The same question was also surging in the minds of the frantically fleeing mages. Some even cursed Marion for not responding. However, he just stood there quietly, his expression unchanging.
After a while, the pleas and wails in the mountain forest had dissipated. All that was left was the thick smell of blood and the red plums that seemed to be dotted on the white canvas of snow. In the distance, magical beasts seemed to be drawn by the smell of blood, occasionally letting out beastly roars.
He shook the greatsword in one hand, and the blood wrapped around it splattered on the ground like a blood moon.
"Do you know why this guild is called the Toymaker's Workshop?"
Looking at Rayn, who was staring at him, Marion's hoarse voice sounded, a stiff smile appearing on his expressionless face. It was as if he hadn't smiled in a long time, or as if it was a mechanical and deliberate act.
A dark green magic power, like a flame, erupted from Marion.
"Ugh."
Rayn immediately felt a wave of nausea, his brow furrowing. This wasn't because of the smell. It was as if countless invisible spider threads were wrapping around him from all directions through his perception, a rather disgusting feeling of being defiled.
The green magic power did indeed turn into threads, instantly shooting out from Marion. They accurately landed on the dead bodies. The threads were like straws, and clusters of bulging objects quickly flowed towards Marion. It was the magic power and life force that had not yet dissipated.
And as the life force and magic power gathered, the magic power on Marion became even more vigorous. The airflow seemed to become silent, and a strange aura began to emerge.
The magical beasts peeking from a distance sensed an unknown danger and quickly fled in this direction. Their animal instincts told them that something very dangerous was about to happen here.
"Boom!"
Rayn naturally wouldn't watch him achieve his goal. Amidst a huge roar, his figure erupted again. In an instant, he was in front of Marion, his greatsword swinging down with a heavy whistle.
However, Marion didn't dodge. Rayn clearly saw that his gaze had tracked his attack trajectory. But he saw it, yet he didn't dodge. It was as if he didn't care at all.
Marion's figure was suddenly hit hard, his bones all broken as he flew out and slammed into the mountain wall behind him.
"Boom."
A heavy roar sounded, and Marion sat limply in front of the mountain wall. It was more like he was connected to it than sitting. His waist was torn by the greatsword, his bones were all broken, and even his internal organs were spilling out. But he seemed to feel nothing, his face still calm. The spider-like green magic power on his body was still devouring the life force and magic power of the dead mages.
"It's useless. My magic is Puppet Control, so I turned myself into a puppet a long time ago."
The upper half of his body, barely connected by a piece of flesh, fell to the side, his head resting on the ground as he looked at Rayn, his mechanical smile extremely strange. As the life force and magic power flowed in, black lines appeared on his body. The sense of pressure around him was even stronger than before.
"Those guys are also your puppets, right?"
This magic seemed to be of the type that couldn't be stopped once activated, so Rayn temporarily stopped his attack. If he hadn't left a backup plan beforehand, puppet magic wouldn't be able to absorb life force and magic power.
"You could say that. When they were still alive, I left a magic seed in their bodies," Marion responded without denying it.
"I didn't want to use this spell originally. After all, after using it, I don't know what will happen."
"Unfortunately, with your strength, I don't see any chance of winning in a normal way."
Even he, who seemed expressionless, had a resistance to death. After seeing Rayn easily kill his subordinates, he could only choose to use this magic.
"Speaking of which, I have to thank you for killing those guys. Otherwise, this magic would have been really hard to use," perhaps because he had to maintain his consciousness, Marion spoke a little more.
"This magic was supposed to connect the magic power of others, but how would those guys be willing to give me their magic power?"
"I could only wait until they were all dead and then plunder it through magic..."
Before he could finish, a look of emotion appeared in Marion's expressionless eyes.
"Wait... what is this?"
"Boss, I trusted you so much, why?"
"Haha, am I still alive?"
"Such strong magic power. With this power, I can definitely crush this brat!"
"It hurts, it hurts... where's my lower body?"
A multitude of voices sounded one after another, forming a noisy, mixed sound. Along with the sudden change, the surging dark green magic power shot up uncontrollably like hot oil hitting cold water. In an instant, it enveloped Marion, forming a pillar of green flame that shot into the sky. The magic power, which could almost be described as being broken and forcibly fused together, was strong, but it was more of a chaotic mess.
"Hmph, since you want to plunder others' magic power right after they die, then you have to be prepared to absorb their souls as well," Ddraig's magnetic, disdainful snort came from his mind, explaining it for Rayn.
"The will contained in magic power is extremely strong. His magic is only half-finished and completely unable to filter out unnecessary things."
"So, his body is not just him anymore," Rayn, who had been confused, now had a thoughtful look on his face.
"That's right. But his strength will still become a little stronger. He's a good opponent for a fight," Ddraig's tone also became high-spirited and fervent. Although Rayn had been on missions during this period, he had rarely encountered strong opponents. She had not played much of a role either. Seeing Rayn's body gradually being filled with the aura of that young dragon, her usually domineering mentality of 'everything belongs to me' also began to change slightly. If this continued, this host she was most optimistic about would take on the shape of that young dragon. She couldn't have that! Fortunately, she had finally met a decent opponent. The domineering Heavenly Dragon thought to herself.
In the field, faces appeared in the soaring 'green' flame. Rayn looked closely and vaguely recognized them as the people he had killed before, confirming what Ddraig had just said. As if sensing Rayn's presence, the faces' eyeballs also turned to look.
"Ah!"
Recognizing Rayn's face, a unified, sharp scream immediately sounded. A terrifying malice, mixed with the hatred of twenty or thirty people, immediately rushed towards Rayn. Rayn immediately felt waves of hatred and pain, as if dozens of people were cursing him in front of him.
For an ordinary mage, this impact could almost be a fatal danger. Not only would their spirit be impacted to the point where they couldn't concentrate, but they would also have strong negative emotions.
"Hmph! What a joke! You couldn't beat me when you were alive, and you think you can win by ganging up on me after you're dead?"
"You gutter trash should just stay in the underworld!"
Rayn stuck his greatsword into the ground in front of him, resting his hands on the hilt. The white cloth strips fluttered, his black pupils clear and bright. A wild smile spread across his lips, and a flame of will burned in the depths of his pupils. The hot flame, like the sun, was untouchable. It directly 'followed' the malice and pursued it.
"Ah!"
The faces let out another sharp scream. But unlike before, this time it was the intense pain of being roasted by the 'flame.' The green magic power twisted like it was boiling.
What a joke! After Rayn used the Boosted Gear, the obsession gathered by the successive hosts, which could even be called a curse, couldn't do anything to him. What could the spiritual impact of a few ordinary mages do?
At this time, the life force and magic power had also been completely absorbed. The bodies on the ground had completely turned into mummies, making it hard to believe that they had just died.
And with the supplement of the magic power and life force of twenty or thirty people, the green magic power expanded rapidly like a balloon. In an instant, it formed a fifteen or sixteen-meter-tall illusory human figure. The body, condensed from energy, had a dark green glow on its edges. The face was like a ceramic mask covered with a spiderweb of cracks. The eyes and mouth were black voids that made one's heart palpitate. In the empty eye sockets, two lines of pure energy flowed down like tears. In the center of the transparent body, Marion's almost broken body hung. The limbs were slightly uncoordinated, and the joints were bent unnaturally, like a broken, discarded doll that was crying.
"Wrrrrrr!"
The weeping doll threw its head back and let out a dizzying roar. A magic power, stronger and more terrifying than before, surged like a flame, as if it had dyed this world a strange, dark green.
The invisible sound wave and magic impact spread in all directions, forming a strong airflow that blew up the snow within a hundred-meter radius. It also lifted Rayn's black hair, revealing the long-awaited look on his face.
He glanced at Kanna, who was waving her little hand in the distance, and the few children behind her who were covering their ears. While Rayn was fighting with the mages, she had habitually slipped into the cave and left with the children.
Rayn smiled and threw the greatsword towards Kanna. He looked back at the weeping doll that had stopped roaring, tilted his head slightly, and made a crisp sound.
"Brat, let's see how you fight me!" a mixed sound of many people came from the weeping doll. The tear-streaked eyes locked on the boy on the ground.
"Clap."
Rayn slapped his left hand and made a fist with his right, striking them together in front of him, making a crisp sound. A complex magic circle appeared from under him and quickly circulated, shining with a crimson light. The figure within it suddenly began to expand. In an instant, it became a size similar to the weeping doll.
In just a moment, two huge figures stood in the mountain forest. Their tall figures made the surrounding trees seem insignificant. From a distance, they looked like two small mountains.
"Rayn... he's gotten so big!" Kanna exclaimed from a distance, but her face didn't change much. As a result, the children rescued beside her couldn't tell if she was happy about it. Of course, they didn't think too much about it and just showed surprised expressions, their eyes shining as they looked at the giant in the distance.
"What!?"
Seeing that Rayn's figure had become as big as his own, the weeping doll let out a surprised sound. Fortunately, it noticed that the magic power on Rayn was not as strong as its own, and it couldn't help but feel relieved. Even as a fusion of many malicious consciousnesses, it still had a shadow of fear towards Rayn. The shadow of being killed, even thinking about it now, it could feel the residual pain.
Before it could say anything more, Rayn's voice followed.
"Ddraig, let's go."
"Tear it apart!"
A magnetic voice with a beastly wildness responded to the call. Red light particles suddenly appeared and gathered on the thick right arm. In the blink of an eye, a deep red, blood-like, and狰狞 beast-like armguard materialized. A green gem, like a dragon's eye on the back of the hand, shone with a flowing light in the sunlight. As a Sacred Gear, it was not surprising that it automatically used the host's size.
"The Red-Armed War Ghost... Red-Armed..."
Rayn's transformation made the weeping doll pause, suddenly remembering Rayn's nickname. It had experienced the war ghost before and had thought it was just a personification of his hand being soaked in blood. It didn't expect it to refer to this 'red arm.'
"Boost!"
As Rayn's thoughts surged, Ddraig's loud voice echoed in his mind. The green gem shone with light. A strange power immediately poured into his body. His heart pounded like a drum, and hot blood flowed in his body. His physique, which had been enhanced by Giant Magic, had grown by leaps and bounds after using boost, but with it came the rapid consumption of stamina.
His magic power, which had been depleted after using Giant Magic, began to rise sharply at this time. In the blink of an eye, it surpassed its previous state and continued to rise! Surging magic power overflowed from his body and turned into a deep red flame.
"???"
The weeping doll opposite him, although its expression couldn't be seen, the children in the distance clearly noticed that it seemed to show a puzzled look.
"The stamina consumption is even greater than in a normal state."
Sensing the stamina that was dissipating like water in his body, and the pressure on his spirit, Rayn thought to himself. However, feeling the terrifying power flowing in his body that seemed to be able to shatter mountain peaks and crush the sky, even if it was just an illusion brought about by the expansion of power, it was clear how great this boost was.
"I have to finish this quickly."
Thinking of this, Rayn's gaze directly locked on the weeping doll.
"Die!"
The weeping doll let out a strong explosion. The mixed sound carried a soul-shaking impact. Having paid such a great price, only to have Rayn catch up in an instant, made the negative consciousness collective unable to maintain its composure.
Its huge body staggered, and its movement made the earth shake violently. However, its speed was surprisingly fast.
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