“This isn’t fair. I’m so frustrated...”

Tears fell down from the eyes of the old cultivator who was holding a dying girl in his arms. He was crying so bitterly that the atmosphere around him turned grim.

“Do you think we came here out of our own volition? This land is completely unfamiliar to us. We were forcefully brought here. In this cursed land where there are no constellations to perform rituals to and no way to raise our realm, we have no choice but to figure out a way to survive.”

The old man’s skinny hands tightened around the girl as he hugged her.

“My granddaughter has less than ten years left to live. If she doesn’t raise her realm within ten years, she will die. As her grandfather, how can I turn away from this child? I contributed to the construction of the Full Moon Fortress not because I had any ill will toward you. I just wanted to save my only granddaughter...”

The more the old man talked, the darker the expressions of the Overgeared members became. Together with Braham and Faker, they destroyed four fortresses and were on the verge of taking care of their fifth one.

They succeeded in capturing the walls of the Full Moon Fortress, which were guarded by as many as three Absolutes. Now, they just had to destroy the formation in front of them and a total of five Full Moon Fortresses would’ve fallen because of them.

The guardian of the formation also no longer fought back. Since his granddaughter, who was also guarding the formation with him, was seriously injured, all he could do was hug her and sob.

“...Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t have a story?” Zirkan asked. “I know how you must feel, but give me a moment. I will decide what to do with you once this formation is destroyed.”

Zirkan was the former top-ranked swordsman and Chris’ closest confidant. His words were oddly comforting, because he also had grandchildren, so he sympathized with the old cultivator.

The rest of the cultivators, who had been fierce in battle, relaxed their postures slightly.

Zirkan and the rest passed the sobbing old man, who was still hugging his granddaughter, and approached the formation.

But—

“So naive.”

The sneer of the young girl echoed throughout the hall.

Shocked, everyone turned around to see the dying girl in the old man’s arms standing up, looking quite healthy.

“...What?”

The Overgeared members were confused. They looked between the girl, who was smiling eerily, and the old man lying limp like a corpse next to her. They couldn’t really understand what had happened while they had their backs turned.

However, an archer with the skill Hawk Eyes noticed something suspicious. The girl’s fingertips had transparent threads attached to them. Quite a few threads were connected to the old man.

“That guy was a puppet...? A trap! It’s a trap!” the archer shouted, but it was too late.

The Overgeared members had already entered the formation, and the girl had the authority to activate it.

The girl snorted. “What is the point of making such a fuss when the trap has already been set?”

Every time her thin fingers formed a different shape, the formation containing the Overgeared members vibrated loudly.

“It’s a shame that I couldn’t imprison the most vigilant assassin and the magician, but it’s fine. You are also quite strong. You will make great puppets.”

Flash!

The formation trapping the Overgeared members emitted a colorful glow, blinding them temporarily. They staggered back as long, thin threads pierced their skin. This wasn’t an illusion. Tens of thousands of transparent threads stretched out from the clusters of light emanating from the formation and wrapped around their bodies.

[The ‘Puppet Circuits’ have pierced you.]

[You struggle to escape, but nothing happens.]

[You have lost control of your body.]

“What...?”

The transparent threads that pierced the skin of the Overgeared members and penetrated their organs were in fact intricately crafted treasures. There were many complex circuits installed in every one of them. Every time the circuit was connected, the formation was completed and the technique manifested.

The Overgeared members couldn’t even speak.

“Huhu.”

The girl looked quite satisfied with herself as she moved her hands. Her enemies were now acting in accordance with her will. They approached her, lined up, and bowed down as if greeting a king.

“I swear loyalty to my new master,” they said against their will.

[You have pledged allegiance to the cultivator Aeya.]

The puppet strings had an additional effect.

[The pledge of allegiance has been imprinted on the Puppet Circuits.] [You can’t be hostile to Aeya.]

‘This damn thing.’

A chill went down the spines of the Overgeared members. They finally realized how powerful the girl in front of them was. They couldn’t think of a way to get out of this situation without outside help.

Their only consolation was that they were all players, so they weren’t going to be her puppet forever.

‘I’m glad Braham isn’t here,’ the cultivators were consoling themselves.

A gloomy voice echoed through the hall. “I see how things turned out... Why did you appoint him as the commander of the unit? Did you pick him because of his connections?”

The voice reeked of irritation and frustration. The person speaking was very handsome. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Braham had already returned from chasing the runaway Absolutes. Faker also accompanied him.

“It’s true that I picked him because of his connections. I don’t have the knack for leading people, so I needed a squad commander to take charge.” Faker spoke for an uncharacteristically long time. He was talking to Braham, who was glaring at Zirkan.

Zirkan was unable to lift his head. He was in Faker’s party and not Chris’ because Faker asked Zirkan to lead the party on his behalf, since Faker had to act secretly as an assassin. Zirkan accepted this request after mulling over it for a long time.

However, he didn’t live up to expectations. Zirkan wanted to apologize and explain how things had turned out this way, but he couldn’t speak because he was under the control of the girl cultivator.

The good news was that Braham understood what was going on. As expected of the god of wisdom, he immediately put two and two together just by looking at the scene in front of him.

“Did you just let your guard down because you felt sympathy for the girl who was crying while holding the dying old man...? Or was it the old man holding the girl? Oh, well. It doesn’t matter. Either way, you are pathetic.”

Braham’s red eyes glared at Zirkan and contempt crossed his face.

“The cultivators are the most insidious beings I have ever seen. They might also be human, but they categorize ordinary people as mortals and don’t treat them as human beings. The vampires who have been superior humans from the moment they were born, and who treated humans as livestock because their blood is advantageous for survival, seem like innocent beings in contrast to the cultivators. Why treat cultivators as human beings and respect them?”

“......”

Faker looked at Braham, who was criticizing Zirkan, as if what he was saying was somewhat absurd. The way Braham described the cultivators was quite similar to how Braham used to be.

Braham himself was a bit embarrassed.

“You aren’t Grid. Expecting the other person to change and giving them such a chance is a privilege only for those who have the power to keep things under control when the other person betrays their expectations.”

Only after mentioning Grid did Braham’s criticism become harsher. Zirkan’s face turned red and Faker looked away from Braham.

The girl, who had been silently watching this exchange, snorted.

“So, what are you going to do? Your companions have already become my loyal puppets.”

The girl waved her hands. The old man, who had been lying on the floor like a corpse, as well as Zirkan’s party, jumped up and stood in front of her, as if they were escorting her.

“How can you handle me with your insignificant skills? It took you more than ten minutes to kill three cultivators in the early stage of the great ascension realm. Not to mention, if you wanna get to me, you have to harm your colleagues who are still alive.”

She was a skilled cultivator in the late great ascension realm. It was the highest level a cultivator could reach before becoming an immortal. She had enormous power and she could slaughter cultivators in the early stage of the great ascension realm with just a gesture.

Moreover, she was very meticulous. As a monster who had lived for tens of thousands of years, she never let down her guard. Forcing Zirkan’s group into a trap and turning them into puppets was a testament to her cautiousness.

The girl thought that Braham and Faker would hesitate when faced with the risk of harming their colleagues, so she was planning to use this against them. This way, she could easily deal with them.

Clink, clink.

The sound of metal moving against metal echoed in the great hall. Zirkan’s group pulled out their weapons and slowly moved toward Braham and Faker.

‘Now, show your ugly side.’

The reason cultivators didn’t respect mortals was simple. Mortals couldn’t even live for a hundred years and were bound by too many things. There were many mortals who were obsessed with relationships, affection, or grudges. They always made mistakes and had to live with regrets for the rest of their lives.

They were a bunch of irredeemable scum who weren’t worth sympathizing with. She figured that Braham and Faker would be scum as well.

This was a huge mistake on her part.

“Bah.” Braham snorted and snapped his fingers.

Thorns made of sharp stone rose from the ground, forming a forest. A tidal wave rose and swept through the cracks of the forest. The air was becoming unbearably hot. Huge rocks fell one after another from the sky.

He was linking great magic spells together.

Zirkan’s group got wiped out. They couldn’t withstand this catastrophic level of magic. Everything happened so fast that the girl was slow to react. She suffered an internal injury because she couldn’t recover the puppet circuits she had planted in the bodies of Zirkan’s group.

“No hesitation at all?” she asked, coughing. “Do you even consider yourself human?”

“When did I say I was human?”

Braham used Blink and struck. The powerful Punishment spell was overlaid with Faker’s shadow magic, darkening the girl’s vision.

“I am a god.”

“Bullshit...”

The girl was angry at how things had turned out and struggled to get back up, but she had no chance.

The girl’s head exploded, leaving not a single trace behind. However, the nascent soul didn’t emerge from her body.

Braham turned to look over his shoulder. He was still concerned about the old man who survived the magic bombardment.

The old man approached him.

[I had a hunch. It turns out that this is her main body.]

Braham detonated the mana core and temporarily entered the realm of an Absolute. However, the old man already swung his sword at Braham’s throat. Just as Braham thought he was going to be decapitated, Faker emerged from the shadows and blocked the old man’s sword with his dagger.

But that only lasted for a moment.

The power of the sword possessed by a cultivator in the late great ascension realm was too much for Faker to handle. He was unable to withstand the strength and flew backward.

Still, Faker bought Braham enough time. While the old man’s sword was blocked by the dagger, Braham managed to complete his spell. He’d come up with this spell by using a trick he learned while teaching magic to Grid’s clone.

[Quasar.]

The ultimate gravity spell. A silent explosion of magic engulfed the old man and the Full Moon Fortress.

The outcome was considerable. In the place where the Full Moon Fortress used to be, all that remained was a black void, as if a part of the world had been ripped away. It looked as if the largest beast in the universe suddenly appeared and devoured a radius of tens of kilometers in one bite.

[...Finally.]

Braham looked happy as he stood alone in the void.