Chapter 355: Trump Cards (2)
Aluria watched in silence as Solaris battleships vanished beneath the waves one after another.
The Chaos Dolls were devastating the fleet. Cannons blasted directly into them to little effect. Enchanted harpoons shattered against their metallic flesh while entire boarding squads were butchered moments after making contact.
Even when the constructs were torn apart, black demonic mana stitched them back together almost instantly.
They were relentless. Unbreakable. Endless.
And at the rate the battle was progressing, the Solaris Navy would be annihilated within minutes. If the rear defences collapsed, Solfea’s entire backline would be exposed to invasion.
Aluria’s eyes narrowed.
Not while she was here.
The Goddess of the Ocean stepped forward, disregarding the orders to remain hidden. Her crystal-blue eyes began glowing with the same ancient radiance as the sea itself. Then she raised her hand.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
The ocean erupted. Massive pillars of seawater surged into the sky like rising dragons, blotting out the horizon itself. Waves hundreds of meters tall rose violently around the battlefield as the sea answered her call.
The Solaris soldiers stared upward in horror and awe.
If that tsunami crashed down, the entire battlefield would disappear.
But before the flood could descend, another figure moved.
Yeon stepped forward calmly, frost gathering instantly around her fingertips. Dozens of freezing spells erupted simultaneously. The air temperature plummeted.
CRRRRRACK!!
The raging ocean froze solid in an instant.
Towering waves became mountains of ice suspended across the battlefield. Demons caught within the tsunami were instantly entombed while layers of frost spread across the Chaos Dolls themselves, sealing even the massive constructs beneath glacial ice.
Silence briefly overtook the battlefield.
Aluria blinked before turning toward Yeon.
Then she smiled faintly.
"Thank you, Yeon. You saved me the effort."
Yeon laughed awkwardly while rubbing the back of her head.
"Mistress Aluria, if you actually released that attack, you would’ve drowned half the navy, too."
Despite the lighthearted exchange, neither lowered their guard. Because the frozen Chaos Dolls were already moving. Cracks began spreading across the ice.
Moments later, the constructs shattered their restraints and resumed their advance as though nothing had happened.
"To think the Demon Empire was hiding monsters like these..." Aluria muttered.
Yeon narrowed her eyes as she carefully observed the constructs.
"They’re dangerous... but they don’t feel alive."
"Hmmm?"
"They resemble automatons more than actual demons," Yeon spoke with certainty born from experience.
After all, she had spent years within the Demon Cult’s laboratories. Combined with Eldorin’s expertise in artificing under geniuses like Lutz, Yeon possessed a deep understanding of artificial constructs.
"If they’re automatons, they must have a core."
Without hesitation, Yeon raised her hand. Thousands of ice arrows and crystalline spears filled the sky before descending like a blizzard. The barrage obliterated ordinary demons instantly, but the Chaos Dolls either blocked the attacks or regenerated from the damage moments later.
Yet during that exchange, Yeon noticed something. Her eyes sharpened.
"They’re protecting their hearts."
Aluria immediately looked toward her.
"Are you certain?"
"Whatever powers them is located there."
The moment Yeon spoke, Aluria acted. Dozens of compressed water blades shot across the battlefield with terrifying speed, instantly slicing a nearby Chaos Doll into fragments. The construct immediately began regenerating—, but before it could fully recover, Yeon’s spear pierced directly through its chest.
A magatama-like crystal hidden within the Chaos Doll’s core shattered instantly.
The construct froze. Then collapsed lifelessly. The regeneration stopped completely. Yeon exhaled slowly.
"That’s their weakness." Aluria gave a grim nod. "We need to report this immediately. Every battlefield is struggling against these things."
Just as Yeon prepared to relay the information through communication magic, a new presence appeared.
The battlefield suddenly grew colder. Not with frost.
But with dread.
A woman calmly walked across the frozen ocean toward them. She had long blue hair, emerald-green eyes, and thin spectacles resting upon her face. Her appearance seemed scholarly and fragile, more suited for a library than a battlefield. Yet the demonic mana radiating from her body was monstrous.
Wherever she walked, the frozen sea turned emerald green as poison seeped through the ice itself.
Then black-green crows emerged from her body. Hundreds of them. The creatures swarmed over the shattered Chaos Doll remains scattered across the battlefield. Flesh, metal, and mana twisted together beneath the crows’ touch, and moments later, the destroyed Chaos Doll rose once more.
Completely restored.
Aluria’s expression hardened instantly. But beside her, Yeon broke.
"THAT WOMAN!!!"
Her scream shook the battlefield. Violent mana exploded from Yeon’s body uncontrollably as rage twisted her expression. The surrounding ice quaked violently while blizzards spiralled around her in chaos. Even Aluria was forced to take a step back.
"Yeon!"
The Goddess immediately placed a hand on Yeon’s shoulder, forcibly stabilising the berserk mana before the entire battlefield froze over.
"What happened?!"
"T-That bitch...!"
Yeon’s body trembled violently.
Hatred. Pure hatred.
It took nearly a full minute before her breathing finally steadied, though the fury in her eyes remained. She glared toward the approaching woman and spoke through clenched teeth.
"That’s Ravenna."
"The Apostle of Grief."
Aluria’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"So that’s her..."
Among the Apostles, Ravenna was the most mysterious. Unlike the others, she rarely appeared on the battlefield. Most knew her only as the Demon Cult’s chief scientist and the mastermind behind countless horrific experiments.
Very little was known about her combat abilities.
But to Yeon, Ravenna was a nightmare given form.
Before Amon and Yue rescued her, Yeon had spent years imprisoned within the Demon Cult’s laboratories. And Ravenna had been the one overseeing the experiments.
"She’s the reason I suffered..." Yeon whispered shakily. "The reason half my face looks like this..."
Aluria’s heart tightened slightly after hearing those words. But this was still a battlefield. And emotional recklessness here would kill everyone. She tightened her grip on Yeon’s shoulder.
"I understand your anger," Aluria said firmly. "But if you let your emotions control you now, you’ll hand the battlefield directly to her."
Yeon lowered her head silently.
"If you charge in recklessly, you’ll lose."
The blizzard around Yeon slowly calmed.
After several moments, she finally took a deep breath.
"...I know."
Her voice was still trembling with rage. But her mind had stabilised.
"Thank you, Mistress Aluria."
Far across the frozen battlefield, Ravenna adjusted her glasses slightly while green-black crows gathered around her like a funeral procession. Then... she smiled.
"As expected, they uncovered the Chaos Dolls’ weakness quickly. Luckily, I joined this battlefield; else they might actually annihilate my creations."
As the creator of the Chaos Dolls, Ravenna understood their design better than anyone alive.
The Chaos Dolls were the culmination of decades of forbidden experimentation—bodies forged from demonic flesh, artificial metals, abyssal mana circuits, and living regeneration arrays.
Their durability bordered on absurdity.
Ordinary weapons could not damage them. Most forms of magic were ineffective. Even when destroyed, the constructs could reconstruct themselves endlessly so long as their core remained intact. But perfection did not exist.
At the centre of every Chaos Doll rested a magatama crystal. A tiny core hidden within the heart.
That single component powered the entire construct, circulating demonic mana throughout its body like an artificial organ. Unfortunately, no matter how many times Ravenna refined the design, the magatama itself could not evolve alongside the rest of the Chaos Doll.
Its structure simply couldn’t endure the same level of reinforcement as the outer shell.
Which meant... it remained the only true weakness.
Once the magatama shattered, the Chaos Doll ceased functioning entirely.
Ravenna had long accepted that flaw. That was why she personally entered the battlefield. As long as she remained present, her abilities allowed her to recover damaged magatamas, reconstruct shattered bodies, and restore the Chaos Dolls endlessly.
In a sense, she herself was the final piece needed to transform them into a truly immortal army. Green-black crows circled around her silently as she observed the battlefield through narrowed emerald eyes.
The frozen ocean.
The Solaris fleet.
The Ocean Goddess.
The ice mage.
Every variable was being calculated within her mind.
Beside her, mist slowly gathered into the shape of a man.
"Is there anything you would like me to do?"
Zuphil, the Mist Warlock. His calm voice contrasted sharply against the screams of war surrounding them. Dense grey mist coiled around his body endlessly, obscuring his face beneath layers of shifting smoke.
Ravenna fell silent for a moment.
If left unchecked, the Solaris Knights would become troublesome.
Especially Lucas Solaris and Arthur.
Once warriors of that calibre entered the battlefield directly, they could rapidly dismantle large numbers of Chaos Dolls before she had time to restore them. Meanwhile, the Ocean Goddess and Yeon were already approaching. Her gaze lingered on Aluria briefly before shifting toward the harbour walls.
"You can restrain the Solaris Knights," Ravenna said calmly. "Prevent them from leaving the battlements."
Zuphil tilted his head slightly.
"Oh?" His gaze drifted toward Aluria. "You’re confident in fighting a divine?"
Most people would have assumed Ravenna would request assistance against the Goddess of the Ocean. After all, divinity alone could alter the balance of an entire battlefield. Yet Ravenna’s expression remained unchanged.
"I can handle the Ocean Goddess." Her voice was completely certain. "And the ice mage."
At that moment, Yeon and Aluria landed upon the frozen sea, their mana causing the surrounding battlefield to tremble. Ravenna’s eyes locked onto Yeon.
Then she smiled faintly.
Recognition. Interest. Possession.
The girl before her had once been the perfect specimen. A miracle born through suffering and experimentation. The one subject who escaped her laboratory. The one failure Ravenna had never forgotten.
Yeon’s hateful glare only deepened the Apostle’s fascination.
"The ice mage especially..." Ravenna murmured softly. A chilling smile spread across her lips as black crows gathered around her shoulders.
"I know exactly how to deal with her."
