Marionette

'Where am I?'

'Where is this place?'

Zeris extended his hand, only to find emptiness. But the pain coursing through his body felt all too real as if he were locked in a fierce battle.

'It hurts.'

'Why does it hurt so much?'

Before long, he realized that he was trapped within an empty void. More precisely, his mind was imprisoned.

What should he do?

How could he escape this place?

He felt suffocated being here.

But then, a small projection materialized before him.

It displayed an ancient city shrouded in fog.

Zeris's eyes widened.

He immediately recognized it from the emblem of the royal castle, proudly displayed at the city's heart.

It was a simple yet powerful symbol—a pair of golden hands clasped together, accompanied by intertwining lines that symbolized fortune and prosperity.

The City of Light.

This was also the symbol of the Church of the Luminescent Goddess. Both the city and religion had been founded by her divine grace.

Before Zeris, it wasn't the city he remembered but rather one from a distant past.

'Is this a glimpse into history?'

The illuminated screen shifted, revealing an ordinary day in the city. People bought bread, conversed, and went about their routines.

They walked, they ate, they played, but none could see what loomed ominously above them.

Zeris saw it clearly.

Strings attached to each person, extending into the endless horizon.

Like marionettes in a performance, they danced and acted, guided by unseen hands.

Then, an earth-shattering explosion rocked the royal palace, reducing almost half of its majestic structure to ruins.

Despite the magnitude of the devastation, the people around seemed oblivious to the unfolding chaos.

Amidst the swirling dust and debris, a man emerged, standing amidst the wreckage. He muttered unintelligibly under his breath, his actions growing increasingly frenzied.

With a disturbing determination, he began tearing at his own hair, then clawed at his own flesh, and finally, with a gruesome resolve, he even dug into his exposed brain matter. Piece by piece, he stripped himself down until all that remained was his bare skull.

Just as Zeris contemplated looking away from the gruesome scene, a startling transformation gripped him with a chill.

The man's body contorted and expanded, his skin hardening into a grotesque, scaly shell.

His eyes turned into dark, empty voids, and his mouth sprouted rows of razor-sharp teeth. The man was no longer human; he had become a horrifying beast.

As the transformation reached its climax, the creature found itself bombarded by a barrage of radiant arrows.

Each arrow pierced its flesh, pinning it to the ground and transforming it into chains that immobilized its movements.

A group of people adorned in the vestments of the Church of the Luminescent Goddess encircled the captive beast. Like the other citizens, they, too, were bound by an endless, invisible string.

Zeris observed intently as they clasped their hands in prayer and chanted.

Strangely, he couldn't hear a word they uttered.

Upon completing their incantation, they all bowed down, not to the beast but to the largest arrow embedded in its heart.

The arrow shone brighter than ever in the darkness, transforming the creature into light before vanishing with it.

All that remained was a crystal orb etched with the symbol of a gate akin to the one he had passed through.

The display concluded.

Zeris cursed inwardly; his frustration was evident.

'Is this world toying with me?!'

'Why show me these incomprehensible things? I c-can't understand them. Why me…'

[The Seed of Corruption within You has sprouted by 3%]

The sound of the system reverberated in his head.

Though his mind was imprisoned, he could still hear it.

'Seed of Corruption… The man-turned-monster… Endless strings tethering everyone…'

Zeris's mind began to shift, the burgeoning madness replaced by something else.

Anger.

Yes, that was what he felt.

They sought to transform him into a monster like that man. Whether the reason was, they were clearly toying with him.

This revelation only brought forth more mysteries.

"…Wake up…" A gentle, melodic voice pierced his thoughts.

Suddenly, Zeris felt himself being pulled from this mental prison. He was finally escaping the empty void.

Blinking his bleary eyes, he could just make out a silhouette crouching down, peering at him.

As his vision cleared, he saw a girl with ash-white hair gazing intently at him.