Puppet

[Anna POV],

These people's levels were clearly lower than mine, as I suspected, but I was still unable to take them down. Not because they were too strong to withstand my assault, but because I couldn't bring myself to take them down.

If it were monsters I was fighting, I'd have no problem going for the kill, but when it's the same race, it's a different story.

'Tsk! 'This is so frustrating,' I thought as I dodged a fireball aimed at me.

These guys obviously knew they couldn't fight me on normal ground, but after learning about my indecisiveness, they became even more daring.

It's a little embarrassing that a level 25 human like myself couldn't handle a swarm of level 19 to level 22 humans.

Even though I knew what they would do to me if they caught me, I still couldn't bring myself to kill them.

Of course, I could paralyze them, but that seemed too cruel.

'And then there's that guy....' I turned to look in a specific direction as I was thinking about this.

To think he abandoned his own teammates, but that smile he gave me before leaving...

'That guy is odd.'

'But first, let's ignore him and deal with this,' I thought as I steeled my resolve, and for the next few seconds, the sound of bones being crushed and screams could be heard.

...

[Wayne is mentally unstable so don't be confused when he refers to the people around him as subordinates, brothers, or puppets],

[Wayne POV],

Damn! This b*tch is strong! I thought I was going to die.

Thankfully, it appeared she was hesitant to hurt us, but I could tell she was hell-bent on keeping us there.

'Fortunately, I was able to escape at the cost of losing a puppet,' I thought as I tried to shake the uneasy feeling that I was being watched ever since I escaped.

'Damn! What a b*tch! I'm going to make her pay!' I gritted my teeth as I considered the silver-haired girl and my potential loss but later calmed down as I called out the primordial chronicle in my head as I checked the description of a certain skill of mine.

.....

[Rare skill: Puppet Master◆◆◆],

Creates a core with your mana; "The heart", and instill it into a living object to transform it into a puppet.

Number of puppets: [16/20]

...

This was the skill I received from my first kill reward when everything started. It would have been a useless skill if I hadn't been stronger than my brothers, because who would willingly become a puppet to another person?

With this skill, I was able to force the people I currently have under me to let me instill a core in their heart area, and given the choice between dying and becoming a puppet at the mercy of someone else, it was clear which choice they would make.

Of course, there were some stubborn ones.

Given the number of puppets I still have, it appears that the girl has not yet killed them. Who knows if they'll turn on me to save their own skin. After all, even though I can control them, they are not mindless, and I am not yet ready or capable of confronting that b*tch.

Though it breaks my heart to do so, am sorry guys.

.....

[Rare skill: Puppet Master◆◆◆],

Creates a core with your mana; "The heart", and instill it into a living object to transform it into a puppet.

Number of puppets: [8/20]

...

So they couldn't tell on me, I had to let go of them.

Damn you, b*tch! All of this happened because of her.

What would happen to them if they weren't my puppets anymore? Well, what happens when something no longer serves a purpose for you?

As I considered these things, I accelerated back to where my other brothers were.

....

[Third POV],

Anna didn't have a good expression on her face as she stared at the ten macho men on the floor with broken bones, but she kept looking.

After a while, she sighed and said, "Let's just ask some questions."

Anna could only question them seeing as their boss had fled and left them, and even though she had a crow trailing their runaway boss, she wasn't sure she wanted to go through the trouble of pursuing him.

What she did not expect was that before she could ask the questions she had planned to ask, all nine men on the floor began groaning and gripping their chests, with expressions of pain written on their faces.

When Anna saw this, she was stunned and wanted to get closer to them to observe when all nine of the men suddenly exploded, spilling some of their blood on Anna's body.

Anna slowly lowered her head as her body began to tremble in response to the mutilated bodies and numerous body parts that were lying around in front of her.

She vomited upon seeing this.

The sight was extremely upsetting to the young Anna who had never witnessed anything like it.

Even without knowing how it happened, Anna had a good idea of who would have done this.

"Bastard!" Her body trembled as she muttered.

It was at this point that she realized what Ace meant when he said to Princess Adara that she had not seen the world or the true side of humans.

Unfortunately for Anna, she witnessed and realized this too quickly.

.....

Ace, unlike Anna, was currently viewing Chris' primordial chronicle panel.

Though everyone could hear battles and screams outside, they were unconcerned since Anna never called for help. There was also a rank 1 summon with her to assist her in times of need.

If even a rank 1 specie couldn't handle what was outside, then going out would only add to the casualties, but seeing the clone of Anna summoned crow beside Ace, they knew she was still fine.

"Don't you think we should go help her?" Emma asked at one point after noticing that the surrounding area had suddenly become quiet after a strange sound.

When Ace heard this, he took his gaze away from the panel in front of him and looked at Emma, telling her she could go and help if she wanted, which she did the moment she heard this.

Ace said nothing in response to this reaction.

Ace knew that, unlike Anna and Chris, Emma was still adjusting to the team, so even though he saw no reason for her to assist Anna, he agreed to her request as it was what she wanted.

Ace was finally able to return to what he was doing after Emma left, as he read the texts on Chris's Panel again.