[Do you think anyone can inherit my puppetry skills? Are you saying you’re so foolish that you can’t even seize this opportunity?]

‘Foolish, huh…’

Although I don’t know the exact identity of the one speaking, by now, it’s clear that the one who created the tower is no ordinary person.

Perhaps the puppetry skills he’s offering are impressive, but his final masterpiece, the puppet, is likely no ordinary creation either.

[You don’t seem to understand how absurdly lucky you are to be offered my puppetry skills.]

"Well, we'll see about that."

Being the Emperor of the Galactic Empire, there was no reason for him to bow down to this person.

However, it seemed the entity didn’t think so.

[My puppetry skills cannot be compared to ordinary puppetry.]

With each word, I could sense his pride.

[The essence of a puppet is 'mimicry'. A puppet is made to imitate something. It’s unfortunate that you’ve forgotten this fundamental fact.]

[Most puppet creators want to make stronger and more special puppets. I’m no different.]

[But they cannot let go of their obsession and end up projecting their desires into the puppets. This is how puppetry was established.]

Honestly, I didn’t get it.

The mysterious voice seemed to be pouring out its words like a man with a grudge.

[A more unique ability. A more brilliant concept. A more unexpected function. In today’s world, I don’t know, but for a creator, it’s common to project their ego and desires into their creations.]

Did he notice my boredom?

[Hey! Pay attention! Don’t you realize how ridiculous this opportunity is?]

Haha. Yeah. There’s always that type of person.

Kalstein decided to show some patience. He wasn’t entirely uninterested in the situation.

[Anyway!]

Yeah. Anyway?

[I thought that to make the strongest puppet, I had to imitate the strongest being.]

The strongest being, huh...

[And although my experience wasn’t limited, I eventually found it. The being that could be called the strongest.]

Oh?

Even Kalstein, despite his usual indifference, couldn’t help but feel intrigued at this point.

[‘It’ appeared without any forewarning. It just dropped out of thin air.]

Really?

[It showed itself for only three days. In those three days, it destroyed the Samcheongdo sect, the strongest monastic sect in all of the spiritual realms, and slaughtered countless powerful beings.]

"...?"

Kalstein had heard before that the spiritual realms weren’t just one dimension.

[In just a short time, this being created the dark age of the spiritual realms. The common folk call it ‘Honse.’]

Eventually, the greatest beings from the spiritual realms united to drive it out. However, they only expelled it; they didn’t manage to kill it.

[That’s probably a distorted rumor to suit the tastes of the major factions.]

[The truth is that ‘Honse,’ who slaughtered countless strong beings, disappeared almost instantly, despite having won.]

After that, the Myeonggung sect was established, and forces were organized to guard against and prepare for any intrusions.

[An unbelievable existence, truly beyond the realms. It’s understandable that the great sects tried to erase its existence.]

[Heh. But no matter how much they erased and distorted the records, they couldn’t change the truth.]

The voice seemed almost triumphant.

However, with the next words, Kalstein couldn’t help but grow serious.

[Honse is the one who destroys the boundary between ‘reality’ and ‘unreality.’]

"...?"

[And the puppet that imitates ‘Honse’ is my final masterpiece.]

The boundary between reality and unreality?

[How about it? Can you still say you’re not interested?]

Kalstein was silent for a while.

Something was starting to come to mind.

‘No way…’

No, that couldn’t be.

At least the being he was thinking of wouldn’t act like the “human” movement the voice was describing.

[Heh. Seeing you silent, I guess you’ve made your decision.]

By now, the voice had become confident.

[Haha. So, even if you want my masterpiece, come and be my disciple.]

Sigh… No. That’s a thought I’ll discard for now.

This was something that could be verified later.

The real issue right now was negotiating with this being.

Although he had previously rejected it lightly, that wasn’t Kalstein’s true intention.

"I’ve found it interesting, but is it over now?"

[What?!]

Even still, the reason Kalstein was acting this way was...

[Why? What’s the reason?! Didn’t you hear what I said? The ‘Honse’! The one that made everyone tremble with fear just by speaking its name!]

"I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t care."

[This! This! You’re mad, aren’t you?! %@#$^%!@#$^]

The voice was echoing with frustration.

‘Yeah. The puppet maker. Just by how excited he’s getting and how much he’s rambling, I can tell.’

He could tell that the one who needed him more than anyone else was that very being.

Even after creating such a great masterpiece, it was trying to persuade him to become its disciple?

The negotiation had already been decided from the start.

"Whether it's Honse or whatever, I still don’t think you're all that impressive."

[Ha… How did I end up being disrespected by this brat… Time is truly cruel.]

"Haha."

Even while hearing the being’s words, Kalstein couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled.

Could a puppet really be... connected to something like a possession?

Although there was a difference between controlling a puppet and directly possessing it.

‘But even so, it didn’t recognize my possession.’

It’s all dazzling talk, but this was an issue for later verification.

Trusting this entity was a completely different matter.

"I won’t trust you that easily."

[...?!]

"Why should I? I don’t need to follow anyone."

The entity was throwing a fit.

"Haha, the tables have turned, huh?"

***

Boom—

"Get out! Run!"

"Hurry, spread the word!"

"Everyone, get out!"

"Agh!"

"Grand Elder!"

"Ugh!"

"Survive and tell the news to Nam Sa Ryeon!"

Under his gestures, countless screams echoed into the sky.

The screams became a melody, and their wails turned into a rhythm, filling the man’s ears with pleasure.

The man, wrapped in multicolored clouds, took a drink from his wine cup, drawing comfort from their despair.

"There’s no clue coming forth, truly frustrating. But perhaps I should soothe myself by indulging in my own desires?"

Below him, the blood gathered into rivers, turned into oceans, and the air was thick with the scent of blood.

"Hmm. It seems I’ve satisfied my desires."

The man gazed at the rough needle floating in the air with a satisfied look.

"Truly, it was worth taking on the mission to the lower world."

He wasn’t thrilled about taking on tiresome tasks.

But when it came to handling missions in the lower world, he accepted them quietly.

Because there were no eyes watching.

Because there was no need to hide his true nature.

Moreover, he had taken the task on for another secretive mission related to his other affiliations.

"Killing three birds with one stone, this is what it’s about. Hehe."

His eyes stained with blood.

As he waved his hand, a huge claw formed from the sea of blood, grasping and dragging a resisting monk into the depths of the ocean.

"Agh!"

"You! How dare you wear a human mask and do such things!"

"I will never forgive you!"

"You will pay for this!"

Beneath him, monks who still resisted were being swept away and consumed by the waves of blood.

"Do not mourn. You have been a great help to my blood-smelting needle refinement."

Even as he took the lives of millions, the man’s expression remained utterly serene.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, the man stood up, tilting his head in confusion.

"What’s this?"

The starlight began to dim from the mirror hanging at his waist.

"Escape? No, that’s not it."

Seeing that some starlight remained, it didn’t seem like the target had escaped to another spiritual realm.

"But the signal is unstable."

What could have happened?

Not all the beings that drifted from other dimensions were powerful. Even those in the lower world could die at any time.

"Tsk. Of all times."

The unstable signal suggested that the target wasn’t in good condition. If he was too late, he might not even be able to recover the body, and the mission would remain incomplete.

His mission with the Myeonggung sect was as important as it could get.

The man furrowed his brows, gazing at the sea of blood below.

"I need to hurry."

Of course, he had no intention of stopping his blood-smelting needle refinement.

The man formed a seal and began to extract blue energy from his mouth, blowing it into the blood-red needle.

Whooooo—

The sea of blood roiled violently, starting to coagulate.

"Let’s finish this quickly."

Endless screams echoed through the air.