Green watched helplessly as his companions in the camp fell into a bitter struggle, retreating step by step before the enemy’s overwhelming power. His heart twisted with agony, and a sense of profound powerlessness welled up within him.
He could certainly withdraw from this defensive line in an instant. Given the cautious nature of those two Circus members, they wouldn’t dare block his path if he truly intended to leave.
The problem was… could Green actually go?
His eyes fell upon the expressionless “puppet” by the Puppeteer’s side. Though its body was hollow, a flickering thread of life still remained in its soul. Green knew perfectly well that the enemy was only keeping that spark alive to give him hope—to bind his hands and feet—yet he had no choice but to walk straight into the trap.
“Hehe, the Magician’s hunch was right. This guy may be powerful, but he has a fatal weakness—he still clings to the emotions of ordinary mortals.”
Noticing Green’s conflicted gaze, the Puppeteer laughed inwardly, nearly bursting with celebration. In a clash between top-tier powerhouses, a hair’s breadth of difference is as good as a thousand miles.
Though Green remained composed on the surface, showing no outward signs of being shaken, the Puppeteer could clearly sense the inner turmoil beneath that peaceful expression. He was worried for his companions, yet dared not abandon the unfortunate Imperial Colonel and the ambushed allies.
“Speaking of which…” The Puppeteer’s gaze swept toward the Great Shaman. Images flickered in his mind of when this puppet first entered the Circus’s sights alongside another for evaluation.
Initially, the Puppeteer had favored that fellow, Rolf—clumsy and dim-witted, but loyal to a fault. Of course, the Puppeteer didn’t care about a candidate’s character; he cared about only one thing: talent.
“And this Great Shaman is exactly the kind who has none.”
Although people often called the Great Shaman the greatest genius of the Orc Kingdom in a thousand years, only a select few knew that his startling prowess was the result of certain shadow players. When a person has the endless support of a nation—or an organization even more powerful than a nation—they can break through to the Legendary rank even without a shred of natural talent. What’s more, the Great Shaman wasn’t actually untalented.
“But that guy is nothing more than an experimental subject. Even though he was injected with Chaos Power, not only did he fail to awaken new skills, but he also has to rely on the ancient abominations provided by the Beast Tamer to maintain his Demigod status.”
Shaking his head, the Puppeteer felt no respect for the Demigod puppet in his arms. On the contrary, he was already thinking about how to properly “use” that Orc General once the female Magician finished cleaning up the rabble in the camp.
“You rejected me back then, but this time, you won’t have another chance to run.”
The Puppeteer hardened his resolve, his hands never ceasing their motion. Under his peerless craftsmanship, thousands of lifelike puppets slowly stood up, forming neat ranks as they marched toward Green.
“That’s—!” Green recognized the puppets. They were the very ambushers who, according to his plan, had been lurking outside the defensive line, waiting for him to create a disturbance inside the Orc Bulwark.
“They really were turned into puppets.”
It’s all my fault…
But.
“Why do they know our plan so intimately?”
With the Circus’s power, the Imperial Capital was naturally crawling with their spies. It wasn’t surprising for them to know what the Imperial high command knew.
“But the specific details of our assault on the Orc defensive line… very few people were privy to that.”
Realizing what had happened, Green still found it hard to believe.
“Even Colonel Renn’s hidden troops only learned the full operational plan once they were actually deployed outside the line.”
Green’s strategy was hardly foolproof—in fact, it was riddled with holes, if one set aside his exaggerated combat strength. But precisely because the plan was so irrational, in theory, no one should have been able to predict their overall method of attack. Even an entity as omnipotent as the Circus should, at most, only know that Princess Theresa and her subordinates had been ordered by the Capital to attack the line.
But as for how—infiltrating the line in disguise to seize the commander and launch a pincer attack? Such a fantastical plan was something even the Princess had hesitated a long time before agreeing to.
If that were the case.
“Why did the Circus know so clearly? They even set the traps in advance.”
The answer was already surfacing in Green’s mind, but he desperately wanted to convince himself he was wrong.
“It could be divination,” Green muttered, biting his lip. He comforted himself while concentrating on how to break the deadlock.
However, his brief moment of escapism was instantly caught by the enemy.
He wavered again!
A sharp light flashed in the female Magician’s bright eyes. She couldn’t wait to increase the output of her transparent “caterpillars” to heighten the emotional contagion. She stared at Green with excitement, waiting for his mental state to truly fracture.
To defeat a powerhouse—especially one at the pinnacle of the material world, a Demigod—external force alone was insufficient. As a Chosen One endowed with an inexhaustible supply of Holy Light, so long as Green’s will remained intact, it was impossible for him to lose to any enemy, even another Demigod.
However, once his mind wavered—even if it was by a negligible one-ten-thousandth—it was equivalent to exposing a fatal weakness.
*Crack.*
After repeatedly losing the initiative and watching his companions fall into desperate straits—all of which was directly linked to his own deployment—Green’s seemingly indestructible state of mind… finally showed a crack.
“Excellent!”
Swish—
The lurking Demigod puppet, the energy stored in the Orc fortress’s numerous signal towers, and the offensive the female Magician had long prepared all lunged toward Green in that perfect moment.
*Sizzle! Bzzzt!*
Seeing this, Green continued to brandish his artifact. Powerful mana and Holy Light erupted simultaneously in a brilliant display, effortlessly blocking the enemy’s attack. Under the protection of the God of Justice, no evil could find a foothold.
But… but…
“His Holy Light… it’s dimmed!” the Puppeteer shouted excitedly. The Magician’s tactic had worked. Although Green’s faith remained, that tiny tremor in his heart was enough to allow a Demigod-level Chaos user to withstand what should have been a fatal blow.
Though they still bore immense pressure, but…
“With the power of immortality within us, everything can be purged!”
Fantastic! After all this time, was it finally over?
The Puppeteer watched with delight as black smoke surged toward Green, even as some was reduced to ash by the Holy Light. They had won!
“Mr. Green, this time, even your script cannot save you.”
Two versions of the female Magician, appearing in different locations simultaneously, spoke in perfect unison: “Because you cannot change two existing realities at once, can you?”
*Boom! Boom!*
The two Magicians struck at the same time, launching a fatal assault.
Inside the defensive line, the Magician combined her army of transparent caterpillars with her own power, striking into the domain Green had forged of light and mana, eroding his final space.
In the camp, the Magician easily struck down the two Legendary powerhouses, Andy and Rolf.
Defeat was certain.
“And you can change nothing. You can only watch with wide eyes as those you love depart.”
The Magician looked at Green triumphantly. “Or, you can surrender quietly in exchange for a chance to linger on. My previous offer hasn’t changed.”
She looked down at him, watching the contradictory scene of Green struggling to hold on yet refusing to flee.
“Fine.”
Finally, as if resigned to his fate, Green lowered his head and sighed.
“You’ve come around?” The Magician, proud of her latest masterpiece, asked with joy.
“I wanted to keep hesitating, but since you’ve pushed me to this point, I have nothing left to say.”
Green tilted his head. “But Miss Magician, it seems you’ve misunderstood something.”
“The thing I was wavering about just now wasn’t whether to surrender and cooperate with you, but…”
*Clang—*
So fast?! When?
*Pfft!*
Green’s Holy Avenger pierced through the female Magician’s heart—it happened to both of her in the camp and the defensive line simultaneously.
“I was merely hesitating on how to deal with a traitor. Now that I’ve decided, the so-called ‘crack’ in my mind naturally no longer exists.”
*BOOM!!!*
Pure, holy, and unadulterated Holy Light began to burn, completely enveloping the Magician.
*Sizzle!*
The transparent caterpillars could no longer maintain their emotional interference; they were purified into brilliant specks of light amidst the inferno.
“So this is your answer…” Amidst the flames, the Magician squinted as she watched her own hands wither and rot, unable to move.
“So beautiful,” she murmured. “But I suppose the next time I return to the material world, I won’t be seeing this sky anymore, will I?”
*BOOM!!!*
The Magician’s form vanished into the fire.
The Magician was dead?
Witnessing the sudden reversal of the situation, the Puppeteer jumped back in terror.
“But even if your mind didn’t waver, how could you possibly appear in two places at once?” the Puppeteer demanded, unwilling to accept it. “Even as a Chosen, there’s no way you could… no way…”
“As a wielder of Chaos Power, you hardly have the right to criticize someone else’s power for being ‘unreasonable,’ do you?” Green couldn’t help but retort.
“Besides, there is a type of ‘unreasonableness’ that is perfectly reasonable in itself. Have you forgotten?”
A reasonable unreasonableness?
“Ah?!”
The Puppeteer pointed a trembling finger at Green. “You… you aren’t a Chosen?”
“I told you long ago.” Green patted his chest. “I was once a God, but I got tired of being one a long time ago.”
“It’s time to end this farce.”
Lifting his head, Green raised his twin swords and charged straight at the Puppeteer.
“Wait… Wait a minute!”
My immortality isn’t as strong as the Magician’s!
Seeing Green’s menacing aura, the Puppeteer turned pale with fright. Even though the power of immortality might give him a chance to revive if he died at Green’s hands, the price…
“I can—I can undo the puppetry on your companions!”
As Green’s twin swords swept down in a silent arc, the Puppeteer’s sudden outburst brought him to a dead halt.