The End

Just as Raven was beginning to consider retreating, a well-aimed sniper bullet struck the puppet's head, staggering it. Then, with another pull of the trigger, another bullet hit its leg during the brief moment of stiffness.

This bought Raven valuable time. With several quick rolls, she finally escaped Chris's grasp. She swiftly drew her bow and nocked an arrow, coordinating with the sniper to restrict Chris's movements.

"Attack its joints! This monster doesn't feel pain; its only weakness is its joints," a man's urgent voice called out. Raven immediately understood, adjusting her aim.

Thud, thud, thud.

Three consecutive dull thuds rang out as three arrows miraculously hit the same spot. After another shot, Chris's leg joint completely shattered.

The severed thigh quickly dissolved into particles, vanishing without a trace. This was a failsafe left behind by Ren; he didn't want these people tracing him through the puppet. After all, he already had the real puppet, and the current Chris was just a monster formed by concentrated Honkai energy.

With the two of them working together, Chris was ultimately no match. The two ranged attackers continuously whittled him down, and after all four of his limbs were destroyed, he finally lost the ability to fight back.

Once the dust settled, Chen Tianwu, who had been hiding and ambushing from the side, revealed himself. His left arm was completely gone, the empty sleeve fluttering in the wind.

But instead of blood, a small amount of black lubricating oil dripped from his sleeve. Occasionally, faint sparks from short-circuiting electronic components could be seen; it looked quite bizarre.

Aside from that, his leg was also badly damaged, but it was also a mechanical modification. Perhaps that was why he managed to survive Chris's attack.

"Who are you? Do you know what that monster was?" Raven didn't relax her guard just because Chen Tianwu looked battered. She kept her bow ready; any suspicious movement from Chen Tianwu would earn him an arrow.

Unfortunately, this man was different from others. After being separated from Anna, Chen Tianwu had basically entered a state of apathy. Ignoring Raven's arrows, he used his sniper rifle as a cane, supporting himself as he walked away step by step.

Thud.

An arrow landed at Chen Tianwu's feet, its fletching quivering.

"Chen Tianwu, don't know," his brief reply was all Raven got. He paused, then added, "Almost everyone in this town is dead. If you don't want trouble, you'd better leave quickly."

She was slightly incredulous. Although this was a remote small town, there were many gang factions here, and weapons smuggling was rampant. With such firepower, how could this happen...?

Before she could ask more questions, the roar of a helicopter drew closer. The helicopter responsible for her transport lowered a rope ladder, signaling her to come.

"Raven, retreat! Schicksal forces are approaching!"

Retrieving her bow, Raven chose to believe the pilot. She had a mission to complete, and getting entangled with Schicksal because of a commission would be troublesome.

She glanced at the approaching helicopter, then at Chen Tianwu, who was slowly walking away.

"You're coming with me!" She then rushed over and grabbed Chen Tianwu, ignoring his protests, using nearby objects to leap and catch the rope ladder.

As the helicopter ascended, Raven finally saw the full scope of the town.

Red pools of blood were everywhere, like some kind of grotesque graffiti. Even the most violent Honkai beast attacks wouldn't look so horrific. It was as if it had deliberately chosen the most gruesome ways to kill, maximizing the amount of blood and broadcasting its terror.

After climbing into the helicopter via the rope ladder, her communicator buzzed to life. Schicksal had indeed mobilized an A-rank unit for investigation; she had almost been made a scapegoat.

After Raven left, the Chris puppet, now unable to move, continued to twitch. Suddenly, space tore open, and countless transparent threads poured out, tearing the remaining pieces of the puppet into shreds, then turning them into particles that vanished.

About ten minutes later, Schicksal's Valkyrie forces arrived at the town, only to be greeted by a bloody slaughterhouse.

…

The perspective returned to the Dominance Theater. After Chris's consciousness faded, time finally began to flow here.

The curtain fell, and the actors on the stage went to the audience seats, becoming the sixth puppet controlled by Ren. Unlike the previous puppets formed by the Wolf Spirit absorbing resentment, this puppet was completely consumed by the black wolf. Everything that made up Chris – his soul, personality, emotions – was absorbed by the Herrscher of Dominance's power, forming this new puppet.

The mark on his body wasn't black and white like the others, but a swirl of dark ink, shrouded in intense resentment. Even his wooden body had a faint purplish-red sandalwood sheen, making it look very different. More importantly, he brought a completely different boost to Ren.

"The power has increased nearly tenfold…"

This was an extremely exaggerated number. Before this, even with three puppets, Ren had barely risen from the level of useless, reaching a level equivalent to an ordinary person. But this time, with just Chris alone, his power had been directly boosted to the level of a B-rank Valkyrie; and that was only referring to combat abilities.

Although B-rank may seem weak in the game, in the Honkai world, B-rank meant being able to fight large Honkai beasts. They were the main force against the Honkai, and their physical attributes were far beyond those of ordinary people. If not for the fact that Honkai energy eroded the body, causing Valkyries to weaken, fielding a B-rank squad was even enough to wage war.

Considering the timeline, the girls at St. Freya were probably just reaching B-rank at this point, with Kiana only having A-rank combat strength after the awakening of the Herrscher of the Void. Throughout all of Schicksal, there were only two overt S-ranks, Bianka and Rita, and at most, Li Sushang was still sleeping.

"Should I just directly make a move and take out the potential Herrschers of Reason and Thunder, and the Herrscher of Binding?" Such a thought suddenly popped into his head, but he quickly rejected it. The main cast wasn't that simple. If he were to make a move only to have them say "I can't do anything!" he'd end up dying too unjustly.

Just as Ren was feeling pleased with his boost in power, a sharp, stabbing pain constantly surged through him. This feeling was familiar; it was the power of his own curse. Every time he obtained a puppet, he would experience this kind of pain.

The pain grew increasingly intense. Ren felt as if his soul were being torn apart, chewed, crushed, and swallowed.

When the pain subsided, Ren was covered in cold sweat. His throat felt itchy, and he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

His lifespan had not only failed to increase but had actually decreased by two months...

Was this the price of choosing the black wolf? That feeling of being torn apart was probably what Chris felt when his soul was ripped apart after making a deal with the wolf spirit.

After recovering for more than ten minutes, Ren barely managed to regain his senses. Regardless, obtaining puppets in this way was his own choice. He could only tally up his gains, and hope that the next puppet would be from the Sheep Spirit.

Young Human Puppet +1, combat strength boosted to B-rank, lifespan reduced by 2 months.

The effects of the Twin Soul Mark were also obvious: choosing the white sheep for salvation offered a small boost in strength but increased lifespan; choosing the black wolf for corruption offered a huge boost in strength, but deepened the curse and reduced lifespan.

Sitting alone on the stage of the Dominance Theater, Ren took out a star-shaped hairpin from his pocket.

"Regardless, the conditions have been met. The power to break through the Imaginary Space, the tool to locate Murata Himeko. It's time to bring back the Gem of Haste."