The puppet was made to look like the image of the Grim Reaper. Unlike the other ones, this puppet had a face, even if it was just a skull, and it even had the privilege of wearing clothes.
This was because it was a face puppet.
It was well known that the Lord of Threads' 'army' came in two forms: the faceless drones and the face puppets. The drones were all forged out of wood and lacked features. They were more like unfeeling robots who would follow their programming rather than monsters or people.
By comparison, the face puppets were vastly different: not only were each one made to look unique, but they could also all talk and seemingly think for themselves. They were devastating warriors and high-grade threats, who would lead sections of the Lord of Threads' army.
Some people believed that the Lord of Threads was dead and that he had died long ago, and all that was left were his puppets, which continued to follow his last orders. Others believed that he was still out there, waiting and plotting, getting ready to do something.
Susie Nyx didn't care about any of that. She didn't even have thoughts about the Lord of Threads going on inside her head. Instead, her dull gaze barely shifted as she watched the shambling Grim Reaper puppet raise its scythe and bring it down on her. She didn't even close her eyes. She was ready for it to be over.
Ready for this life to end.
Thinking back on it, she really didn't even understand why it was that she had to be born. She had done so little and made so many mistakes. The biggest mistake, however, was getting Hannah nearly killed.
Her best friend, the girl whom she loved and someone she claimed to care deeply for, had almost died, all because of her. Even though Hannah survived, Susie knew that whatever they had before would be totally gone now and that there was no way Hannah would be able to look at her the same way. And if that was going to be the case, then there was no reason to keep living.
Being in a world without Hannah wasn't one that Susie wanted to live in.
And so, that was why she didn't react or fight back. She welcomed it even. Death didn't scare her. This was simply what should have naturally come next for her.
Someone else had other plans.
As the scythe blade came slicing down, Susie's eyes widened as Davi Hawker suddenly appeared directly in front of her, already covered in his armor and wielding Storymaker.
Davi parried the scythe away, blocking it, keeping him and Susie safe, and then he swung out with his longsword, slashing into the side of the Grim Reaper-looking puppet. Unlike the other dolls, this one wasn't sliced in two; instead, it was sent flying back, mainly fine. Davi watched as it rolled across the ground and rammed into the legs of the other puppets, knocking them all down like bowling pins.
"You okay?" He asked casually.
Susie's gaze finally shifted, her dull look being replaced with anger as she glared at his back. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Saving you."
"Why?" Susie practically spat the question out. "Why the hell would you do something like that? I don't want to be saved! Especially not by someone like you!"
Davi just gave a shrug. "I saw someone who needed help, so I offered them help."
"Can't you see that I want to die?" Susie's shoulders sagged down in defeat, and she bowed her head. "I don't want to be saved. I don't want to keep on living. Just… Just stop. I don't want you to be involved with my life anymore."
Davi opened his mouth, about to say something, but before he could, a piercing static sound filled the air. His eyes narrowed, and he turned in the direction of it, finding that the Grim Reaper puppet was now standing back up. The mechanical doll made a show of dusting itself off, and the static shifted in pitch, almost as if the thing was humming.
Eventually, it stopped, and its gaze met Davi's before looking past him and staring straight at Susie. "There you have it, good fellow. The young lady does not wish to live anymore. Why not step aside and let me claim her life?" The puppet turned his arm to the side and pointed his scythe out at Susie. "I promise it'll be a quick and clean death. She'll hardly feel anything."
"Why do you want her dead?" Davi demanded. "For what reason was all this destruction caused?"
"My master declared it, and so it shall be."
"Your master?"
"The Lord of Threads."
"Never heard of him." Davi sighed. "He sounds like an asshole, though, if he ordered the destruction of an entire town, all so he could slay one woman."
The puppet let out a chuckle. "That is no normal woman behind you. She is an infection. A blight. A disease. A curse upon this very world. Her mere existence is one that should not be. Of course, we destroyed the town as well, and we will keep that up, for this entire town must go. Who knows how far the rot has seeped into it? That is why you, who have come in contact with her, shall also be put down. We are doing you a mercy by killing you before any more damage can be done."
Davi frowned. "You're saying we're all infected with something? Because we were near Susie?"
"Exactly." The puppet nodded its head. "Though it isn't a physical sickness or illness. That girl has inherited something she shouldn't have. Fate once deemed that she should have died. Her death was already written out, yet she did not die. She survived and became one of the seven. A being whose existence is a glitch upon this world. Every action, every reaction, every thought, every moment that she has existed has been a moment not foretold by fate, and so the only way to cleanse it and put this story back on track is to kill not just her, but everyone she has ever come in contact with, to ensure that their lives do not continue to go down the wrong path."
"Sounds dumb."
The puppet's fingers curled tighter around the handle of his scythe. "You dare?"
"I dare." Davi nodded. "I don't really believe in something like fate and destiny. I also don't believe that her existence is some cursed blight like you claim."
"Oh? And why not? Haven't bad things happened to her and those around her?"
"Bad things happen to everyone. Life isn't fair. It doesn't mean someone is a rot that needs to be put down."
"Alas, it seems you won't understand."
"Oh, I understand fully." Davi lifted his sword, and he pointed it at the Grim Reaper. "Fri Village, Lotus City, and countless others. That was your doing, wasn't it?"
The puppet let out a laugh. "Of course not. The Lord of Threads' target is that woman behind you. She is the only one he is concerned with. It is true that another member of the seven was in Fri village, which was why it was brought down, but that was one of the other members of the organization and not my Lord."
"And how many people from your organization are there? What do you guys call yourselves?"
"Don't think you'll simply get me to reveal everything. You're stalling and trying to buy time." The puppet began to walk forward, and then he sprinted. "If you will not move, then I'll carve through you to get to her!" The machine swung its scythe out with blinding speed, hoping to sever Davi in two.
"Row Light Ageis!" A shimmering shield of solid light appeared directly in front of Davi, the barrier deflecting the scythe. Davi then swung his blade, and it went through the shield in front of him, the light wrapping around it, causing his sword to explode in a wave of white energy as it slammed into the side of the Grim Reaper. The robot was blasted back once again, but it remained unharmed. "Davi!" Alice appeared in a flash.
"Grab Susie and get her out of here," Davi ordered. "This thing is after her."
"Got it." Alice scooped Susie up, who protested but didn't fight back. "Are you sure you can handle that thing?" She gestured to the Grim Reaper puppet, which was already back on its feet.
"I'll manage."
"Let me go," Susie hissed out. "I don't want to be saved."
"Are you saying you want to die?" Alice frowned.
"Yes."
"Susie." Davi's voice made the girl pause, and she glared in his direction. He didn't look back at her and instead kept his gaze focused on the puppet. "Listen. You can die if you want. If that's your desire, then go for it. Kill yourself. I'll even give you a knife so that you can do it. But at least wait. You heard what this thing said. It's not going to just stop at your death. Your friend, Hannah. Do you want her to die?" Susie flinched at his words. "Right now, your town is in danger. Your people are in danger. Your friend is in danger. You are in danger. If you truly care for any of these people, or even for Hannah, a tiny bit, then keep living just a little longer and help. You have the ability to do something, so do something. Your father, Garon, was a hero, wasn't he? Didn't he strive to keep this town safe? Follow his lead. Afterwards, when this is all over, if you still crave death, then you can kill yourself, but at least make sure your friend is safe before you do that, because once you die, there won't be any way to come back or fix any last mistakes. If I were in your shoes, I know that I would want to say sorry to her one last time."
Suse listened to his words, and her teeth dug into the flesh of her lip, hard enough to draw blood. "I-I really hate you."
"That's fine."
Slowly, she nodded her head. "Fine. I want to help save my town and save Hannah." She looked up at Alice. "P-Please take me to Hannah."
Alice turned about to leave but stopped and glanced back at Davi. "Don't die."
"I'll do my best."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Alice looked like she wanted to say more, but she didn't know what else could be said. Her coat lit up, and a white light began to cover her from head to toe, and then she vanished, leaving Davi behind with all the puppets.
The Grim Reaper puppet twirled his scythe around. The other puppets all clicked and stood behind their leader. "Do you really expect to walk out of this fight alive?"
"Do you?"
"Oh? A smartass, huh?" The puppet casually pointed the tip of its blade in Davi's direction. "Kill him."
The other robotic constructs all charged forward. A loud, piercing hum spilled out of their form as they lunged at Davi, firing off a series of lasers or attempting to slice into him with their bladed weapons.
Davi easily blocked the lasers with Storymaker, and his armor was durable enough to take the claws that came his way, deflecting them. He shifted his stance on his sword and turned it to the side, and swept it out, splitting the machines in two horizontally. As their broken remains fell around him, he grabbed the head of one of the puppets and ripped it off, then used it as a makeshift ball, throwing it at the Grim Reaper one, which was slowly walking toward him.
The leader puppet swung up with its scythe and split the head in two. It's back then lit up as a series of powerful thrusters went off, and wheels grew out of the bottom of its feet, allowing it to surge forward with incredible speed. Its scythe struck out again, and Davi tried to deflect the blow but wasn't able to entirely shift it to the side, causing the blade to rip into his left shoulder. It cut through his armor and flesh like a hot knife meeting butter, and he groaned in pain.
Davi allowed the scythe to slide along his shoulder, getting himself into a good enough position so that he was able to stab out with his longsword, ramming the tip of it into the throat of the puppet. The Grim Reaper's form twitched, and it was forced to take a step back, but its metal form was still fine. It looped its scythe around Davi, getting the bladed part to be behind his head, and then its arms rapidly pulled back as it tried to decapitate the Knight.
Davi easily ducked down, the blade going over his head, and he then slashed up with his sword, ramming the edge of it into the puppet's torso, ripping its cloak, but failing to leave a mark as its armored form deflected the blow. The puppet took the attack and smashed the butt end of its scythe out, hitting Davi hard enough to dent his armor and send him flying back.
Davi felt his back collide with the wall of a building, and he crashed straight through it, landing in a kitchen belonging to a family that had been forced to leave their home when all the fighting began. A second later, and the rest of the house was sliced apart as the Grim Reaper doll came flying in after him, swinging its weapon around wildly.
The house began to fall apart around the two of them, and Davi did his best to block and parry as many blows as he could, but the scythe managed to sneak past his guard dozens of times, leaving marks across his arms and chest, his armor failing to stop it. He fought through the pain and took a step forward, ramming his elbow out and crashing it into the face of the puppet. The construct responded by grabbing him with its free hand, and it yanked him off his feet and swung him around, slamming him through the walls and the roof.
Davi managed to crash his feet into the ground and forcefully yanked his arm back, and then he jumped to the side as the house was sliced in two by another scythe swing.
"You can't win!" The Grim Reaper declared in a proud tone. "My Lord has blessed me with a body that can block attacks from even regular Knights quite easily. It would take the attack force from a Title Knight or above just to harm me! A mere Squire like you has no right even trying to battle me!"
Davi jumped back, gaining some distance, but thanks to its thrusters, the puppet blasted toward him and caught up. The two of them once again entered a dance of clashing blades, and Davi came out the loser, his body being sliced into from several angles while his own strikes had no effect.
"Row Shadow Vault." From his vault, an entire anchor came flying out, and it rammed into the body of the puppet. It was launched through the roof of the house, and Davi pulled the anchor back into his vault and threw himself through whatever wall was left standing. He rolled out into the street and stood back up, raising his sword into the air just as the puppet came crashing toward him. His arms were raised, and his blade was pointed to the sky, entering the Way of the Sky Cutting Sword, but he wasn't going to have time to bring his attack down as the puppet reached him. "Vil Shadow Vault."
At the last second, before the Grim Reaper robot could launch its attack and split Davi in half, its form was held in place as several shadowy arms erupted from the air and wrapped around it. The arms tried to pull it into the ground, but its speed and power were too strong, and it twisted out of their way, escaping the vault spell.
The spell did its job, though, giving Davi enough time to slam his blade down, directly onto the back of the machine. This time, he actually left a mark, the metal starting to dent and sag, and the robot was smashed through the ground and crashed into the sewers below the town, the shockwave spreading out and leaving a small crater, but that was all he managed to do.
The puppet stopped, and its arm twisted back as it patted the place Davi's attack landed. It felt the small dent that had been left in its form, and a growl-like static poured from its throat.
"Close, but no cigar." The machine chuckled and jumped out of the crater, landing near Davi, who was still up top. "And it looks like that was everything you had."
Davi was on his knees and breathed heavily. He had placed all his mana into that strike and was now at his limit. Even with all his energy and landing his most potent attack, he was still unable to break through the machine's defenses. It was just too durable.
"You had a good run." The Grim Reaper puppet raised its scythe and got ready to bring it down. "Don't feel too bad. I was built to be a frontline fighter. My Lord created me with the goal of slaying weaklings like you. You never stood a chance. From the moment this fight started, you were doomed to fail. Now die-"
"Row Shadow Robes." A black cloth swirled around the scythe, covering the blade and turning it into a blunt weapon that slammed down into Davi's head, and at the same time, on the other side of the city, Susie suddenly screamed in embarrassment as the witch outfit she had been wearing vanished.
Back at the battle, Davi took the blow and gritted his teeth, feeling the kinetic force of the strike channel through his body. He directed the attack into his arms and stabbed his sword directly into the air for a second time. To the puppet's shock, it watched as his mana surged out, reaching its peak again, and this time he poured not just his own power but the puppet's power into the strike, as he unleashed a second Sky Cutting Sword slash.
The puppet let out a mechanical roar as the sword smashed into its chest, and its metal further dented and twisted, but the blade still couldn't cut through it.
Davi didn't stop his attack and kept pushing forward. As his blade was shoved off the robot, he smashed his palm into its chest, and his mana rose all the way up to its max again, then in an instant, all his energy spilled out into his palm, forming a spiraling wave of chaotic mana, which blew up, shoving him and the puppet back.
Davi winced in pain as the metal around his left arm melted, and he felt his bones crack and his muscles rapidly bruise. He forced the pain out of his mind and gripped his sword just in time as the puppet screamed louder.
It now had two dents, one in its back and the other in its chest. The second dent was far bigger, and the metal glowed red hot and looked as if it would start to melt into slag at any moment. It was still standing, though, and as long as that happened, it would keep fighting with everything it had, and so its thrusters kicked back in, and it launched at Davi, ready to keep going.
Davi shocked it by throwing his sword, and the blade spun through the air and whacked into the face of the machine. This caused it to stumble slightly, and Davi's mana fully returned as he surrounded both his fists in his energy and began to punch out, smashing his hands into the doll over and over again. Blow after blow, he hammered away at it.
The puppet twisted with the punch and slammed its scythe down, but the robes were still wrapped around the blade. Davi rolled with the strike, bending his body and forcing the energy into his arms and elbow. He stepped forward and threw out one last punch.
Davi forced everything he had into the strike, and the puppet made a mechanical hiss as the punch shoved it back. The metal along it rattled, and then it went to take a step forward, but its leg jerked out, and it wobbled. Oil began to drip down its faceplate, and its arms grew slack before the scythe it held slipped out. It kept shaking and spasming as if it were a person going through a seizure.
Finally, the robot crashed to its knees and stopped moving. Davi let out a sigh as he rubbed his arm, his mana settling down.
"What did you do?" The robot's voice came out even more distorted and broken, sounding faint.
Casually, Davi patted his stomach. "Despite being a robot, you're a lot like a person. Your insides are more important than your outsides. I couldn't fully get through that metal shell, so I hit you hard enough to rattle the parts inside of you. Your body might be unbreakable, but what about the wires? What about the tiny little pistons or gears? In a fight with another human, if you can destroy their organs, they'll shut down and die. Well, I just destroyed your organs."
"I see." The machine began to shake once more as it tried to stand, but that only caused more oil to gush out of it, and its limbs flailed wildly. "You just kept hitting, generating a kinetic force that rattled my insides, and waited until you hit something important. Clever. Not clever enough, though."
There was a clicking sound, and the damaged chest plate along the puppet began to snap and unfold. Davi's eyes widened as he saw dozens of whirling gears, which were starting to slow rapidly, as well as torn wires and snapped springs. He also saw the core of the construct, a spherical orb of metal with several crystals poking out of it. The crystals were all a light blue color, but they suddenly changed into a dark red, and smoke began to lift off the core.
The metal began to creak and melt, dripping down, and the orb cracked and began to shake apart, bits of energy launching out of it.
The puppet was going to blow itself to bits and take not just Davi but everyone in Daisy with it!
At least, that was its plan.
"Row Shadow Vault." Before the orb could explode, Davi sucked the machine into his vault and shut it. He let out a sigh of relief.
Somehow, he had won.
"Got to hurry to the others." Davi patted his injured shoulder and winced. "Body, don't let me down." He raised his mana to its max, put it all into his legs, and took off, running through the town.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to Daisy, dozens of metal carriages were all stuck in place. A wave of puppets blocked the gate that led outside, and the streets were swarming with them. Suits stood on top of one of the carriages, swinging around a massive metal ball on a chain.
While he did that, Alice kept flickering in and out, appearing in front of the puppets and punching them as hard as she could, blowing them to bits. Susie also fought, now dressed in some spare clothes she had found, and she created large golden orbs, which she dropped onto the machines, vaporizing them.
All the guards and even several civilians were attempting to fight back, casting various spells.
It wasn't enough, though, and they all began to get pushed back as more and more puppets dropped from the sky. Things got a lot worse when Alice narrowly dodged a strike as a scythe came slicing down. She growled when she saw a familiar-looking Grim Reaper puppet.
It wasn't alone either. Two more of the same models stood behind the first, all three holding their scythes. More giant puppets also appeared, as well as several puppets that all looked like animals—things like tigers, lions, rhinos, and much more.
Despite all the puppets, it was the final thing that dropped from the sky that made everyone freeze, and their eyes widened in horror.
Puppets had been constantly falling and raining down, but this time, a person was flung down. One who wore long black robes and had a flowing white beard. He was an elderly man, and his arms were casually crossed behind his back as he stared boredly at all the guards and Alice before his gaze finally landed on Susie Nyx.
"Finally." The old man tugged on his beard. "So, you're my target, huh? Inheritor of the Core, I've come to correct history. Today, one of the seven dies."
The Lord of Threads had arrived.
***
The quill began to write faster.