Mine and Addai slowly gazed to the ceiling, hoping Zophiel's warning wasn’t as dreadful as it sounded. However, as soon as their eyes focused on the pitch-black darkness beneath their heads, their pupils constricted. The situation wasn't just dreadful. It was awful because of the number of puppets on the ceiling, hanging by the neck from who knows what, and their limbs relaxed, obeying what gravity wanted to dictate, and where a mysterious wind blew the rags they wore.

As expected, these puppets gave off neither scent nor energy since they were disabled or in standby mode. When activated or awakened, they exuded the same essence as their master. Also, they bore a small portion of their master's power, which, in this case, was to command and make small illusions.

Zophiel looked at Mine and returned his gaze to the puppets, raising his eyebrow. Mine nodded and thought about what the angel meant with that sign. They needed to know how far those puppets would go and how they acted, as they looked very different from what Mine had seen earlier in the mansion.

What can I use to get their attention? Mine pondered, looking at the hanged puppets.

A dim light from a wall sconce illuminated the face of an active puppet, who stared back at the light, doing nothing but staring. When the light oscillated, the puppet also oscillated between active and inactive, as if it were following the stimuli of that hot light like a firefly.

Light! Mine sparked and looked at Zophiel, seeking approval. 

The angel nodded and tensed his knees, a hand on the gun and the other on the keychain. Mine raised his hand, forming a diamond pattern, and created a small sphere of mana, which he then launched toward the ceiling. Wherever this small sphere was traced, the puppets woke up. Their necks broke free from whatever was holding them, and they crawled across the ceiling, each limb moving as if they were spiders heading towards helpless prey. It didn't take long for them to find the small sphere of mana and absorb it, exhaling a stench of death and rot while making high-pitched, squeaking noises.

Addai poked Mine urgently, trying to get his attention, but Mine just covered his mouth and made a 'shh' gesture while Addai frowned.

"We need to know their search range," Mine whispered, looking at Addai.

"You almost busted us, you moron!" Addai angrily whispered back.

The puppets threatened to look down. The group stood frozen, avoiding looking up or making eye contact with those creatures. The noise of them crawling on the ceiling resembled giant spiders. However, the noise wasn't crystal clear, and they caused a particular amount of dust to fall from the ceiling wherever they passed. It didn't take long until they gave up and returned to their previous position, deactivating themselves.

Mephistopheles exhaled what was trapped little by little, breaking into a cold sweat as he fixed his gaze on one of the puppets dangerously in their field of vision.

With this risky maneuver, Mine realized three things. The first is that the puppets were in suspension, and any stimulus – movement or vision – would be more than enough for them to reactivate. The second reason is that they had a limited search field, giving them an advantage. The third is that they didn't have much mobility, but they could quickly communicate to the nearest puppet that there was something for them to absorb. This together formed an unstable formula for them to operate in that long corridor to God knows where with a minimum of security.

Upon realizing that no puppets moved anymore, Zophiel sighed in relief and made a sign with his hands for the group to continue following him. With the keychain in hand, the angel lifted it, and the object's cheeks became luminescent like its horns, changing intensity in certain positions. To the left, the keychain completely went out. To the right, it was oscillating. Forward, he remained stable. It was a very uncertain compass, but it had to be good for something.

A few more steps and the corridor expanded more and more. And more and more puppets covered not only the ceiling but also the pillars that supported the structure. They were stuck to the pillars like insects, and when the group approached, they started to make noises and grunts.

They walked a little further, following the intensity of the keychain's glow, until they reached a point where the object began to glow intermittently. The group then had no choice but to stop.

Mephistopheles approached the angel, impatiently looking at the keychain. "This is not a good time to be indecisive, you Dirty shit," the demon whispered in a low growl, feeling the puppets' presence in his skin.

"What happened?" Mine asked, approaching with Addai glued to his back.

"I'm not sure. The keychain is acting strange," Zophiel shook the item, but it didn't change how it was glowing.

"Could it be that there are interfering energies?" Addai pondered. "Maybe if we-"

SCREEEEEEEECH!

The lousy keychain had screeched and echoed in that wide hallway!

Zophiel tried to cover the screaming keychain, but nothing would stop the noise. Mephistopheles already wanted to resort to more drastic measures. Still, amid the chaos, the angel managed to get his beloved's idea rejected before being dangerously executed. 

Mine and Addai quickly looked at their surroundings. They saw that the puppets were already being activated one by one in a chain effect. The puppets on the ceiling fell miserably to the floor and then got up with difficulty.

Zophiel was still trying to figure out why the keychain was making such noises when a specific wall opened a door, throwing some puppets near the opening.

"There!!" Zophiel shouted for the group.

Mine dodged about three puppets but was surrounded by the others, already grouping to grab him. Mine wasn't the athletic type of guy; he was a feeble college professor. The only moment he had stamina was dancing, but... that's it. His rehearsals were sparse, and the shows at the Pub weren't monthly or weekly, once Star's jumbled schedule was... a jumbled mess! Yes, he could perform bold moves, but it would all cost him two consecutive days of muscle pain. However, at that moment, he didn't even have room to make bold moves that he had some familiarity with or invoke the sword of Chronos.

Addai, on the other hand, had enviable mobility. He used only his hands to throw the puppets away and easily dodged attacks, counterattacking illusions. Mine was sure Addai wasn't as lazy as he seemed to be.

"Mine!" Addai shouted.

Mine hated being treated like the "princess in distress", but he had to swallow his precious pride as it wouldn't be long before he was completely immobilized. Since he couldn't use the transformation again and release a fragment of Chronos, he was practically stuck in ordinary magic that didn't tickle the puppets.

Yeah, he needed help. However, his pride was far too great to ask for help.

Then he shouted: "Don't worry! I can do it!" Mine waved, but that hand was snatched by an angry puppet.

Bigger than his ego, only his friend's stubbornness. Addai and Mephistopheles made way for the young teacher - who was still trying to free himself from the pulls of the putrid puppets. Mine fought his way, but having used his mana so much, he was already a little worn out despite trying to maintain his poise amid the chaos. He even tried to bite the cloth arms that were holding him!

Just as he was about to bite the arm that immobilized his hands in the crowd, he was picked up and carried away like a sack of potatoes. His vision went around and around when whoever was holding him jumped on the puppets' heads until he reached the angel at the door with his weapon in hand.

When Zophiel touched the door handle, all the puppets fell limply to the floor. Mephistopheles, freeing himself from the pulls, managed to get out easily and reach the group still near the door. Addai put Mine on the ground and gave him a slap on the forehead.

The place became quiet. The commotion from before turned to ashes. All that could be heard was the group breathing and Mephistopheles reloading his gun. The keychain gave a shudder, and so did the puppets.

"This isn't good..." Addai muttered.

The puppets converged like modeling clay, forming a large, grotesque mass in the center of the wide corridor. That large mass turned into an aberration, resembling a marionette with a few more arms and less charm. Its eyes, once made of buttons, transformed into empty, hollow holes that emitted a foul essence. The stitchings, previously done with delicacy, became obtuse and poorly made and barely held the new heavy limbs that dragged on the ground. When the creature seemed to have gained its final form, it stared at the group with those two empty cavities, trying to locate them in the darkness.

It could have been luck that the creature couldn't see, however... it started making clicks with its tongue, and Mine realized that all that formula from earlier had gone down the drain. Zophiel spread his wings and, using a whirlwind spell, blew the group into the room before the creature attacked them. His wings were tired after the desperate measure, which caused him to almost fall inside the room before closing the door and holding it with his body. With a bang, the angel nearly flew, but his shoes stuck on the floor as he forced the door to stay closed. 

The creature had one thing in its simple mind: go inside that room no matter how. With that, the creature slammed against the door using its body and claws, trying to break it if needed.

Zophiel tried to insert the keychain into the lock, but the more he tried... the door became flimsier! A shady trick that shady place provided for every intruder. Before the door turned into a paper sheet, Zophiel decided to stop.

"Sweetness, let us hold the door, then you can find another way out," Mephistopheles quickly held the door with Addai, both enduring the slams.

"Don't worry Mr. Zophiel," Addai said with difficulty as he held the door.

"Endure just a little bit, okay?" Zophiel said, holding the keychain tightly.

"Don't worry," Mephistopheles smiled, but another slam made his smile quickly fade.

Zophiel ran towards Mine. The young professor looked for something among the high shelves of books but found nothing. The room was like a small library, but all the books didn't have a single word. The fireplace also had no wood or lighter, and the armchairs were as dusty as the carpet in the casino room.

"There must be some trick here," Mine voiced, still scrambling through the books uselessly. "Maybe the keychain knows the trick," he tossed the empty books on the floor.

"I'm not sure about it," Zophiel replied worriedly as he helped Mine to search for a different book among the empty ones. "We're relying on this feeble thing, but I'm afraid it doesn't know all the secrets."

"We'll find a way," Mine said, but it was more like for himself than for Zophiel to hear it. "We need to."

SLAM!

The door was opened with brutality!

Addai and Mephistopheles were each thrown into a corner, and the freak had crashed into the wall. The impact was so strong that most of the books on the shelf fell and mixed with those already discarded from the search, reducing Mine and Zophiel's efforts to nothing.

The staggering creature bumped into everything it came across, not only because it was huge, but also because the small library was damn small! Addai seemed unconscious for a few seconds, as did Mephistopheles, as they both collided heads. When the puppet saw the two unconscious men in opposite directions, it experienced a myriad of explosive and euphoric sensations before splitting into two, with each one chasing after the unconscious men.

"This is too cowardly!!" Zophiel shouted and aimed his gun at the creature next to Mephistopheles.

Mine took two books and imbued them with pure mana. Maybe this could do some trick, but he wasn't as fair as Zophiel, who called the offender to pay attention to him before shooting. Mine just threw the two books towards the puppet, who groaned and whimpered when it reached its head. Addai was dizzy, but when he was finally regaining some strength, one of the books Mine threw hit his head, and he fainted again.

"I'M SORRY!!" Mine gasped, running towards Addai.

Zophiel looked at him in disbelief, holding back an improper laugh as he dodged the creature's attacks. The puppet had an odd resilience against the bullets, but all the angel could do was endure.

While the other creature was confused and dizzy after the sudden attack, Mine aided his fainted friend. He slapped Addai's cheeks, trying to wake him up as the puppet approached. Unfortunately, Zophiel was already busy with one of them, maybe the most skilled, who attempted to slash the angel's wings and grab his braid. Mine was still weak after the Chronos outburst, and his mana was almost zero.

I need to check on my birth chart and see what karmas I held from my past life if I had one!! How can I be so unlucky?! Mine angrily thought, still trying to wake his friend.

He grabbed his fainted friend and covered them both with his Chronos cloak, ready to receive an attack. Mine shut his eyes tight and hugged Addai's body, protecting him and turning himself into a meat shield. 

The creature slammed Mine's back, but it didn't hurt. It slammed Mine's back again, but it didn't hurt as well. Even though the situation was way different from what Mine predicted, he didn't dare to open his eyes and check what was happening, so he hugged Addai tighter and braced himself for the next attack.

Maybe the useless attacks were starting to stress the creature, who rampaged and made its attacks fiercer and faster. Mine felt his back oddly hardened, but he didn't want to open his eyes.

Before another euphoric attack could hit its back, the creature was thrown against the shelves. The other puppet was also struck by the impact. Great luck or a well-aimed attack.

Mine quickly opened his eyes and looked at the attack's origin, still with Addai in his arms.

"What...?" Mine muttered, and a thin, long sword pierced against the puppets.

An acidic, leisurely male voice pierced Mine's ears in a heartbeat. "Sheesh!! Puppet skewers," the man said, disgusted.

The tall man took the sword stuck in the creature and removed it from there without much effort. As soon as he removed the piercing object from the puppet, it fell to the ground, inert and useless, as if it had returned to being a mere puppet. The blade flashed in one wrist and then went out. The man shook the sword and turned to Mine.

"A meat shield isn't the best option, little beauty," the man approached Mine, crouching.

Mine squinted as he held Addai close, who was starting to wake up as his eyes trembled under the closed eyelids. "… Fruit Ninja guy?"

The man grinned joyfully and bowed, posing like he had just finished a great show. But before he got to open his nonchalant mouth, Mephistopheles, with his eyes bulging in anger, pointed at the man.

"Where the fuck have you been, Azazel?!"