“You came to put an end to the puppet show? What do you mean by that?”
Elia narrowed her eyes.
“If you’re thinking of getting rid of my family or anything like that, I swear I’ll kill you no matter what.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then did you come here to kill me?”
“That’s not it either. Hard to believe, but I came here to help you.”
“You came to help me? That’s the most incomprehensible thing I’ve heard today. Are you just saying that to make me drop my guard so you can take me down?”
She still didn’t relax, keeping her puppets at the ready, prepared to attack me at any moment.
I calmly showed both my palms.
“If I really wanted to, I could kill you right now no matter what you did. I wouldn’t need to trick you into lowering your guard. So, just calm down.”
“That’s not calming at all.”
“Whether you keep playing with dolls or perform rituals in the dead of night, at least hear me out before deciding anything.”
“What do you want to say?”
At least she didn’t attack outright.
That was thanks to the overwhelming gap in skill I had already made clear to her.
She probably wasn’t confident she could win right now.
“Elia Belmore, I’ve already done a thorough investigation on you. On your family, too.”
“I know why your family ended up like this. And I know how long you’ve been putting on this puppet show alone.”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
“You don’t have to lie to me. Because I already know everything you’re trying to hide.”
Of course, it wasn’t really an investigation—I had just gained this knowledge from the original story.
But there was no way for her to realize that.
Right now, my best move was to use everything I knew to gain her cooperation.
“Your father, mother, younger brother, and even the servants working in your family’s mansion… they’re all dead, aren’t they? And to cover it up, you’ve been controlling their bodies like puppets for the past five years, pretending that your family is still intact.”
“…How do you know it was five years ago?”
“Strictly speaking, they’re not all ‘dead.’ Their souls were taken, leaving only their empty bodies behind. In a way, it’s the same thing.”
“Who… who are you? How do you know all of this…?”
Ignoring her question, I raised my index finger.
“Elia, there’s one thing you overlooked.”
“And what is that?”
“You assumed they were all completely dead and have been preserving their bodies with your puppetry ever since. But… the truth is, your family is still alive.”
For a moment, she tilted her head as if she didn’t understand my words.
But the trembling in her eyes and lips told me she had heard me clearly.
“W-what…? What did you just say? My family is alive? Are you trying to joke with me right now?”
“The one who took your family’s souls is an Apostle called Belphegor. That bastard still has them.”
“How do you know that?”
“Belphegor has a habit of devouring souls every six years. And when your family was taken, it just so happened to be five years ago.”
“Bullshit. That’s bullshit.”
“There’s still a little time left. If we can take the souls back from him, your family can be revived.”
“That can’t be…”
Elia shook her head and stepped back.
Fear and doubt clouded her eyes.
Somehow, this was taking a turn I hadn’t intended.
“How do you know all of this?”
“I can obtain any information I want. You don’t need to know how.”
“That’s not something you can just get your hands on, even with power. You’re making things up just to trap me or watch me struggle in confusion.”
“What I’m saying is true.”
“It must be a lie. Otherwise, there’s no way you’d tell me exactly what I want to hear the most.”
The heart that had protected her family for so long… it had turned from pain into resignation, and eventually into an immutable part of her life.
She couldn’t accept such a sudden change.
Having lived so long without kindness, the sweeter my words sounded, the deeper her suspicion grew.
“Get a grip, Elia. You know I’m not the type to play games like that.”
“Lies. Lies. Lies.”
“What could I possibly gain from deceiving you? There’s nothing.”
“Lies. Lies. Lies.”
“You’ve wanted to save your family all this time. You kept preserving their bodies, hoping for a way to bring them back, didn’t you?”
“Don’t waste your energy here—let’s go save them. I’ll help you. Of course, not for free. There are conditions.”
Elia stared at me blankly for a moment before lowering her head.
“After my family lost their souls, more than five years have passed. So much has happened in that time. I did everything to protect my father, mother, and brother. I never hesitated to do dirty work in the shadows.”
“Yeah, I know—”
“But then, you suddenly show up and tell me a story that’s too good to be true. A story I’ve dreamed of, longed for, but never dared to believe.”
“So I can’t help but think… maybe all these sweet words are just bait. Maybe you’re a demon who came to drag a sinner like me to hell.”
“I’m not a demon, and I’m telling the truth.”
“Even if you’re not a demon but an angel, that’s a problem too. Angels never bring blessings to someone like me.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m no longer the proud daughter of the Belmore family, nor a model student. I’m just a filthy murderer and a hypocrite. After five years apart, how do you think my family would see me now?”
The puppets lunged at me.
So, this is how it ends.
Normally, Elia would adjust her attacks to avoid unnecessary destruction.
But right now, she had completely lost her composure.
I couldn’t let others get involved, so I lured her outside and expanded a barrier around the entire mansion.
That should be enough to contain the commotion.
“I don’t know what’s true or false anymore. I don’t know what’s right or wrong. No matter what your intentions are, my heart is going to be torn to shreds either way.”
She muttered incoherently, her words lacking logic—just a flood of thoughts spilling out.
Had all the pain and guilt she had suppressed finally exploded because of me?
I needed to give her time to process this.
“Did you come here to punish me?”
“I told you, I came to help.”
“No, you came to judge me. If you really cared about me, you wouldn’t have shown up in the first place.”
“If you weren’t going to listen to me, then why even ask questions?”
I dealt with Elia’s puppets one by one.
She certainly had reason to boast about her collection.
Many of them were just as formidable as the puppet I had fought before.
I even recognized figures from mythology, legendary heroes from the original story, and characters from spin-offs.
Under different circumstances, I would have enjoyed testing my skills against them.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of time.
The fight ended quickly.
The puppets were left inoperable, sprawled across the ground, while the parts of the mansion unprotected by the barrier had been completely destroyed.
Elia stood frozen, watching her defeat unfold.
Then, as the backlash from overusing her power hit her, she coughed up blood.
“Urgh…”
“Now that you’re exhausted, are you finally thinking clearly?”
I walked toward her.
“You could’ve just talked it out. Why are you acting so reckless? You knew from the start it would end up like this.”
“You devil…”
“Still calling me a devil? Well, go ahead if you want. After coming this far, what’s stopping you from doing anything else?”
“You’re just going to mock me no matter what I do.”
“That’s true.”
Elia steadied her breathing and grabbed the collar of my shirt.
She stood there for a moment before carefully asking,
“Is it really true that my family’s souls are still in this world? That they can all be brought back?”
“Yeah, it’s all true.”
“How can I be sure you’re not lying?”
“You can’t. If you don’t want to believe it, then don’t.”
“Aah…”
“What are you laughing at? Stop stalling and get up.”
I grabbed Elia’s arm and lifted her up.
She staggered for a moment, trying to regain her balance, then muttered loud enough for me to hear.
“If it were Kalian, he would have said, ‘I swear on my soul that this is the truth.’ And he wouldn’t have yanked me up so roughly.”
“Why the hell would I swear on my soul? Stop mumbling nonsense and clean up your mess first.”
“Fine. But before that, there’s something I need to show you.”
After barely recovering her strength, she immediately led me back into the mansion.
She didn’t seem to be plotting anything, so what was this about?
The mansion was eerily silent at this late hour.
We walked down an empty hallway before arriving at a storage room tucked away in the corner.
Given the sheer size of the mansion, the storage room wasn’t small either, but Elia ignored all the items inside and kept walking.
In the farthest corner stood a bookshelf.
She pulled out a few books, and suddenly, the bookshelf moved on its own, revealing a hidden passage leading underground.
“That’s quite an unusual basement.”
“The official basement is elsewhere. This is the one I can’t show to others.”
“Is it where you store your puppets?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
We descended the staircase for a long time.
The design suggested it had been built for a secret purpose, and it extended quite deep.
The bare stone walls were damp and cold, and the sound of our footsteps echoed for minutes as we walked.
Eventually, we arrived at a heavy iron door.
Just before opening it, Elia hesitated.
“I just thought of something… What if seeing what’s beyond this door changes your mind about everything?”
“I wasn’t thinking much about it, but now that you’re hesitating, I’m even more curious. Just open it. It takes a lot to surprise me.”
“I hope so.”
Creak.
She pushed open the iron door.
The enormous underground chamber lit up on its own, revealing the space inside.
“This place… it’s kind of where it all started for me. I don’t come here as often anymore, but sometimes, when I remember, I visit.”
Elia spoke in a calm voice.