Puppet Maker

Vivian was on her way to complete the daily mission of hunting Mega Mantis and collecting its core. The Mega Mantis was a wind attributed, Level 5 magical beast that was quick on its feet.

Its strength was around a Martial Sage's level but its speed was on par with someone in the realm of Greatsage. But, it didn't pose any danger to Vivian who was a Martial King.

The only difficult thing about this mission was finding them and dealing with them before they took advantage of the greenery and mist around them and disappeared from her view.

"Urgh, where are they?" Vivian muttered under her breath as she continued her search for the magical beast.

'They didn't go extinct, did they?' She had been hunting them daily for a few months now. It wouldn't be a surprise if they migrated from this region or simply went extinct due to her.

"Found you!" Vivan exclaimed as she spotted a green skinned mantis the size of an adult male trying to hide from her. Its scythe-like forelimbs moved quickly producing a slash of wind that came whizzing towards her at breakneck speed.

-Mana Shield-

She quickly created a shield and took cover. The mantis was smart enough to realise that it was weaker than the humanoid creature in front of it. So it turned around without wasting a second and ran deeper into the forest.

"Hey, wait for me! Dammit!" Vivian chased after the beast. Her mana buzzed into action as her speed increased.

The forest had a lot of crooked trees with wildly grown branches that would get in her way, so she had to weave through these trees to avoid getting hit and still keep an eye on her prey.

She waited for a clearing to appear before she could make her move. The mantis, no matter how fast it ran, couldn't outrun Vivian who was faster than it.

-Whirlwind Thrust-

And a small clearing did appear and Vivian shoved her spear towards the head of the mantis with practised ease.

The air around the spear tip churned, creating a powerful whirlwind that shot towards the mantis and destroyed its head in the blink of an eye.

"Still nine more to go…" Vivian shoved the spear into the pit of the beast's stomach and blasted apart its innards with a powerful surge of mana.

She caught the magical core that flew due to the force and put it away into her spatial ring.

"So annoying… I need to go back all the way." Vivian groaned as she turned around and realised that she had ventured a bit too deep into the forest.

She wasn't scared of the forest but only that she hadn't explored this region before which made her hasten her footsteps as she made her way towards the Mist Village.

-Woosh!

A bone-chilling wind brushed past her skin while she was running which caused her to halt her steps. Cold winds were common in this region but this was not your average wind blow.

Dread settled in her heart as Vivian observed her surroundings.

It was too quiet.

She had never seen the forest this quiet before. Her instincts screamed for her to run but her legs wouldn't budge from the place.

Vivian didn't know if it was pure luck or if it was the result of countless hours she had invested in her training that made her jump to the side just in time to avoid a whip-like thing that shot towards her leg.

'That was too fast!'

Just now she could barely see a tree branch moving back into the forest, disappearing into the mist after making a deep gully in the ground where she was standing. Vivian was sure, if she was still in that place she would've lost her legs to that attack.

-King's Domain-

It wasn't a good idea to only rely on her eyes when the damned branch was moving faster than her eyes could follow. Somehow, her domain made the situation even worse. She could feel someone watching her every move.

However, Vivian decided to keep her domain active. It was the only way through which she could keep up with her new enemy by sensing the branch as soon as it entered her domain.

Another branch came from behind her at a blinding speed and Vivian ducked before rolling to avoid getting hit in the neck. Her heartbeat quickened as she felt the difference in strength between herself and her enemy.

She was weaker.

And she couldn't see the enemy's location.

-Wind Slash-

She pumped half of her mana into her spear and unleashed her attack at the oncoming tree branch while she jumped back, wings of wind sprouting on her back.

'Holy shit! That's a Puppet Maker!'

Her heart was practically thumping against her ribcage, threatening to leap out of her body.

That was no ordinary magical beast.

She was able to deduce that much from observing the branch that acted like a whip. She was hoping for it to be a high level Treeman but as her shitty luck would have it, it turned out to be something straight out of her nightmare.

A Puppet Maker.

The ultimate tree-like monster that no one wanted to encounter. Its branches were lined with two rows of suckers just like an octopus.

Vivian had never dared to take a look at the insides of that sucker when she was a kid and her grandfather had tried to educate her on the dangers present in the forest by showing drawings of that blasted creature.

She was already repulsed by the blood-sucking limbs of the withered old tree; she didn't want to get traumatised by looking at its sucker cup's inner cavity covered with sharp teeth.

Vivian realised she was in for something far more dangerous than just a gruesome death by this monster that would suck her blood dry.

No! This tentacle using abomination would turn her into a puppet to lure in other prey.

That thought horrified her to no end.

'Damn, it's definitely at the level of an emperor… or more.'

Worse yet, she couldn't even find its main body. She was using all of her focus to avoid the tentacles.

"Argh! I don't want to get my blood sucked out!"

Vivian screamed as she sent another slash at the branch that was coming her way. She readied her spear and poured every ounce of mana she had in her core, only leaving behind enough to use her escape technique.

-Wind Shear-

She jumped towards the branch and slashed her spear with all her strength.

A sickening roar came from her left side as the branch was shredded to pieces. Vivian turned to her right and activated her escape technique.

-Floating Steps-

Her feet let out short bursts of wind as she ran. It almost looked like she was floating as she ran for her life.

"Just you wait, you monster! I am not running away. This is a tactical retreat. This lady shall come back again and deal with you when I am stronger!"

Vivian, even though she was scared for her life, couldn't help but say those words to save her face.