Chapter 47: Crimson

The soldiers in the corridor raised their carbines, aimed ahead, and marched forward in perfect unison.

They showed not the slightest hesitation, not a trace of doubt, and their target was only one.

Just as this group of soldiers was about to reach the doorway of their target room, Levi’s voice rang out.

“Now! Do it!”

Before the words had even fallen, the wall beside the soldiers suddenly burst open!

Immediately after————

“Haahhhhhh!!”

Katie charged out from the breach, holding a massive bookshelf above her head.

With a loud shout, she hurled the bookshelf straight toward the soldiers before her!

“Boom!”

At that moment, the solid bookshelf demonstrated its fine quality.

It crashed down upon the soldiers, knocking them to the ground.

At the same time, Henry and Anthony rushed out from the doorway, each tossing a grenade into the gap beneath the fallen bookshelf.

And Levi raised his gun in that instant, pulling the trigger.

“Bang bang!”

The Hellfire bullets, under Levi’s control, pierced through the cracks in the bookshelf and struck the grenades directly.

In the next moment, brilliant flames erupted and spread in the blink of an eye, engulfing all the soldiers trapped beneath the bookshelf.

“...Huff…”

Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Katie patted her chest and turned to Levi.

“As expected of you, Detective. You actually pinpointed their exact location just by their footsteps!”

“Not bad, it worked.”

Levi chuckled.

Of course, he wasn’t using any “sound localization”… but he could cheat.

With 【Soul Sight】, Levi simply activated wall-hack vision and clearly saw the figures on the other side—glowing in red.

Henry, however, stared in silence at the soldiers being consumed by fire, who still swung their arms like robots, trying to stand and fight.

Only after a moment did he turn his gaze to Levi.

“Will these flames burn them all into ash?”

“That… I’m not too sure either…”

Faced with Henry’s question, Levi could only shake his head.

He knew the incendiary bullets would definitely burn them to death, but whether it could reduce them entirely to ash was another matter.

During experiments, Mr. Benjamin had only told Levi these things could char an enemy into charcoal—but burning everything down to pure ash… perhaps only those fireball spells in games could do that.

“……………”

Henry stared at Levi in silence for a while.

“Find the one responsible for all this, and I will make him pay.”

“I’ll do my best.

But first, we need to get out of here alive.”

“Then Miss Elizabeth will be in my care.”

At that moment, Anthony walked over to the puppetized Elizabeth and hoisted her onto his shoulder.

They couldn’t just leave her there—if they pushed forward, the enemy might turn her completely into a puppet and set her against them.

Anthony’s abilities were useless in this place anyway; he might as well handle carrying and keeping watch.

“Then let’s go.”

Fortunately, after those soldiers were eliminated, no one else blocked their path.

The three quickly returned to the previous room.

The chubby boy still sat there, with two maids standing beside him.

When he saw Levi and the others return, this time the fat boy chuckled darkly.

“Well? Did you enjoy the puppets?”

“You damned little bastard!!”

The boy’s words were like fuel poured onto Henry’s already raging fury.

He gripped his axe tightly and strode toward the boy.

Though the boy looked like no more than a ten-year-old child, in Henry’s eyes he was nothing but a cruel and terrifying demon.

Henry wished to immediately swing his axe down and hack the demon into pieces, to avenge his fallen men!

That was what he thought—so that was what he did!

Henry raised his axe high, then swung it down with force!

“What are you doing!?”

The blade whistled past Levi’s head, nearly splitting it in half.

Levi’s heart skipped a beat—thankfully he reacted quickly and slipped into the shadows in time!

“I… I don’t know———”

Henry’s voice was filled with shock and bewilderment.

“I didn’t intend…”

Yet his body acted in contradiction to his words, for Henry once again raised the axe and swung it toward Levi.

Levi could only dodge swiftly, narrowly escaping another strike.

“Wait, Henry! What are you doing?!”

Katie realized what was happening and rushed forward to stop Henry.

But as she moved, her body suddenly spun like a ballerina, and her fist smashed toward Levi.

Levi had prepared himself, but even so, Katie’s punch was far beyond what he expected.

The moment her small fist struck him, he felt as though a speeding car at seventy miles an hour had hit him head-on.

The next instant, a violent shock traveled through his back, nearly making him vomit up his insides.

Levi coughed, feeling sharp pain in his arm.

【Diagnosis】 indicated that his left arm, which he had used to block the blow, was likely fractured…

Damn it, these monsters really weren’t human.

Was this strength something a human could block? Could it be that this young lady was actually half-troll?!

Though Levi had seen Katie send people flying before, this was the first time he personally experienced her strength.

He now suspected she might be the one cheating, not him.

Barehanded, her combat ability felt even more outrageous than his own!

Of course, Levi’s own low strength played a part.

With a Strength stat of 50 being average for a normal human, Levi’s was even 10 lower.

Katie’s, if converted to numbers, was probably over 90.

Given Levi’s physique and strength, the fact that her punch didn’t crit and kill him outright was already lucky.

“I-I’m sorry! Detective! Are you alright?!”

Katie looked panicked, yet her charge toward Levi didn’t slow.

Sensing danger, Levi immediately activated 【Shadow Step】.

In the next moment, his figure sank into the darkness like into a bottomless bog.

Almost simultaneously, Katie barreled forward like an out-of-control truck, smashing a cabinet and several puppets into splinters.

What the hell was going on?

Levi stepped out from another patch of shadow, activating 【Soul Sight】 again.

Instantly, the dazzling red glow filled his vision.

At first glance, nothing seemed different.

But Levi soon noticed that Katie and Henry’s souls weren’t quite the same.

In 【Soul Sight】, the souls of the living were white, the dead black.

Inorganic matter also appeared black, while organic matter like plants appeared white.

Now, under Levi’s gaze, Katie and Henry’s souls were still white—but their heads, wrists, and joints glowed with bright crimson points.

What in the world was that?

Levi focused harder.

The misty view before him cleared, like a foggy car window being wiped clean.

Then he saw it.

Wrapped around their souls were countless crimson threads, like strings.

So that’s why they were being controlled? But why not me?

As Levi wondered, he suddenly saw a crimson thread descend from above and coil around his arm.

But at that moment, the thread quivered violently, then slipped away and dangled loosely to the side.

Could this be 【Mystery Resistance】?

Levi realized the only difference between him and Katie or Henry was this.

Clearly, this soul-manipulation was some kind of mystical power, and his 【Mystery Resistance】 shielded him from it.

Wait—that thread came from above… meaning…

Levi raised his head toward the ceiling—and froze.

Under 【Soul Sight】, he discovered the room had no ceiling at all.

It was like a tiny toy box, and outside the box, a gigantic puppet was grinning at them.

Its hands were raised high, countless crimson threads dangling from its fingertips, attached to everything in the room!

Levi was dumbfounded.

How was he supposed to fight this?

He had thought of many ways to deal with a boss beforehand, but this scene was far beyond his expectations.

A gigantic puppet controlling everything here?

What the hell was this? He wasn’t some dual-sword bald hero… how was he supposed to fight it?

Before Levi could come up with a plan, Henry and Katie lunged at him again.

Levi was forced to close 【Soul Sight】 and evade with 【Shadow Step】 once more.

He couldn’t keep stalling—if the puppet discovered he couldn’t be controlled, it might make Henry and Katie kill each other.

Hmm… and in Levi’s estimation, Katie killing Henry was more likely.

Wait…

As Levi dodged once again, his eyes caught his fluttering sleeve.

His mind lit up.

That crimson thread had tried to bind his arm but had bounced off before even touching him.

If he remembered correctly, it hadn’t even brushed his skin.

Did that mean not just his body, but everything he carried, also had 【Mystery Resistance】?

If so…

Levi gritted his teeth.

Let’s test it!

“Katie, Henry! Tell me what you’re about to do!”

Though their bodies were controlled, their minds were still their own.

At that moment, Katie and Henry were cursing each other for not blocking the puppet’s moves.

Hearing Levi’s shout, they paused for a moment—yet their bodies still attacked.

“Careful, Detective! This will be a right straight punch!”

“Levi, I’ll be swinging left toward your head!”

Both were skilled fighters, and even with their bodies controlled, they could predict their own moves through muscle memory.

Good.

Let’s try it.

Levi fixed his gaze on the two charging at him, narrowing his eyes.

【Eye of the Reaper】!

Time instantly slowed around him.

Their movements turned sluggish.

Levi leapt forward, stepping on Katie’s fist, vaulted upward, and evaded Henry’s axe as he landed lightly on the man’s broad shoulder.

At the same moment, Levi activated his second skill———【Soul Sight】!

The ceiling vanished again, replaced by a faint crimson mist.

Beyond the mist loomed a shadow.

Levi clenched his teeth, focusing hard—and then he saw it!

The gigantic puppet behind the red haze!

Whether this would work… it all depended on now!

Levi had already broken through the ceiling’s boundary, and the puppet turned its head to look at him.

Its laughing face twisted in astonishment—as if a child saw a video game character suddenly step out of the screen into reality.

At the same time, Levi raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

“Bang bang bang———!”

He fired every remaining bullet.

The rounds howled through the air, striking the puppet’s face directly!

The next moment, the puppet opened its mouth and let out a horrifying shriek!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.