"So, how do you like the surprise I prepared for you?" the Puppet Master said excitedly.

"When you blew my head off, did you think you had won?"

"The feeling of giving prey hope, then personally overturning that hope into despair..."

"You had so much confidence when provoking me before, talking so grandly, yet in the end, you still become a coward." Xu Xiaoyou interrupted with a shrug, tone helpless, "The meticulously constructed puppet defense line was breached in less than half an hour, and I slaughtered my way here."

"Saying some trash talk now can't cover up your shattered pride."

"Your so-called schemes, in my eyes, are not even as good as a child's petty tricks, utterly ridiculous."

The Puppet Master suddenly fell into silence.

"Where is that guy?"

Lin Sheng scanned around with his saber, only to realize that the hundred worshipping puppets on the platform below had somehow all stood up, their limbs making creaking sounds under the control of strings, eyes shooting red light.

The scene was like a bizarre sea of fire.

Upon closer inspection, he found that their mouths were moving in unison, and the Puppet Master's ethereal voice echoed from above:

"Chit-chat time is over, not so likable."

"Shall we play a game?"

"The rules are simple. My true form is hidden among the hundred puppets below. If you find and kill me, you win."

"Of course." The Puppet Master raised his voice, "If you get killed by my puppets before that, I will collect you as I would a piece of art."

All the puppets in the circular field turned to Xu Xiaoyou, voices layered in cold indifference: "Let's see if your mouth is as tough when my puppets rip it apart."

Xu Xiaoyou opened the communication screen, Chen San had been cut off, and her substitute's endurance also hit zero not long ago.

The situation outside the Church was unclear, they had no way back, although from the moment she entered the underground Church, she never intended to go back.

Xu Xiaoyou summoned the Dawn Blade, jumped off the high platform, leaping onto the circular platform below, with Lin Sheng following her down.

The hundred puppets on the platform simultaneously turned to face them, echoing, "The game begins~"

"Which one do you think he is?" Lin Sheng asked with a frown.

"Doesn't matter, just ignore those puppets."

Violet light spread under Xu Xiaoyou's feet, multiple runes intertwined. She swung her long blade, her gaze sweeping straight past the hundred puppets to the massive figure at the rear.

"Take down the Puppet Mother first, you break through from the left, I'll enter from the right to support you."

Lin Sheng nodded, then charged forward with his saber toward the abyss, leading the charge. Countless puppets with glowing red eyes pounced forward, only to be shattered under that Beheading Great Saber.

Xu Xiaoyou didn't rush to charge in, but observed the scene. These hundred worshipping puppets seemed ordinary, even weaker than those roaming puppet sentinels on the snowy plains.

But careful observation revealed that their material was far superior to the wandering outer puppets. Unlike ordinary puppets' glazed black exterior, they resembled deep obsidian, sharp-edged, hiding their edges under a restrained, humble exterior.

The speed of those puppets was astonishingly fast, like swift and fierce beasts, running on all fours, fearlessly pouncing towards the man.

After the man's roar of battle intent, the ensuing sword blade storm instantly tore countless puppets to shreds, and half of the hundred puppets were gone in the blink of an eye. It seemed that in less than ten minutes, Lin Sheng alone could deal with all these puppets.

Lin Sheng roared, slicing a puppet in half with one strike, then leaping forward like a fierce tiger, grabbing a puppet's head and forcibly ripping it from its body.

"Such brutality, I am so scared, I might as well get a bit serious with you."

"Let you see the true power of this orchestra I have meticulously cultivated."

"Awaken, Decaying Orchestra!"

As the Puppet Master's words just fell, the distant Puppet Mother emitted a sorrowful sound, its massive body began to 'perform', a heavy aura pressing down from above, mysterious music echoing in the field, a symphony of flutes, string instruments, and drums, with the Puppet Mother included, turning the hundred puppets in the field into a symphony orchestra, jointly playing a grand decaying, deathly dance!

The previously slain, shattered puppets turned into decaying mud within the dance, molding anew from the mire within moments, running towards Lin Sheng again.

Under the Puppet Mother's performance, these orchestra puppets were shrouded in dark fog, moving with incredible speed. Their clattering bodies were like impromptu drum sets, the unleashed terrifying power made Lin Sheng's face fill with astonishment. Several puppets advanced together, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.

The moment that dark fog contacted his skin, it began to fester and rot, cyan-purple veins spreading throughout, showing a state of being corroded by decay and death.

"Don't touch that dark fog!" Lin Sheng shouted, veins bulging on his forehead, suddenly breaking away from the orchestra puppets before him, retreating to one side to reposition.

Xu Xiaoyou pondered for a moment, then joined the battle as well. Several orchestra puppets swung their arms, pouncing, but she severed their heads before the dark fog could touch her skin.

After retreating a few steps, Xu Xiaoyou searched the puppet crowd with her gaze. She never believed the Puppet Master's words from the beginning, with her own plan in mind.

At that moment, an orchestra puppet suddenly leaped at her back. Just as the deadly poison, like thick ink, was about to seep into the dark fog and rot her skin, a gunshot echoed in time.

The puppet's body shattered instantly, parts scattering everywhere. Xu Xiaoyou looked up, meeting the gaze of a blue-haired girl.

She nodded to Tang Xin: "You support us from above. If the puppets from outside the Church chase after us, find a way to protect yourself."

Tang Xin: "Understood."

After taking out another puppet close to Xu Xiaoyou with a shot, Tang Xin aimed her gun at the Puppet Mother in the field's center, searching with her gaze, and finally settled on the vibrant heart pulsating beneath its ribcage.

Tang Xin decisively fired at the heart.

The bullet sped towards the heart, disappearing mid-air like a drop of water into the ocean, with a crisp sound.

Tang Xin slightly widened her eyes, rechecked, then observed through the sniper scope to see innumerable fine strings swirling and dancing around the Puppet Mother, the bullet earlier had been sliced by those strings!

Feeling the danger, the Puppet Mother turned its head towards Tang Xin's direction, letting out a sorrowful wail.

Immediately, two orchestra puppets on the field transformed into mud, sinking into the ground, and in a blink, they re-emerged behind Tang Xin's position, pouncing towards her!

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