String Performance

It was a terrifying sight to behold. Amidst the hanging bodies of various individuals, there lay a figure wearing a weeping mask in the middle.

Veritas immediately gazed upon his Soul and activated Windsong. 

"0, Winds! Protect us!"

He tried to cast a Wind Veil on every individual inside the agency, this was due to the potency of the strings caused by the Puppeteer. 

However... It was useless.

Invisible strings passed through the Wielders, causing a devastating blow. Veritas was a step late in the battle of attrition.

"Shit!" 

Veritas let out a loud curse that reverbrated amidst the Winds. He had succeeded in casting Wind Veil but it was too late as the damage had already been dealt.

Due to the fact that Lino was leading the assault and stood in front, his right hand was cut off because of the sudden strings. Blood spurted out and scattered all over the floor. 

Every Wielder inside saw this, and they had reacted a second late before succumbing to multiple cuts of strings. 

On their faces, bodies, arms, and clothes, were miniature slashes that looked like a long paper cut. 

Veritas then immediately felt his body strengthen and become harder. He noticed that this change was due to Calida's Enchanting. 

Thus, the second waves of attack came, but this time.. their defenses were fortified and the existence of Enchanting and Wind Veil negated the invisible strings.

With only a single hand to use, Lino did not falter and went on to continue the pursuit. 

"Everyone! Go!"

He rallied the Wielders and ran straight through the direction of the Puppeteer.

Veritas supported the group by using Winds to detect the area outside. He determined the locations of the strings and used Windsong to prevent them from getting near the Wielders.

This was only a precaution, Veritas was confident that Calida's Enchanting and his Wind Veil were enough to stop the strings. 

The bright moonlight basked the Puppeteer in its faint radiance. He stood amidst the Soliloquy as if he was directly atop a stage and a spotlight shining towards him. The Puppeteer brought his hands up and looked like he was preparing for a move.

The Wielders stayed vigilant and became wary of this newfound development. Thus, they halted in their steps and prepared for an onslaught of attacks. 

"Everyone, stop!" Lino called out to the Wielders and immediately conjured hundreds of small metal balls around him.

The Puppeteer moved its hands carefully, controlling the strings near him. However! Lino counter attacked and shot the small metal balls around him. 

The sight that Veritas encountered was peculiar, he saw the hundreds of metal balls hastily made their way to the Puppeteer. In mere moments, they shot out like bullets and reached the Puppeteer's body.

But then.. the metal balls were cut into pieces as they approached the Puppeteer. Every single ball was cut into half, it looked like the Puppeteer also had a Veil around it.

"Is that all that you can do?" The Puppeteer stared at Lino directly.

Lino was not provoked by this and he conjured thousands upon thousands of small metal balls. 

The battle went something like this.. Lino stood at the front lines and beside him were thousands of small metal balls. Eros and Ali stood behind him to wait for an opportunity to arise, while Jacque was farther back into the groups.

Jacque seemed to be silently muttering under his breath, his eye seemed to glow brighter as every second passed.

Lino and Veritas were fighting with the invisible strings, and the other groups awaited the next orders of their leader.

Thus, the exchanging of blows between the metal balls, Winds, and strings, continued. It was a 2v1 where the string was the latter, fighting so fiercely yet calm. 

It looked like a stalemate at first, but Lino was slowly starting to take notice of the bleeding of his hand. A healing-type Pathbearer from Group 2 was helping him, but the loss of blood already happened and it would take a moment before he would recover.

Taking advantage of this, the Puppeteer held his hands up high as if he was announcing something to be revealed!

Veritas did not like this feeling at all, the Winds warned him of the upcoming danger.

"Impeccable.. Wielders!"

The Puppeteer's darkly voice screamed out and echoed along the empty streets of Copper Borough. Soon, Veritas noticed movement among the scene, his eyes widened at the sudden danger.

Veritas looked up and saw subtle movement on the strings.

'Shit!'

Veritas warned the Wielders of the upcoming attack!

"Everyone! Be wary of the bodies above you!"

With those words, the hanging bodies began to rain down on the groups of Wielders below. The lifeless corpses were crushed on the pavement, turning the sight to be a more brutal and gory one.

Limbs were broken apart, blood exploded everywhere, skulls shattered, brains split apart, intestines spread, and many more!

It was a rain filled with blood, guts, and bodies!

Veritas looked appalled by this horrifying sight.. Such lives were suddenly lost all too sudden!

The Puppeteer merely laughed and bowed at the performance that he has conjured. 

Every Wielder in the vicinity looked tense yet they focused on the task in front of them. 

"Eros it's your turn!" Lino stared at the dark-skinned man with a huge stature.

"Hahahaha! It's a bloodbath!" Eros laughed like a crazed maniac. 

Eros' Path was related to blood, although he could not manipulate blood itself, being surrounded by it made him go in a crazed state. With this, Eros' body was enhanced, his strength fortified, and he looked like a psychopath that only wanted to fight. 

In a flash, Eros rushed towards the Puppeteer and nothing stopped him in his Path. The strings could not pierce his crazed body that was enchanted and covered with Wind Veil. So, he looked to be a Berserker, striving to reach the Puppeteer. 

16 seconds was all it took for Eros to reach the Puppeteer and connect his fist to it. The Puppeteer was taken aback by this and tried to defend its strings. 

However it did not work! Eros let out a heavy punch in the Puppeteer's side and it immediately flew back due to the impact.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!" Eros laughed aloud.

The Puppeteer immediately stood up and continued moving its fingers, invisible strings were sent to the direction of Eros but it was useless.

At this point, Lino had already stopped his barrage of metal balls and rested. He sat down in one knee and let the healer from Group 2 to treat him. 

The battle had already taken 14 minutes, and the excess usage of their Attunements and Paths already took a toll on their Souls. With the exception of a few, such as Veritas, Eros, Calida, and a few more.

"That.. Eros- he's really crazy." 

Lino admired the large-statured man, confident in his comrade's skills and strength. With this amount of blood around him, Eros' bloodlust could not be stopped.

Eros continued to pursue the Puppeteer, running so quickly that the Puppeteer had not been given a single chance to recuperate. 

Every time it tried to stand up, it would be met by a gigantic fist filled with bloodlust.

However, the Puppeteer did not seem damaged at all! It was flying around due to the impact, but Eros had not really hit the Puppeteer's body yet. 

The Veil of Strings were completely negating the dark-skinned Wielder's attacks. 

It almost seemed like the Puppeteer was taking the blows on purpose!

Veritas did not feel too good about this.

The onslaught of punches brought by Eros to the Puppeteers was devastating, breaking debris with every impact taken.

The waves of Strings seemed to have halted due to this, it was as if the Puppeteer's main focus lay on Eros. 

This gave a lot of time for the Wielders to recuperate and heal. 

The battlefield consisted of mangled corpses, blood was all around the pavement, and standing atop of them were the Wielders. They did not seem too happy by this. Clearly, they were disturbed by the grueling sight that had beholden them. 

"Lino.. what do we do while Eros is buying time?' Ali, the red-haired Wielder, asked softly.

"We wait for Jacque."

At this point the light blue hair of the Wielder was glowing brightly. It looks like lightning was coming out from it.

The plan that Lino had in mind was simple. It was to not let the Puppeteer regain his composure, and barrage him with attacks that it could easily block.

Then, when it had adjusted to the flurry of attacks, Jacque was to deliver a devastating beam of lightning that would surely bring the Puppeteer down. 

The battle between Eros and the Puppeteer continued on being one-sided. The Puppeteer could not even stand! He was getting entirely devastated!

Veritas then noticed sparks coming out of Jacques body, it looked like he was brimming with blue energy! 

Lino took this into consideration and steeled himself, ordering nearby Wielders to stay clear of the area.

"Everyone! Be prepared!"

With the Wielders out of the way, Jacque was ready to send a blue lightning bolt towards the Puppeteer. He only needed a simple opening to strike down!

The bloodlusted Eros sent a heavy blow towards the Puppeteer, flying towards him at great speeds. Then, before the Puppeteer could even stand up, Eros sent a kick that threw the Puppeteer in the air!

This was the opening that they were looking for!

Lino immediately took notice of this and commanded Jacque to unleash his lightning!

"Jacque! Do it!"

The dark sky from above turned even more darker due to the accumulation of black clouds. Veritas felt the air turn silent due to this, it was as if a large attack was forming. 

It only took a few moments for this to form, and in those few seconds Eros threw another heavy blow towards the Puppeteer.

This time! The Puppeteer's defenses were pierced.. it looked like its weeping mask had cracked, revealing a fair smooth skin deep inside. 

But what the other Wielders failed to notice was the smiling face inside that mask. With his enhanced vision, Veritas saw this and his eyes were immediately directed towards Jacque. 

"This!"

He dashed towards the blue-haired young man and tried to knock him out!

However... Veritas was too late and the lightning had been cast!

The lightning.. was not directed at the Puppeteer.

It was directed at Eros!

A blue beam of light struck down the dark-skinned man, rendering him stunned and useless. The light in his eyes went out, signifying his unconsciousness due to the attack.

Eros fell to the ground and the Puppeteer with a broken weeping mask had finally stood up.

The Puppeteer held its hands up high, and lightly moved its fingers. Veritas felt the invisible strings move once more..

In front of him, Veritas saw Jacque's eyes turning normal once more. However, those eyes looked lifeless and controlled! 

In a fraction of a second, it seemed like the light in Jacque's eyes had returned, but immediately his head snapped back and stared at Veritas with his mouth agape.

"You bastard!" Veritas screamed with all his lungs.

Mere moments was all it took for all of that to happen at once. The Wielders could not even react that fast, it was as if the lightning bolt was signifying the turning point of the fight. 

The Puppeteer then laughed gracefully at their loss. Then, it immediately bowed down and stated:

"Thus comes the conclusion of Act 1.."

Veritas felt inner rage inside of his heart.

"Behold.. dear Wielders. I welcome you to Act 2!"

A body from the Puppeteer's side slowly started to stand up. It had dark-skin and a large stature, burns were found all around its body, and its eyes were devoid of any life.

The body near the Puppeteer had belonged to Eros, the Bloodlust.