The Founder's POV

Chapter 32: Battles

"What is happening here, Gilbert? This is not what we expected!" Jin looked at Gilbert and then at Cassian with a shocked expression, unable to change his tone.

There was supposed to be one person at rank S- and a slightly stronger puppet. Due to the merging, both should be much weaker than expected.

"Jin! Change of plans!" Gilbert spoke in a low voice, handing Jin a small metal cylinder.

"I will distract the intruder for a minute. You must place this cylinder at the back of the puppet's head! Remember, the success of this mission now depends on you!"

Killian lightly slapped Gilbert's back, wanting to help as well, "I'll double that time. Use all your strength, don't leave any skill unused, trust my words, and you won't lose!"

Mana intensified around the trio at that moment, and they were about to move, "What about the guard merging with the doll? He's much weaker now but still has combat power comparable to us!" Jin complained about the sudden change in the situation but didn't slow down his movement; he had to succeed no matter the cost.

"That guard can't be more than five meters away from the puppet, so fighting him should be easier for you. The main plan was for Lyra to handle him, but..." Gilbert stopped talking at that moment and immediately rushed towards Sebastian.

"We'll continue this conversation when we get out!"

***

=+=

I felt a bit dizzy when I crossed the gate, but I didn't vomit this time.

I felt the terror of the place as soon as I arrived, the ominous aura in the air and the loud crying from outside filled me with dread. The floor was built from gray stones, in a style similar to old Europe castles.

It was clear I was in a throne room; using the term "hall" instead of "room" seemed more accurate.

There was a giant metal door at the end of the hall, with seals that strangely resembled the Sloth Seal, but were also different.

A gray brick staircase began to rise at the last quarter of the hall, leading to a strange rectangular device mounted on the wall. A doll in the shape of a man was hung there, his facial features suggesting he was around twenty at most, but his hair had turned white from old age, or perhaps it was natural.

One of his eyes was open and glowed dark red, the other still closed.

There was a seal similar to the Sloth Seal on his forehead, but it was almost transparent and about to disappear, opposite to mine – which glowed as if in its youth.

The rest of the things in the room were not in my favor...

The pressure around me intensified as I reached the hell everyone spoke of, and I felt my body being crushed from all sides.

I was forced to activate the Sloth Seal to relieve myself at that moment, the golden light from my forehead should have drawn attention, but no one paid me any mind. I saw a person with a majestic appearance like Sebastian, sitting in front of the white-haired puppet.

He turned his back to the puppet, and his features expressed the intense pain he felt. The strong aura around him continued to decrease at a tremendous rate until it stopped at around rank A+.

"This?" The man opened his eyes and pointed at me.

"An anomaly that broke the curse of the tree and the father. You need to assign some puppets to extract information from him or break his mind." Sebastian struck the back of my neck intending to knock me out, but the Sloth Seal saved me.