"Marionette . . . in the dungeon?" Faustina couldn"t believe what she was seeing. The moment she blinked, the puppet in front of her disappeared and then a low chuckle followed. She turned her head towards the source of that silent chuckle; there, she saw the marionette yet again—sitting on the chair. It looked hollow, and it embodied the same appearance as the one that attacked in the capital.
Bthump.
Faustina"s heartbeat grew louder, a bead of sweat pouring from her forehead to her temples. The red-tinge atmosphere made everything sinister than it already is. The marionette"s lips were sewn into a smile, and it wasn"t moving—its head was bowed down, and its arms were numbly dangling to the sides of the chair. Faustina backed away, taking several steps backward.
Right now, she has to be calm and collected. She had to be composed and organize her thoughts. Think. She was sent here to be able to do something—to investigate Magierstadt, to remove Eula"s seal in her magic, and to find the truth.
Find the truth amongst many other things.
The answers to her question . . . to find clues about Jonathan, and to retrieve Eula"s body.
"Faus-tina," it was the marionette, whose voice was not like Claire"s or anyone else. That voice belonged to someone completely unfamiliar, like a synced echo of several voices blended into one.
"Faus-tina, co-me here,"
Faustina held her staff firmly. She must remain vigilant. Right now, all she has to do is to get out of this room once and for all. Or else—
"Huh?"
Faustina blinked.
"My body . . . is moving on its own?"
Faustina glanced to the marionette, who slowly raised its head to meet Faustina"s gaze. Its sewn smile widened while Faustina took a step after another, coming to the marionette with her vision gradually dimming. Everything was turning into a blur—the marionette in her eyes was splitting into two, like a glitch.
Faustina"s breath hitched as she, slowly, gets closer and closer to the marionette.
"The gap is closing as I draw near!" Faustina screamed inside her head. "Don"t move! Stop!" She kept on telling herself; however, it felt as if it wasn"t her own body anymore. Faustina couldn"t feel anything in her body, like it has gone completely numb.
It was as if . . .
As if she was a puppet!
With only a meter away from the marionette whose smile was getting impossibly wider, Faustina screamed to her mind on the top of her lungs. Her own voice rang to her ears, deep into the chasms of her thoughts.
"Faus-tina,"
A thin, wooden hand reached to Faustina"s cheeks. Faustina gasped. The marionette was now looking at her straight in the eye, closing the narrow gap between them. It pressed its forehead to Faustina"s, and began to whisper an unknown language.
An enchantment.
Faustina drew away from the marionette, being able to move her body now.
"Faus-tina," said the marionette. "It"s an ho-nor to meet yo-u,"
Reverberating to Faustina"s ears was her own heartbeat, getting louder and louder, as if her heart was impending to burst. She held her staff firmly, and then thumped it to the floor. Right now, she have to use a spell, or else it won"t do any good for her, or for any of them!
But before Faustina could muster to conjure a single enchantment, her chocolate-brown eyes darted towards the nerves in her arms.
"W-what?"
The nerves that were like roots on a transparent container earlier slowly manifested to her skin, pulsating with the same speed as her pulse. The roots were like the ones that trees have—thick roots that spread into the depths of the ground, bulging into the crust.
"Faus-tina"s mna," the marionette smiled. "I wnt it,"
Mana?
The marionette, in the blink of an eye, was now in front of her again. Its bony hands slowly unfurled and then found their way to Faustina"s neck—Faustina let out a gasp as the puppet clenched its hand around Faustina"s nape, enclosing her neck.
"Aah, mna, mna, mna!"
Faustina swung her staff from the side, hitting the marionette as it flies athwart the room. Faustina held her own neck; red marks from the marionette"s grip showed evidently as bright as day. Faustina took the initiative to run, but as she reached the k.n.o.b—
"Give me mo-re of your mna!" The marionette grumbled mid-air, impending to launch itself towards Faustina.
Faustina was able to turn the k.n.o.b and escape the marionette, closing the door behind her with a loud slam. She winced in pain, feeling her nerves bulging and pulsating agonizingly. "Just what did that marionette do to me . . . ?"
Faustina eyed her peripheral, and was quick on the uptake. She then rolled away from her spot, hitting the large family portrait. Faustina, with a tremulous body, tried to rise. Her hands weren"t cooperating, but she had to stand up, at least.
In front of her were three large trolls, holding spike-ridden clubs. They were looking at her as if she was food—a prey. And like any other monster, the trolls unleashed roar as they rushed towards Faustina.
"ACK!"
It happened too quickly.
First, there was pain, and the momentary realization.
A troll"s club swung her to the large gla.s.s pane, making it shatter as Faustina"s body forced its way out of the walls. Faustina"s body fell to what seemed like a damp gra.s.s, cushioning her fall. But that wasn"t enough cushion. Faustina bit her lips, feeling the sting spreading across her body. Now she"s certain she must have broken a bone or two.
Faustina could barely stand, or even muster to sit straight. Her mana . . . her mana wasn"t close to depletion at all. The pulsating nerves she had were the proof of that. Her mana was overflowing that her body couldn"t keep up!
Aside from her mana, the pain she was feeling was incomparable. Her body wasn"t repairing itself even with the amount of mana she has—and this shouldn"t be the case, given the fact that mana is a.n.a.logous to a person"s life force and every physical and magical attributes combined.
Then why . . . ?
"Intruder. Intruder. INTRUDER."
Faustina gritted her teeth, reaching to her staff. A pair of red eyes gleamed with the body of a grimy iron and moss. Faustina stood to her ground, ignoring the pain.
"INTRUDER!"
Faustina negated the attack by putting a barrier; and that single spell made her nerves pulsate even more rapidly. She gritted her teeth. There was no other choice but to fight, and besides—the enemy won"t give her the time to recover.
Not in the exam, and not in real battlefield!
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