Chapter 56: Your Grandmother's Puppet
"You know me?"
Sylvia, who temporarily looked down at the other party from a condescending posture, furrowed her brow.
Wasn't she supposed to be a Level Zero Forbidden Object? Wasn't she supposed to have the highest level of confidentiality?
Why did it feel like everyone recognized her?
However, looking at the puppet beside her, she had already begun to form some guesses.
The reaction of the girl upon seeing her wasn't fear, but surprise and a hint of concealed joy. This indicated that the other party wasn't aware of the terrifying forbidden object born from the parasitism of an evil god.
In that case, what the girl recognized was likely the “Sylvia” that had simply existed as a puppet.
"Of course."
The girl on the ground let out a snort and then scrambled to her feet with a “whoosh”.
Under the clear moonlight, Sylvia cast her gaze on the girl who was clearly at least half a head taller than herself.
"But I have no memory of you."
"Well… I think I need to explain. Although I’ve used ‘Sylvia’ as my name, that doesn’t mean I am this puppet."
Hearing these words, the girl across from her, who still had a lingering smile on her face, gradually widened her eyes. Then, as if recalling something important—
How had she and her puppet suddenly “teleported” from the garden to this room?
Her gaze shifted back and forth between the two standing before her. Soon, she excluded the noble girl who clearly appeared to be a weak and ordinary person from the list of suspects.
At this moment, that grayish mist still swirled in her mind, making her shiver uncontrollably. Then she recalled some rather obscure occult knowledge.
Gray mist, black river water—descriptions like these often pointed to the River of the Dead, and were associated with the God of Death, one of the Nine True Gods, and His followers.
When Death Herald Crows reached higher tiers in their extraordinary path, they could convert themselves into a spiritual state.
Beings or monsters in a spiritual state possessed the ability to possess objects.
Realizing this, she put on a grimace worse than crying.
"You, you're from the Orthodox Church?"
"?"
"?"
The two people standing opposite her were both stunned, completely unable to follow her line of thought.
But what she said actually kind of made sense—
She was now the true master of St. Ruls Cathedral, which was the headquarters of the Church of Radiance in the City of Alova.
Rounding up the details, that made her the top authority of the Church of Radiance in the City of Alova!
Then, the puppet girl revealed her signature faint smile and looked at the girl before her with a gaze that, despite her shorter height, still exuded a lofty sense of superiority.
"Yes."
A single, clear word caused the light in the other girl's eyes to vanish.
Then her voice continued:
"In the name of the Church of Radiance, I declare you arrested."
"So, you'd better confess your crimes—why did you attack the Church of Machinery’s exploration site!"
Church of Radiance?
The girl opposite clearly froze for a moment, then reflexively asked back:
"Shouldn’t it be the Death Herald Crows?"
Death Herald Crows?
This time it was Sylvia’s turn to be stunned.
A second later, she recalled information regarding the God of Death and His followers, instantly understanding the girl's line of thought, and couldn't help but let out a faint laugh in her mind.
At this moment, only Isabella stood to the side, utterly confused.
However, Sylvia didn’t bother explaining it to her. Instead, she stared at the girl with an oppressive gaze:
"You don’t need to know that."
"You only need to answer my questions."
"First, your name?"
Hearing the other party’s unpleasant tone, the slightly angered girl considered making a run for it. But recalling the terrifying display just now, and the fact that her threads couldn’t even approach Sylvia, she instantly chose to follow her instincts.
This person was likely a powerful extraordinary being who had undergone a third metamorphosis and reached the third stage, right?
As this thought crossed her mind, she answered with an obviously unsteady voice:
"Adela Tuya."
She didn’t choose to lie, but instead gave an honest answer.
Because she knew that powerful extraordinaries possessed the ability to detect lies.
Adela Tuya?
Tuya?
Hearing this somewhat familiar surname, Sylvia narrowed her eyes slightly:
"Do you know Camonel Tuya?"
That was the creator of her current body, a renowned puppeteer from the Kingdom of Ulpus.
Hmm… This young lady was probably a true “puppeteer” as well.
"I do."
Adela nodded, then under Sylvia’s clearly threatening gaze, continued speaking:
"She was my grandmother. She passed away eleven years ago."
Huh? Then why do you have the same surname as your grandmother?
Oh, right. In this world, women typically change their surnames after marriage.
Having figured that out, Sylvia nodded, then lightly patted Isabella’s hand twice and gestured toward the side, signaling her frail body to return to bed.
"So, it seems you recognize the body I’m inhabiting."
"Of course!"
Adela’s voice clearly rose, then, realizing her behavior might displease the other party, she quickly lowered her tone again:
"It was my grandmother’s work in her later years and also my childhood companion."
"Well… Actually, ‘Valentina’ was her creation too. You might’ve noticed—she bears a strong resemblance to ‘Sylvia’ in appearance."
As she spoke, she pointed to the black-haired, green-eyed puppet lying on the floor with whom she’d completely lost connection. Then, in a much deeper tone, she continued:
"After my grandmother passed away, this puppet named 'Sylvia' mysteriously disappeared."
Seeing that the preliminary questions had concluded, Sylvia walked over to the chair by the wall and sat down, gazing calmly at Miss Tuya, who still stood there, and asked leisurely:
"Alright, now explain why you attacked the Church of Machinery's archaeological site?"
Adela was silent for a moment, then said a bit aggrievedly:
"That wasn’t an attack. I didn’t expect that thing to explode at just a touch!"
Hearing this, Sylvia recalled the circular object in the center of the wrecked site.
That was one of the power cores for a war golem.
Unhappy with her explanation, Sylvia knocked heavily on the armrest of the chair with her fingers:
"Speak in detail."
"Include your motive!"
Shuddering again, Adela spoke in a somewhat panicked tone:
"I-I was looking for you!"
"No, I was looking for ‘Sylvia’!"
Upon hearing this explanation, the puppet girl was visibly taken aback.
"She was the most precious puppet my grandmother ever made and was meant to be a part of her advancement ceremony."
"But before the ceremony could be fully completed, she died unexpectedly, and this extremely valuable puppet disappeared along with her."
"Now, I, who have also embarked on the puppeteer path, am stuck at a crucial stage of my own advancement—"
"A key component of the ritual, that is, the 'puppet', has never been completed because the necessary materials are too rare."
"And then, someone told me that the whereabouts of ‘Sylvia’ were in the City of Alova, in the Plant District of the Kingdom of Savia..."
"Who told you that?"
The puppet girl, her gaze growing darker, directly interrupted Adela before she could finish and asked.
Adela paused, then hesitated for a moment, as if weighing whether she should reveal it.
But under Sylvia’s increasingly penetrating gaze, she finally spoke in a low voice:
"It was a group... of Priests of the End."