. Seeing that he was merely watching without speaking, she steeled herself, feigning authority.
"Descending requires enormous... deep sea force, you, and the deep sea force on you, are just right for it. Why aren’t you taking action?"
The Deep Sea Leader snapped back to reality, fanaticism gradually fading. He cast a deep look at Hilia, half-believing, and bowed his head, saying, "At your command, my great master."
With a raise of his hand, magic puppets immediately charged into the crowd, slaughtering indiscriminately.
Everyone’s expression changed, hastily retaliating.
Some cursed loudly, some charged at the Deep Sea Leader, while others fled.
Yet they were all futile, with no one able to escape.
The Deep Sea Leader had already disrupted the space.
Each time a cultist was slain, the pollution within would erupt under the guidance of the magic puppets, merge into the strange array spread throughout the space, and then be transmitted into Hilia’s body through the array.
However, these pollutants had been compressed by Rose into a specific place, unable to affect Hilia.
Throughout the process, the Deep Sea Leader kept watching Hilia, seemingly assessing the changes happening to her.
Perhaps never having witnessed such changes, he found it perplexing.
Once the last cultist was slain, blood flooding the rune-marked ground, the Deep Sea Leader bowed slightly, respectfully saying, "Master, great deity, the offerings you desired are ready. Why does the aura of the deep sea on you remain so faint?"
Hilia took a deep breath and looked at the Deep Sea Leader: "Because there is still one last offering needed."
Here, with only the Deep Sea Leader left, the ’last offering’ was self-evident.
The Deep Sea Leader lifted his head, the respect on his face gradually vanishing, a hint of doubt slowly emerging.
He was about to speak when his expression suddenly changed, raising his hand to condense a shield to block an abrupt attack.
He raised his hand to find the attacker—his own magic puppet.
Astonishment appeared on his face, doubt instantly vanishing.
He hastily pleaded, "Great deity, I am your personally appointed executor. I’ve served you well, you can’t kill me."
His magic puppet used spiritual objects bestowed by the gods, and the puppet attacking him meant only one thing—
The god was personally manipulating it.
All suspicion towards Hilia instantly disappeared.
Yet the puppet’s attack did not cease, swiftly closing in, its weapon infused with colossal magic power and pollution, energy converging entirely to strike the Deep Sea Leader, sending him flying.
The stronger the mage, the more control they needed over the range of magic power and array output, especially in a duel.
A mage whose magic causes terrifying destructive force would definitely lose to a mage of the same tier compressing destructive power into a fist-sized area.
That’s the difference in control.
Hilia sneakily glanced aside at the spot where Rose previously stood, only to find Rose was already gone.
She realized it.
"Though I don’t fully understand the process, the outcome is that Lord Rose succeeded in controlling the Deep Sea Leader’s magic puppet, using it to beat him senseless."
Just as Hilia had said, the one controlling the puppet was indeed Rose.
However, to control a puppet possessing someone else’s divine format fragment, one would need the consent of the true holder of the divine format.
While Hilia was facing the pressure of a Tier Six mage head-on, Rose was amiably interacting with Ethel, allowing him to command his divine format fragment.
The connector imprint between the mage and the puppet may be unbreakable to the mage, yet the deity corresponding to the divine format fragment holds ultimate control over the puppet.
Now Ethel had granted this supreme control to Rose.
Hilia slowly relaxed, delightfully watching the scene unfold.
She discovered Rose even shared the energy usage in the battle with her.
Thus, she found that Rose, when controlling the puppet to cast magic, was even consuming the magic power of the Deep Sea Leader.
The essence of fighting one’s own self.
Boom!
Accompanied by a booming sound whose reverberations were kept within a certain range, the Deep Sea Leader was smashed into the metallic ground.
The indestructible metal floor was dented with a deep crater.
"Poof!"
The Deep Sea Leader spat a mouthful of black blood, panickedly looking at the magic puppet.
He crawled backward two steps, shouting toward Hilia, "Great deity, I’m of most use to you alive. If you need offerings, I’ll fetch them right now. Outside, there’s a plethora of Holy Court dogs, perfect offerings."
Hilia’s expression was aloof, about to speak when she suddenly paused, looking at the three figures suddenly appearing at the portal.
At this moment, those three also looked at her, agape.
These three were none other than Holy Master Connor, Blake, and Melina.
Earlier.
After Blake briefed the Holy Master, the Holy Master curtly cut the connection after a sentence.
Before long, the Holy Master’s figure descended from the sky, smashing Blake into the stone slab, creating a massive crater.
Melina raised her hands in surrender: "The priority is finding Hilia; additional matters can be discussed later."
Withdrawing the fist aimed at Melina, the Holy Master pulled Blake up to inquire.
The two dared not delay, quickly informing the Holy Master of the situation. After contemplating briefly, the Holy Master said, "Unless instantly killed by a Tier Six mage, there must be traces of battle. Instant killing would not activate the teleportation with no trace, if time permits for using the badge, traces must exist, so—"
He looked at the disappearance point: "There’s only one possibility, Hilia activated teleportation but didn’t return or teleported somewhere else."
Blake fetched the mage who made the report.
Upon hearing the Holy Master’s conclusion, the mage was stunned for a moment, "Absolutely not... maybe there’s a possibility."
The Holy Master’s gaze was dangerous, prompting an instant correction.
"Can it be traced?" asked the Holy Master.
"I can’t do it alone, I need others’ help."
Teleportation spells leave traces, erasing them is extremely troublesome.
"I brought them," the Holy Master said, plainly.
Soon, a group stumbled over, carrying a massive Magic Guide Device.
With spatial positioning, soon, the crowd revealed peculiar expressions.
"The teleportation destination isn’t the camp, but... underground."