The puppet in front of Eamon struck at him with its water sword. Eamon quickly raised his own blade and blocked the attack with his right hand. The impact sent a sharp vibration through his arm, and for a moment he was surprised by the strength behind the strike. The sword in the puppet's hand was made entirely from water, yet it did not behave like water at all. Under the mermaid's powerful magic, the liquid had been hardened to such a degree that it was as strong as metal. When the two weapons collided, they produced a loud metallic clank that echoed through the forest.
Eamon pushed the puppet's sword away and immediately gathered magic into his left hand.
"Arcana Ember Fist!"
Flames wrapped around his fist, covering it like a burning glove. He stepped forward and drove his fist directly into the puppet's head.
The impact shattered its entire head.
Water exploded in every direction.
Eamon pulled his fist back, expecting the puppet to fall.
Instead, the scattered water suddenly began moving.
The droplets flew back toward the body.
Within seconds, the destroyed head formed again.
Eamon stared at it in disbelief.
"What?"
The puppet simply raised its sword again.
There was no face on it.
No expression.
No fear.
It attacked again.
Across the battlefield, Damien, Roneth, and Haizer were facing the same problem. Each of them had already collided weapons with the water puppet standing before them. Damien's sai-daggers flashed as he blocked a strike, while Roneth moved gracefully between two attacks. Haizer fought with only his left hand, but his skill had not disappeared with his right arm.
Then all three noticed what had happened to Eamon.
Damien watched the puppet's head regenerate.
Roneth's eyes narrowed.
Haizer looked disturbed.
None of them had expected the creatures to recover so quickly.
Eamon pulled his sword backward and twisted his body. He kicked toward the puppet's leg, hoping to knock it down, but the creature moved aside with surprising speed.
Eamon immediately attacked again.
"Arcana Ember Fist!"
His flaming fist slammed into the puppet's chest.
A large hole appeared through its body.
For a moment, Eamon could see the forest through the empty space.
Then the water began flowing inward.
The hole closed.
The puppet was whole again.
Eamon's expression hardened.
"This is going to be annoying."
Damien suddenly drove both sai-daggers into the puppet in front of him. The water body split apart, but just like Eamon's opponent, it immediately began reforming. Roneth cut his puppet in half with a powerful crossing strike, only to watch both pieces join together again.
Even Haizer's blade could not permanently destroy his opponent.
The puppets were not especially powerful.
That was the strange part.
Their attacks could be blocked.
Their movements could be predicted.
Their strength was nowhere close to that of the mermaid.
But they simply refused to stay destroyed.
They were almost immortal.
Haizer continued fighting with his left hand, moving his sword with the same confidence he had once shown while using two blades. He had spent years mastering dual sword combat, and because of that training, fighting with one hand did not make him helpless. His left hand moved naturally, and he was still able to block and counter the puppet's attacks.
But Haizer's real concern was not the puppet.
It was himself.
He was already close to his limit.
His earlier fight against Eamon, Damien, and Roneth had drained most of his strength. Losing his right arm had weakened him further. His wings had been badly burned, making his greatest advantage almost useless.
At his full strength, Haizer had been terrifying.
Now he estimated that barely twenty percent of his original power remained.
He blocked another water sword and pushed the puppet away.
If this continued for too long, he would have nothing left.
And even if he somehow survived these creatures, he would still have to face the mermaid.
The thought alone made his stomach tighten.
Then Roneth's words returned to his mind.
His father.
The king of Kolark.
The royal family.
Haizer still could not accept what he had heard.
If Roneth truly was Zarek Vaeltris's son, then everything Haizer believed about the destruction of Kolark might have been wrong.
He wanted answers.
But before he could think further, Damien noticed something.
He had already destroyed his puppet several times.
Every time, it regenerated.
Even Eamon's flames could not stop the process.
Damien's eyes narrowed.
"There has to be a reason."
He blocked another strike and stepped backward.
"They're not truly immortal."
He watched carefully as the puppet regenerated.
"There must be something controlling them."
Damien's mind began working quickly.
A core.
Most magical creatures had one.
Some hid it inside their bodies.
Some placed it outside.
These puppets had to have something similar.
Damien looked toward Eamon.
"Eamon!"
Eamon turned while blocking another attack.
"What?"
"Bring them together."
Eamon frowned.
"Why?"
"I have an idea. We need all of them close to each other."
Roneth heard him.
Haizer did as well.
Damien quickly explained his plan.
"If these things are being controlled by cores, I need to hit all of them at once. Once they're damaged repeatedly, the cores should become visible."
Eamon understood immediately.
"Then we destroy the cores."
"Exactly."
Roneth nodded.
"Let's do it."
Haizer remained silent for a moment before agreeing.
"Fine."
The four fighters changed their positions.
Instead of trying to defeat the puppets individually, they began forcing them toward the same area.
Eamon kicked one backward.
Roneth blocked another and pushed it sideways.
Haizer used his sword to guide another toward the center.
Damien waited.
The puppets slowly gathered.
Once they were close enough, Damien planted his feet firmly.
Dark red blood magic began swirling around his body.
The air around him became cold.
His eyes sharpened.
He extended both hands.
"Noctis Blood Barrage!"
A massive wave of blood knives appeared behind him.
There were dozens.
Then hundreds.
Each knife was dark red and sharp enough to cut through flesh and bone.
Damien thrust his hands forward.
The knives blasted toward the gathered puppets.
The attack struck all of them at once.
Water exploded everywhere.
Bodies were pierced from every direction.
Arms broke apart.
Legs scattered.
Heads burst into droplets.
The puppets were destroyed almost instantly.
But their pieces began regenerating.
Damien did not stop.
The blood knives continued flying.
Every time a puppet began reforming, another wave struck it.
The creatures were destroyed as quickly as they regenerated.
Their bodies could not complete the process.
Water fragments filled the battlefield.
Then something appeared.
A small light.
Damien's eyes widened.
"Found it."
Inside each puppet was a tiny sparkling object.
A white core.
It sat directly in the center of their bodies.
The core pulsed with magical energy.
"Eamon, now!"
Eamon immediately raised his burning hand.
"Arcana Flame Beast!"
Flames erupted from his palm.
They twisted together, forming the shape of a large beast made entirely from fire. Its eyes burned brightly as it roared into existence.
Eamon pointed toward the puppets.
"Go!"
The flaming beast charged.
It raced through the battlefield like a living firestorm.
One by one, it struck the exposed cores.
The first shattered.
Then the second.
Then the third.
The fourth.
Within seconds, every white core had been destroyed.
The water bodies collapsed.
This time, they did not regenerate.
They simply fell apart and disappeared into the earth.
Eamon lowered his hand.
"Good thinking, Damien."
Damien smirked.
"Well, given how dumb you are, somebody has to think straight, right?"
Eamon's eyebrows rose.
"What did you say?"
Before the two could begin arguing again, Roneth walked over.
Haizer stood a short distance away, watching the mermaid carefully.
Roneth looked at Eamon and Damien.
"Eamon, Damien, I have a request."
Both looked toward him.
Roneth took a breath.
"I couldn't tell you everything about my family or my past."
His eyes moved toward Haizer.
"But I still want you to help me protect him."
Eamon's expression became serious.
"I want him alive. We need to defeat this mermaid, and we have to make sure she doesn't kill Haizer. He is the only person who has answers about my past."
Roneth's voice carried desperation now.
"Please help me."
Eamon looked at Haizer.
He remembered everything the man had done in Misticula.
"He isn't a good man."
Haizer's expression remained unchanged.
"He has done terrible things to the people here. He hurt them."
Eamon looked back at Roneth.
"But if you need answers from him, we'll help protect him."
He paused.
"After you get your answers, we'll hand him over to the Imperial Army. After that, the army can decide what happens to him."
Roneth nodded immediately.
"Yes. Yes, of course."
He looked relieved.
"Thank you. Both of you."
Damien nodded.
"We'll keep him alive."
Across the battlefield, the mermaid watched them.
She was still seated elegantly upon her chair made from water.
But her expression had changed.
Her patience was gone.
The four men had destroyed her puppets.
She slowly raised one hand.
The ground began to glow.
One magic circle appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Soon more than twenty circles covered the earth around them.
Eamon's face changed.
"That's not good."
Water began rising from the circles.
Figures emerged.
But these puppets were different.
They were taller.
Broader.
The water surrounding their bodies was denser.
Their swords looked heavier.
Even their movements carried a greater pressure.
The first puppet stepped forward.
Then another.
Then all of them attacked.
Eamon blocked the first strike.
The impact nearly forced him backward.
His eyes widened.
These were not like the previous puppets.
Damien blocked another attack with both sai-daggers.
The force pushed him several steps back.
Roneth crossed his katanas to stop a heavy sword.
Haizer barely caught another strike with his left hand.
All four understood the same thing.
Their previous strategy would not work as easily this time.
There were simply too many.
Eamon looked toward Damien.
"Damien, we do the same thing again. I'll bring the puppets together."
Damien nodded.
"Okay..."
Eamon jumped backward.
He threw his sword onto the ground.
Then he raised both hands.
"Arcana Flame Whip!"
Flames erupted from his palms.
Two long whips formed around his hands, their burning ends twisting through the air.
Eamon swung them forward.
The fiery whips struck the puppets and pushed them backward.
He moved quickly between them, forcing one group away from Damien, Roneth, and Haizer.
Every puppet that tried approaching the others was struck by his burning whips and forced back.
Slowly, Eamon gathered them.
One after another, the water puppets were pushed into the same area.
The whips moved constantly, creating a burning barrier around the group.
Eamon glanced toward Damien.
Then he gave him a signal.
Damien understood immediately.
His blood magic began gathering around his body once again.
He raised his hands.
Dark red knives appeared in the air.
Hundreds of them.
Eamon held the puppets together.
Damien prepared to strike.
Then, with a single movement, hundreds of blood knives blasted toward the puppets.