Ice-Cold Puppeteer

The first one came from behind and I swiftly turned around. Our legs clashed, forming a small crater beneath us.

This one is... the trickster if I'm correct. Best I deal with this one first.

With a sweeping kick, it quickly took the bait and I blasted it with Inferno.

Boosh!

Flames erupted from the ground and the puppet immediately drowned in the fire.

That's one down, just four more puppets to go.

I stomped and let my aura spread out, eventually forming a wall. Out of that wall, a storm of blades flew towards the other puppets and Myran.

"S-shit! Come and defend me!"

Two of the puppets quickly appeared in front of him and he was shielded from the blades of my Shadow Blade Assail. The puppets managed to hold their ground from such an assault.

However... I'm not the one to hold back after one round.

"There's still more!"

I sent another wave and the two puppets were swiftly mauled by my attack and their bodies fell lifelessly onto the floor.

"Tch, you-!"

Myran got up and the two remaining puppets flew to his side. It was just the enhancer and the hunter left.

No. Wait a minute, there's still one more behind me!

I turned around and received a kick to the face. Luckily I managed to catch it before it hit me and slammed the puppet into the ground.

I opened its mouth and shoved a Volatile Orb into its jaw. Then I kicked it away before it blew up.

An object flew towards me and I caught it. When I stared at the item in my hand, a look of disgust was crossed my face.

It was still beating in my hand as the blood leaked down my hand and dripped onto the floor.

"A... heart?"

Now that I remember it, wasn't one of his passive skill Heart Marionette.

"It's exactly what you think. You see, once I have my hands on someone's heart, they fall under my control and they can do nothing about it! They'll just become my puppet, living puppets! These poor souls had no choice but to submit to me!"

So that's what the thread on their hearts is for.

"With the connection to their body, that also allows me to manipulate their flesh even from a distance."

...shit!

I turned around and a piece of flesh which quickly formed into a spike headed for my heart. I used Shadow Shift, swiftly dodging the life-threatening spike.

"There's more!"

Looking over my shoulder there was a storm of flesh spikes heading straight for me. I quickly activated my Aura Barrier and shielded myself before countering with a wave of Volatile Orbs.

"Such explosive power..." the elf girl said as she spectated from the top of the colosseum. Is she not going to join in? The calm and small aura around her... looks like she has no intention of fighting me.

Well, it's good since I'm already struggling to get to this guy with his annoying puppets. Or should I say his slaves?

Those aren't just any normal puppets, but they are beings, ice elves, his own kind. To think he enslaved them to do his bidding like that.

I'm gonna have to teach him a lesson.

"Attack!" Myran shouted to the remaining puppets of his and the hunter attacked. Actually, it pounced!

The hunter was hooded so I didn't notice until he actually got me. His face was messed up; Razor-sharp teeth, clawed out eyes, and torn cheeks, revealing his side jaws.

Poor bastard, he must've been tormented by that guy. He's taking things too far if he wanted to break this guy. Looks like I'll just have to end his misery.

However, as I was holding him back from clawing my eyes out with his sharp curved nails, he suddenly became stronger and I could feel him slowly attempting to crush my hands but I was pushing him back since my strength stat was much higher.

This magic, must be the enhancer boosting his strength.

I'm gonna have to put both of them out of their misery. I could save them but he'll just use them as meat shields. It'll be better if I just end their lives right here.

I quickly got the hunter off me and pinned him on the ground. I then finished him off with a Fallen Descent.

Turning my attention back towards Myran, there was now a look of panic on his face.

Exactly the expression I was looking for.

"Damn it, boost me!" He said forcing the enhancer to boost him and she did what he said.

"Take thi-!"

GRAM!!!

With a powerful punch to the stomach, I sent him crashing into the wall. I then turned to the enhancer and tripped her before finishing her off with Necrosis. Her body slowly shriveling up before rotting.

Whoa... I didn't think Necrosis did this. To be honest, I think I'm a bit scared to use this skill now. Good thing that didn't happen to me when I fought Ravyn.

But anyway...

I approached Myran as he struggled to stand on his feet.

"Must've been fun playing with their lives until now since I took care of them. Now-"

I pointed my hand at him and I made a spinning shadow blade.

"I'm going to end you. Any last words?"

Myran didn't say anything but fell forward and grabbed onto my ankle.

"I'm guessing that means you've given up. It's disappointing since you didn't put up a good fight. Though there were a few close calls, that was nothing compared to my fight with the pig."

He didn't say anything but attempted to freeze my leg. I countered it by wrapping my leg in flames and he leaped back.

I threw my shadow blade at him and pinned his cloak. I made one more before I grabbed his arm and sank it deep into his hand. But what happened next was unexpected.

Krrsh!

I felt a sharp pain in my left arm and once I looked at it, what appeared was a hole.

"When did... this happen?"

Did I get hit and I didn't notice it? No, that can't be it. I was never hit once and that trickster puppet didn't have any weapons on him. I got this right as soon as I stabbed his left hand.

"Hehehe, aren't you going to finish me off?" Myran snickered as he grabbed my right arm.

I smacked his hand away and proceeded to cut his middle finger off.

Slash!

Another sharp pain and this time, it was my middle finger.

I pulled away and quickly healed my hand.

"It hurts, doesn't it? Well, luckily for me it doesn't hurt at all." Myran chuckled as he grabbed the shadow blade stuck to his cloak and sank it into his left arm.

I watched as blood spilled from the gradually opening gash on my left arm.

Crap, what am I doing? Watching him do his dumbass magic trick.

I ignored the pain in my left arm and dashed towards Myran, but then he slashed his left leg and I tripped.

"Ack!"

Damn it, how is he even doing this in the first place?

"Confused, aren't you? That's because you were foolish enough to approach me that I managed to trap you in my Red String of Pain!"

"Red String of... Pain?"

"Hehehe, yes, the Red String of Pain. When I link my heart with my foes, our senses will be shared, that also goes for pain. However, judging by the look on your face, I have Pain Negation, and you don't."

Aah, so that's what this is.

"And may I question how this can be undone?"

"Hmm. Well, I'll tell you since... you can't do it, anyway. In order to break out of my Red String of Pain."

Then he pointed at my chest.

"You have to rip your own heart out!"

...

"Aha, AHAHAHAHAHAHA! You can't do it, can you! Of course, nothing can survive without a heart besides the undead. So unless you're an undead, you can go ahead and break out of my Red String of Pain. Oh wait! You can't, because you're not an undead!"

He cackled with his face high in the sky. So I just need to detach my own heart from my body huh? Seems easy enough.

Using Swift Slash, I dug into my chest and grabbed my heart before ripping it out of my chest.

Once Myran noticed I had done that, the smile on his face quickly vanished.

"Are you crazy? You're a human... you can't survive without a heart."

"I know, but you said all I need to do was detach it, right?"

I opened my chest and placed my heart back. My organ mended itself back into my body and I healed my wound.

"Get lost!"

I quickly shouted before sending him flying with a Soaring Dragon Fist. He flew back and crashed into the wall once again.

I stepped back and made a distance between us.

"Your Red String of Pain won't affect me now, and I think I've played around long enough."

"You bastard, I'll kill you!"

"Try if you can, but you'll just end up dead after this."

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