Chapter 134: Demon Sorceress Nova
Fully armed, Hogg hurriedly led the patrol to the town center. A moment later, Maya, who had been notified, emerged from the fireplace.
“Thirteen residents are missing. The perpetrator is experienced and left no clues. It’s suspected to be related to supernatural powers. I’ve sent people to the inn to check, we should have news soon.” Well-taught by Howard, Hogg quickly explained the situation in concise words.
“You’ve handled it well. Now, immediately dispatch men to the arrow towers. Monitor the vicinity of the territory for anything unusual and prevent anyone from escaping. Assemble the patrol and be ready to strike at any time.” Maya remained calm and issued orders promptly.
“As you command!” Hogg, without a word, immediately took his men to carry out the orders. It had to be said that although he lacked the ability to act independently, his execution was already commendable. Even Maya couldn’t find fault with it.
Maya didn’t leave. She had her own responsibilities.
The entire territory’s military operations were divided into three categories: War, Security, and Darkness.
War was under Howard’s command, Security under Hogg’s, and Darkness under Maya’s.
Among them, Maya held the most authority. She could exert limited influence over Howard, command Hogg, and also controlled the territory’s secret forces. Therefore, after Hogg left to carry out his orders, she also mobilized her subordinates.
Owen had long anticipated encountering troubles that ordinary soldiers couldn’t resolve in the future, so he had been diligently preparing, for instance, the Shinobi.
The initial Shinobi were only passable. They were skilled in stealth and assassination, but because it wasn’t a profession from this world, their upper limit was low. Even in assassinations, they could at most deal with low and mid-ranking nobles.
This was because genuine high-ranking nobles had comprehensive personal protection. Defensive magic equipment alone was beyond the reach of Shinobi, let alone rare magic equipment like warning, detoxification, and teleportation. There was basically no chance of success.
However, under Owen’s enhancements, the Shinobi not only learned breathing techniques that surpassed Battle Qi in explosive power, but also acquired magic equipment and potions, greatly increasing their strength. And today would be the time for them to demonstrate their worth.
Completely blending into the night, the Shinobi, light as Tanuki, traversed the streets, alleys, rooftops, and walls of the territory. Their nimble movements, coupled with the well-cushioned Shinobi footwear, made their actions silent and undetected, leaving no blind spots.
The Shinobi were intimately familiar with every nook and cranny of the territory. After confirming the scene of the disappearances, they quickly discovered traces left by the perpetrators. After all, those two weren’t professional thieves. Even if they understood some techniques, they would inevitably leave some slip-ups in the details. Thus, they were locked onto by the Shinobi and tracked all the way to that remote barn, claiming the first victory.
After confirming the perpetrators’ location, Maya didn’t let her guard down. She didn’t know who they were, so apart from notifying Hogg, she also mobilized the Teutonic Knights and Witch Hunters, making ample preparations.
Maya didn’t report this matter to Owen. It wasn’t that she had ulterior motives, but because as subordinates, if they couldn’t alleviate their master’s worries, they would be worthless. Therefore, before the situation worsened, Maya wouldn’t report it to Owen. However, her silence didn’t mean Owen was unaware.
After receiving the Shinobi’s message, Owen, who had been working for a long time, forced himself to stay awake. He gently withdrew his hand, allowing Dier to continue sleeping, while he washed up in the basin, put on his robe, and went to the study.
Beside the desk stood a puppet. This puppet wasn’t a mere showpiece like the Top Hat Puppet, but a special combat puppet meticulously crafted by Owen.
With a lightweight alloy frame, special fiber muscles, and composite armor plating, the entire puppet appeared slender and powerful, resembling Genji in appearance. Owen had even specifically forged a long sword for it and added a Shinobi template to its intelligent core, naming it Ninjutsu Assassin.
Lying back on the recliner, Owen put on the consciousness projection glasses, his consciousness flowing along with his psychic power into the Ninjutsu Assassin beside him.
With the infusion of psychic power, the Ninjutsu Assassin’s energy core activated, and power surged through its body.
After activating the Ninjutsu Assassin, Owen moved it around. Its movements were incredibly agile, effortlessly leaping and climbing, drawing and sheathing its sword with crisp precision. With a flash of cold light, the quill on the desk was sliced in two, yet the desk remained completely unscathed. It was nothing like the clumsiness of his own body.
Such performance was possible because it was only Owen’s spirit operating this body, completely unhindered by the limitations of his physical form. It could be said that whatever he thought, as long as this body could handle it, it could be done. Moreover, with the assistance of the intelligent core, it could even achieve seemingly impossible feats. This was the true way to unlock the potential of a Puppeteer.
However, Owen was still taking a shortcut. A true Puppeteer wouldn’t need to go through such trouble. Their unique psychic power could resonate with the puppet, unleashing power bordering on miraculous.
Unfortunately, the more intricate the puppet, the greater the consumption of psychic power. With Owen’s current psychic power level, let alone resonance, even with this shortcut, he couldn’t sustain a puppet of this quality at full power for very long. This was because he needed to infuse his psychic power into every joint and every artificial muscle fiber of the puppet. Only in this way could he connect with the entire puppet and unleash its full functionality.
The problem was that this kind of operation placed an absurd strain and consumption on his spirit, like directly drawing power at full capacity.
This was also the reason why Owen installed an intelligent core in the Ninjutsu Assassin. With the intelligent core, most actions could be left to the puppet’s own judgment, and his role was like controlling a game character through a controller. This way, he could sustain it for a much longer time.
Ready, Owen directed the Ninjutsu Assassin’s movements. With agility no less than a real Shinobi, it leaped from the castle, landing gracefully without a sound, leaving only a shallow pit where it touched down.
In fact, the Ninjutsu Assassin’s joints and footpads possessed strong shock absorption. If not for its overall weight, it wouldn’t even leave that much of a mark.
Of course, compared to other puppets, the Ninjutsu Assassin was already considered featherweight. Thus, driven by its energy core, it entered the town like the wind. It felt like playing a live-action game, requiring minimal control, as the character automatically sprinted and jumped, incredibly exhilarating.
As Paulie and Ke Li, having stirred up Autumn Field Town’s defense forces, were about to be surrounded, in the town’s inn, a merchant’s maid went out to fetch water and hadn’t returned for a long time. This infuriated the merchant, who cursed loudly, vowing to whip her soundly to teach her a lesson, unaware of who would be whipping whom in the end.
The missing maid was none other than the demon sorceress Ai Mi Er had encountered in the town before. The Demon Egg she had given to Bella was also hers.
However, although Nova was a demon sorceress, she wasn’t a member of the Demon’s Head. On the contrary, she had quite a few grudges against them. Even her previous injury was inflicted by members of the Demon’s Head. So, after realizing that Paulie and Ke Li were members of the Demon’s Head, she became interested, intending to secretly sabotage them. Therefore, after noticing the commotion, she quietly slipped away.
