The young boy laughed like a maniac. Although he looked like an innocent young man from the outside, I don't see any form of "innocence" from him right now. More like he is filled with malice and he is very, very dangerous right now. I can say that I have had bad experiences with puppeteers due to how cunning they are with their usage of their puppets. It's like fighting multiple people at once even though you will only be fighting one person and everything else was just a tool.
"Bladeheart, it seems we should also part ways temporarily here. Seeing how this guy is someone who uses powers that I have yet to see in my life, I can say that I am interested in what he is about to do. Fighting against people who have weird ways of fighting seems like a good experience rather than fighting big monsters."
Hearing the comparison Queen Tanya made to him, he fumed in anger.
"You! How dare you compare to mindless beasts?! I will make sure you suffer enough that your mouth will no longer be able to spout such nonsense!"
He then sends off his puppet into attack mode. A puppet that looks like a normal girl puppet but the moment it got close, it revealed the multiple blades on her body, embedded in her wooden mainframe.
Queen Tanya is adept at dealing with weapons like this and easily blocked them with her scythe. She then looks back at me and gave me a thumbs up.
"Go, Bladeheart. We will meet you later once we are done with these guys."
I believe in Queen Tanya and so, I nodded at her suggestion and immediately started running for the stairs.
"Who said you can ascend?!" he then waved his other arm and the puppet that looked like an old man butler flies in my direction. However, a black shadowy hand suddenly appeared and gripped the butler puppet tight, causing it to stop midair.
"Oy, you little sh*t. You are facing me here. I am enough alone to be your opponent. It's overkill enough for you if the two of us will deal with you," Queen Tanya grinned as she started taunting the puppeteer.
"Grr. You will pay for this!"
The puppeteer returned his focus to Queen Tanya and forgot about me, this allows me to go and proceed to the next floor without any problems. I can also tell that I am going to meet someone that I have to battle next on this floor as well. I better prepare myself for the upcoming battle.
---------
As Bladeheart ascended to the next floor, the puppeteer grinned.
"Heh, it's a mistake you decided to remain alone instead of letting your companion go," the boy grinned with a twisted expression on his face.
"Oh yeah? And why is that?"
"Because you will become food for my beloved darlings soon."
SNAP!
Compared to the last time he revealed his puppets, it turned out the whole room is filled with them. The others were just hiding in the walls and some are in invisible forms. All of them have different forms but one thing is common for them, they possess lethal weaponry in their arsenal.
"Heh, scared now? I bet you are."
However, contrary to the puppeteer's expected reaction, he didn't expect Queen Tanya to start laughing like she is so amused.
"Why are you laughing?!"
"Hahaha, I couldn't believe I am laughing at your joke. This? EAT ME?! HAHAHAHAHAHA! BEST JOKE I EVER HEARD!"
"What?!"
"Oh, you were not joking? Pah, you should do better, these many puppets are not enough."
Queen Tanya dropped put away her scythe and started cracking her knuckles.
"Why did you put away your weapon?! Are you retreating?"
"Retreating? What are you talking about? I am just preparing to see whether your beloved puppets are enough to properly entertain me."
Queen Tanya grinned and her aura suddenly exploded in power. What she was earlier is clearly a far cry from what she was now.
"Now, let's see how you intend to devour me."
-----------
I can hear several shaking underneath which means, Queen Tanya has already started her usual treatment to those she thinks are interesting. If the guy didn't try to show off before the fight, then perhaps he can still have had a decent battle against Queen Tanya but if he did try to show off, well, RIP to him as I can't even tell whether he will survive her or not.
Anyways, let's forget about that puppeteer and climb a bit further upstairs. I was expecting to fight someone on the next floor but I was bummed to see no one was waiting for me there. I tried searching but the third floor has no enemies and so I proceed to the fourth floor. This time around, I can feel the strong gusts of wind blowing all over the place. However, despite the strong winds that seems to be enough to blow someone away, it also felt like the wind was just an imaginary pressure and was actually not happening.
I have a hunch on the next enemy but I have to make sure it was the same guy I am guessing. I keep myself ready for the next enemy as I am quite sure I am going to be in a hell of a fight.
As soon as I get into the same area similar to the floors below, I see someone currently sitting still on the floor, with winds swirling all over him. Just like my prediction, the person before me is indeed the one who we have encountered during our search for the wind artifact.
It seems he has yet to notice my presence and has been staying in meditation form. The wind swirling around him is violent, but not that violent that it will tear anything that it touches into shreds. It's like it is a form that can only blow anything off into the air.
I pull out my Pain Delivery and point the muzzle at the man. I thought it would be great to kill him immediately without a fight. The faster I am done, the better.
"It seems you have arrived, young man. Although I am tired of waiting, it seems you have finally decided to fight. Well, I am quite sure that-" Before he can finish talking, I fired the Pain Delivery bullet at him.
The first thing he did is to deflect it with his wind, but the bullet is fired faster than the wind can blow to redirect its trajectory so the moment the wind blows, the bullet already passed through it. Seeing how it is too late to use the wind, he decided to catch it, very confident in his ability to tank attacks. However, we are talking about Pain Delivery here.
When he is about to catch the bullet, the bullet didn't stop and instead pierces through his skin and immediately strikes his shoulder, piercing through and giving him an injury and perhaps [Bleeding] as well, but I can't tell as the human enemies have no HP bar present. Unless he transforms into a monster, then the HP bar will remain hidden.
"What the? How come?!" the guy is startled and started to clutch his wounded shoulder. Perhaps he thought the bullet of the Pain Delivery is still possible to be blocked but it seems he was not prepared for it to just pierce through his body.
Perhaps if I have fired the Pain Delivery to him during our first confrontation, he might have not been surprised and be more wary about the situation. However, I don't really care. With how effective the bullet ended up, I am now satisfied that the enemy is now wounded.
Before he can act again, I fired another bullet into him multiple times, both on his hands and one on his other shoulder, I shot his two knees and I also shot his two feet and one on the abdomen. All are not enough to kill him since they didn't hit his fatal spots but are enough to disable his movements.
"P-please spare me!"
"Spare you? I doubt it. If the situation is reversed, I doubt you would comply either. The sooner you are gone, the faster I can get into the shogun and that damned bard. Now close your eyes and perhaps you will find peace in the afterlife."
BANG!
One bullet to the head, and now, he is dead. However, I am not convinced he is dead with just one bullet. They might be tricking me. Just to be sure, one more bullet into the head and one more into the heart.
And he really died. Looks like he managed to survive the first shot. He thought if he played dead, perhaps he can use that chance to leave. But I don't take my chances. The sooner the guy is gone, the better. Looks like the Double Tap works properly.
I checked his body to see whether he is still alive but his body has turned cold and he stopped breathing. His bodily functions also stopped and his dilated eyes, remained open, still not believing his death.
The wind that is swirling all over the room also stopped functioning and the wind artifact that he was holding fell into the floor. I picked it up and confirmed it to be the wind artifact that we are looking for before. If we still prioritize our first task, then this alone is enough and we would have left by now. But we are now ready to deal with everything. We will not just stop here.
"That's a bit of a boring fight, I guess. Perhaps the Pain Delivery is still troublesome to deal with."
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