Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
The floorboards in the house had weathered over an excessively long period, emitting a cracking sound with every step.
Leyton's gaze swept across the hall; there was no furniture or other items left in the room, only the surrounding walls, the collapsed roof, and some scattered decaying stones and iron pieces.
Most of the doors and windows inside the house had long since decayed and disappeared, with only one room on the far right still retaining an intact vermilion wooden door.
Leyton stood in front of the wooden door for a moment, raised his hand and gently knocked twice, then reached out, gripped the doorknob, gently distorted his wrist, and pushed open the vermilion wooden door.
The room's furnishings were old and covered in dust, but unlike the items in the other rooms outside, they hadn't decayed or weathered.
The room's layout and style were quite simple, with only a wooden bed carved with intricate ancient patterns and a table and chair. On the tabletop was a bronze lampstand, and besides that, there were many metal strips, wooden blocks, and dyed canvas of various sizes.
To the right upon entering the Door, there was a stained-glass window whose colors had almost completely faded, becoming dull gray.
On the wooden bed lay a relatively well-dressed doll. Its wooden face was painted with bright makeup, and it wore a black pointed soft hat adorned with flowers on its head, along with a black and white classical court dress.
If one ignored its body, which was assembled from wooden blocks, straw, and iron nails, it looked like a mysterious Warlock from ancient times.
Snap!
Leyton suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and points of brilliant light emanated from him, spreading out in circles of clear, radiant ripples.
The light blue starlight quickly transformed into brilliant gold, dyeing the surroundings in a golden hue. Pure and clear light illuminated every corner, leaving no trace of Darkness, no shadow remaining.
Under the clear, light golden glow, all the items in the room rapidly decayed and weathered, crumbling into tiny fragments that scattered across the floor.
"...Why did you destroy my home?"
"...Why did you destroy my home?"
A somewhat hoarse, childlike voice of a little girl echoed repeatedly in the room. It seemed she hadn't spoken for too long, as her voice was low and intermittent, gradually becoming clearer after several repetitions.
Leyton looked up without the slightest surprise, gazing at the wooden bed that was rapidly weathering and decaying under the clear light.
The original position of the wooden bed was now empty, with a layer of ash piled on the ground. A doll, dressed in a classical court dress and wearing a pointed black soft hat decorated with flowers, stood quietly there, its hollow eyes fixed on Leyton.
Leyton calmly met its gaze for a moment, then thoughtfully twirled the transparent crystal ball in his left hand twice.
Brilliant starlight shone from within the crystal ball, rapidly twisting and expanding, completely restoring the room's previous furnishings.
After completing all this, Leyton reached out and pulled over a chair, sitting down with the chair back facing forward. His gaze was fixed on the motionless doll standing before him as he asked, "What happened to this city? What is that hall in the center of the city?
Why did you all turn into dolls? Or, have all the people in this city turned into such dolls?"
As he spoke, Leyton also pointed at the opposite doll's body, wanting to see its reaction.
Seemingly touched by Leyton's words, the doll, whose face was meticulously painted, stiffly turned its head a couple of times, as if its internal mechanisms had rusted due to the passage of time.
After two wobbles, its neck seemed to suddenly break, and its head folded 180 degrees. The pointed soft hat on its head, as if fixed in place, drooped downwards but never fell to the ground.
Click! Click!
The sound of old mechanical parts operating continuously emanated from the doll's body. Its body began to shake uncontrollably, as if it could fall apart at any moment.
Leyton narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers again.
The clear, light golden light in the illusion instantly vanished. Without the suppression of the Sun domain's aura, the doll's body's shaking suddenly slowed down.
Points of clear, pure starlight flickered in the air, carrying a sense of peace and tranquility, slowly merging into the doll's body.
A moment later, it stopped shaking. Its lowered, almost folded head slowly lifted, and its meticulously painted face became distorted and vivid.
Its carved mouth opened and closed, and a childlike, emotionless voice came from the doll: "The Lord abandoned us. The Angel guarding us went mad, the High Priest went mad, the clergy of Church went mad, the Guardians of the city went mad, everyone went mad."
Darkness swallowed everything. We lost light, lost food, lost water, lost faith, lost hope.
'The Wise One' proposed discarding the useless flesh and integrating souls into dolls. dolls don't need food, don't need water, and no longer attract the attention and attacks of Monsters in the Darkness.
Some people were willing, some were not, until one day, they all disappeared. Dad, Mom, and my brother. No one maintained my body with oil. I couldn't move. I just sat there, always sitting there...
I'm so scared, so scared...
The doll's voice grew increasingly shrill, and its body shook uncontrollably. The paint on its face was like a sticky liquid, slowly floating up, and black liquid seeped from its eyes, nose, and mouth.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
Sharp, rusty iron thorns extended outwards, piercing through the doll's classical court dress. Its hands and feet, simply pieced together from wooden blocks and iron pieces, were covered in barbs, like coarse, black bristles, tearing through its gloves and socks.
It suddenly lost its footing and fell to the ground, its body writhing like a snake, constantly muttering, "It's so painful... Please help me, help me!"
Black, viscous liquid continuously seeped from its body, accompanied by a pungent stench. The coarse, black barbs rhythmically undulated, like an animal stretching its scales.
Leyton slightly lowered his head, looking down at the doll struggling and pleading on the floor, and softly chanted a Dragonese word: "Imprisonment!"
Brilliant starlight swirled around him, one after another flying off and descending upon the doll.
The starlight instantly condensed, creating a giant transparent amber, encasing the distorted and grotesque doll within, confining it to its original position.
Click! Click! Click!
The doll's movements were restricted, and the sound of internal parts malfunctioning and breaking came from its body.
Its arms, head, and legs all showed varying degrees of damage, with parts like gears and iron nails constantly falling from its body. Its entire right hand detached from its body, and its head drooped limply.
Rip!
After a brief moment of calm, the black classical court dress on the doll's chest was torn from within, revealing an internal structure resembling a birdcage.
The birdcage was covered in sharp, rusty iron thorns stained with black, viscous liquid. Inside, many metal gears and pipes were densely distributed, but most were already broken, with black, viscous liquid everywhere.
In the very center was a glass jar connected by brass-colored metal, filled with a pale yellow, pus-like liquid. Soaked in the liquid was a human brain, full of dark red blood vessels, with maggots wriggling within.
In the glass jar, the brain trembled slightly, emitting faint, piercing, and barely audible sounds, as if evolving from the language of the dead.
Leyton sighed. As he raised his right hand, clear and brilliant starlight gathered in his hand. The light blue starlight gradually turned blazing white, swirling with golden illusory flames, condensing into the shape of a long spear.
The blazing white spear, upon forming, shot out, piercing through the transparent amber formed by starlight, and plunged straight into the glass jar in the doll's chest.
The sound of breaking glass rang out, and at the same time, light golden flames spread over the doll's entire body, burning it into drops of transparent liquid and a mass of grayish-black ash.
After the doll was completely consumed by the flames, continuously dark green light points precipitated from the ashes on the floor, slowly gathering and forming.
Finally, it formed a doll the size of a baby's fist, simply wrapped in cloth strips and sawdust.
Leyton glanced at it briefly, then bent down and picked it up from the floor.
It was curled into a ball, with a face on both the front and back of its head: one numb and cold, without any expression, and the other distorted and grotesque, full of madness.
"It's equivalent to half a Corpse Collector."
"It's a bit eerie, only Sequence 9 strength, but contains a lot of corruption."
After muttering to himself, Leyton casually tossed the strange wooden doll twice and turned to leave the house.
As he departed, the room returned to Darkness. The remaining floor and walls in the room seemed to instantly age through long years, becoming dilapidated, decayed, and covered with cracks of various sizes.
On the empty street, Leyton paused, the deep blue glow in his eyes gradually deepening. He outlined a symbol representing "Concealment" in the air with his right hand.
An invisible curtain descended from the air, enveloping the surroundings. Space instantly distorted, splitting into two parts, and concealing the area he was in.
This section of the street seemed to suddenly narrow significantly, but upon closer inspection, there seemed to be no change.
In the hidden space, an invisible servant illuminated the surroundings with a crystal ball emitting a faint starlight.
Snap!
A crisp snap echoed, and brilliant starlight descended point by point, condensing into a table and chairs shimmering with starlight.
Leyton half-reclined on the starlight-condensed chair. Suddenly, a thick Gray Fog surged before him, and deep red light rose like a tide, instantly engulfing all sight.
When he came to his senses, he was already in the space above the Gray Fog.
The clear voice of Justice "Audrey" also rang out at this moment: "Good morning, Mr. Tower."