Chapter 580: Marionette

In the booming explosion, the wall separating the two suites and the wall facing the corridor collapsed simultaneously, impacting the nearby furniture, the ceiling overhead, the floor underfoot, and the rooms opposite, causing them to be quickly swallowed by the expanding firelight.

That is to say, Yu Jianna didn't use all the explosives; otherwise, the fifth and fourth floors of the Solo Hotel would have collapsed as a whole. But even so, the roof sank in part, the floor was a mess, and one could directly see the rooms below in the core area of the explosion.

With the collapse of the walls of the rooms opposite the corridor, and with the bricks and wood brought by the shockwave hitting Georgia, hitting this lady's back to cave in and her head to crack, with bright red blood flowing out, Lugano suddenly broke free from that state of thinking stutter and body stiffness, finding his thoughts again.

Then, he felt pain and was blown away directly by the violent shockwave mixed with flames and bricks.

If it weren't for Georgia blocking in front of him, and if it weren't for the "Farmer's" body being considered strong, he would mostly be seriously injured and dying, either having his limbs separated or his vital points hit. Of course, he was now covered in blood and flesh, with several bones broken, and almost fainted on the spot.

Ludwig had already crawled under the dining table with his food at some point, relying on the advantage of distance and the help of the "shield," only to be hit by the collapsed table.

At the same time, Yu Jianna and Anthony ran out of the bathroom of the master bedroom of their own suite and cast their gaze toward the rooms opposite, which were filled with smoke and dust from the collapsed walls.

They vaguely saw a figure.

It looked like Rubio Paco, standing beside the overturned armchair.

"Loki"! Yu Jianna didn't hesitate, condensed a black, illusory flame, and let it fly toward the target.

Anthony Reid, who was behind her diagonally, had his eyes dyed gold, and his pupils became vertical. He was about to lock onto "Loki" and use the "Rampage" ability on him, making him fall into an emotional and psychological state triggered by the explosion, unable to make rational thinking and effective response.

Just at this moment, everything in front of Anthony and Yu Jianna went dark, and they lost "Loki's" figure.

They then discovered they were in a void, with no blue sky and white clouds above, no solid earth below, and darkness in all directions, dotted with a large amount of brilliance like stars.

"Void Starry Sky"!

This was a semi-real, semi-false illusion that "Children of the Sea" could create after reaching a certain level.

Immediately after, appearing in front of Yu Jianna and Anthony was a lady wearing a black soft hat, with fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, dressed as a widow.

Marta!

She was the old matriarch of the Paco family and had now become "Loki's" marionette, hiding in the room where "Loki" manipulated the "Spirit Body Threads" just now.

With enough time to prepare, how could "Loki" not bring a "marionette" to perform? He had two puppets with Beyonder abilities, and this was one of them. Another one was hidden in the dark, and the remaining quota was left for different situations, used and discarded, and replaced after controlling the enemy.

Before, when the Rubio Paco he played took Lady Marta to see the "Governor of the Sea," this old matriarch of the Paco family was already a marionette, so he had to follow and couldn't let the marionette leave the manipulation range.

The fundamental reason Lugano discovered Lady Marta was seriously injured was that a marionette is essentially equivalent to a dead person, relying on the "Marionettist" to manipulate the "Spirit Body Threads" to make various movements and show the characteristics of being alive. In the eyes of a "Physician" who was only Sequence 8, this was very much like a serious injury.

If Lumian hadn't rarely used the ability to observe others' fortune and didn't have that habit, he would have discovered that Lady Marta's fate was wrong, a piece of dead silence.

Lady Marta, with a faint smile on her face, raised her right hand, and a mass of emerald green brilliance had long been condensed at her fingertips.

That brilliance turned into a ray and shot toward Yu Jianna.

Yu Jianna had heard Lumian introduce the abilities possessed by the Sea bloodline. As soon as she saw the emerald green brilliance, she rolled out in the "Void Starry Sky." Anthony was the same—he didn't use "Rampage" on Lady Marta because a marionette, which is essentially a dead person, wouldn't go rampage.

The next second, both of them felt heaviness and fell rapidly in the void starry sky, falling faster and faster, experiencing the weightless state that Franca would occasionally talk about.

In just the blink of an eye, the two stepped on the ground and stabilized their bodies, but Lady Marta had disappeared, and the void starry sky was shattering inch by inch.

They were actually still in the Solo Hotel, just falling from the fifth floor to the fourth floor.

This was because the "Void Starry Sky" of the low-to-medium level was closer to an illusion, and there would be a barrier similar to a "Wall of Spirituality" around it. After the two fell into it, their bodies were actually still in reality. When rolling to dodge, they were pushed heavily by Lady Marta with invisible force and naturally fell into the floor void created by the explosives just now.

Yu Jianna didn't hesitate, stepped and helped run, stepped on the wall to go up, then grabbed the broken part and climbed back to the explosion site on the fifth floor.

She saw Lugano treating his own injuries and saw that "Loki" and Lady Marta in the room diagonally opposite had disappeared.

Ludwig, who was originally hiding under the dining table, was also gone!

Aquinas Street, in a lively folk celebration.

"Loki," who had become a passerby with no characteristics, was holding the "asleep" Ludwig and walking through the crowd.

His other marionette was a "Night" pathway "Soul-Stiller," always hiding on the other side of Lumian's suite, waiting to influence the target.

"Loki" initially just let the temporary marionette Georgia deal with Lugano and also manipulated the "Spirit Body Threads" of that "Physician" himself, not letting the more capable marionette take action directly. It wasn't because he was afraid of alarming the target, Ludwig, but because he was worried that there were other enemies lurking in the dark. After all, there were several guests in the hotel who hadn't left the hotel to participate in various celebrations of the Praying to the Sea ritual. A couple next to the target returned before lunch, almost one after another with the target.

In addition, the advancement ritual of a "Marionettist" requires a grand performance, requiring a gorgeous and profound drama. An assassination that is silent, doesn't cause much commotion, and lacks enough audience doesn't meet the requirements.

So "Loki" deliberately targeted Lugano first. If there were no other enemies in the dark, it would be equivalent to changing a marionette. If there were, they would all be lured out, led to his side, and the target would be quietly controlled by another marionette hidden in the next room.

He knew that it was a sealed demigod, perhaps unable to express sufficiently powerful strength, but the essence wouldn't change and could be immune to many influences. However, he also believed that the forced sleep of the "Night" pathway would still be effective—since this sealed demigod would be as tired, hungry, needing rest, and needing to sleep like a real child, it showed that the seal affected the corresponding characteristics, making him the same as ordinary people in similar aspects, at most waking up faster and needing less time to rest.

And a few seconds were enough for "Loki," enough for him to take the target to change positions, hide, and attempt to manipulate the other party's "Spirit Body Threads."

His two marionettes would act separately, misleading those enemies and the "Mother Goddess of Depravity" church clergy who rushed over, taking them in circles within a range of more than a hundred meters, completing the corresponding parts of the performance.

When the time was almost up, the enemies would be able to lock onto his hiding place through the marionette's trajectory and come over with joy and anticipation, but what would welcome them would be a demigod-level marionette, and it would be a terrifying and cruel ending.

Under the gaze of all the citizens around, this gorgeous drama would come to an end, and "Loki" would be able to consume the potion, advance to Sequence 4, and become a "Bizarro Sorcerer"!

On the Colorful Flower Ceremonial Ship, in Lato Giaro's "Void Starry Sky."

This was fundamentally different from the same type of ability at the low-to-medium level. It was both an illusion and an otherworldly space where people could get lost, close to a "Fiction Bottle" plus visual illusion.

The mass of sticky flesh that Lumian spat out in front of him squirmed rapidly, stretching and expanding into a human figure.

That figure wore a blood-colored cloak and a blood-colored hood, with his face covered by shadows. It was Mr. K of the "Aurora Order."

To deal with "April Fool's" planning, Lumian adopted the plan of using momentum to suppress people, using magnificent power in a dignified manner combined with some exquisite arrangements to achieve his goal.

This plan had high fault tolerance. As long as "April Fool's" didn't have helpers at the angel level and didn't have three or more saint-level combat forces, even if he guessed some things wrong, he could at least leave one or two "April Fool's" core members behind.

For this reason, Franca invited "Madame Hela" and "Gandalf," and the Bounty Society also reported it. This year, there would inevitably be a saint sitting in Santa Port to prevent the Praying to the Sea ritual from having accidents again. And on the "Tarot Club" side, two holders of Major Arcana cards had already arrived nearby. When all the core members of "April Fool's" appeared and there was no situation of sensing danger and retreating in advance, Lady "Magician," this "Angel of Stars," would also cross the long distance and descend directly!

To be safe enough, Lumian even used Mr. K's finger, letting him come to Santa Port and use the "Rose Bishop's" ability to turn into a mass of flesh and blood, hiding in his stomach to sneak onto the Colorful Flower Ceremonial Ship.

Mr. K raised his head, and the depths of his eyes suddenly became illusory, as if hiding one door after another.

He quickly scanned the "Void Starry Sky" and soon found the way to leave here.

"Follow me." He said to Lumian with a hoarse voice.

Lumian nodded, reached into the "Traveler's Bag" that looked like a coin bag, took out the "Torture" boxing gloves, and prepared to put them on.

If you guys still have backup plans, or if several strong people fail to appear in time, then I will draw the gaze of the evil god, stir up the water, and everyone will bear the crisis together. No one should think of leaving in advance!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 581 =====