"Who… exactly are you!" Marionette looked at the eleven identical figures before her, her usually expressionless face finally showing a myriad of emotions.
Each of these individuals possessed strength comparable to a Harbinger. And now, there were eleven of them! Why did the Fatui have no intelligence on such a powerful force?
One option after another flashed through Marionette's mind, but she found no answers.
"It seems your mind isn't as sharp as the other one's." A slightly mocking voice sounded.
"The other one…" Marionette slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again. She now knew who it was.
"Yu… Jin?"
"Correct, but there's no prize." Black Blade replied to Marionette. Even though they were exposed, they showed no panic.
Currently, the Fatui merely knew that someone had entered their headquarters, which was entirely different from actually finding them.
Knowing that Black Blades had infiltrated and discovering their traces were two completely different matters.
"Was Regrator killed by you?" Marionette asked, looking at the Black Blade before her.
"You should thank the King and Katheryne for their mercy." An arm, clad in a black glove and adorned with jeweled rings, was tossed before Marionette.
"The King…" Marionette savored Black Blade's words, and her face returned to its expressionless state.
"What is the price I must pay?"
"One-eighth of your soul, and the destruction of all your creations."
Upon hearing Black Blade's words, Marionette's body stiffened. She hadn't expected the price to be so heavy.
"Impossible!" Marionette immediately refused. To have all her painstaking efforts destroyed—she would rather fight to the death!
The Vision at Marionette's waist began to emit an incredibly brilliant orange light, but this light appeared for only a moment before being roughly interrupted.
"Fighting for your life also depends on your strength!" Before Marionette could even use any elements, she was pinned to the ground by Black Blade.
With eleven Black Blades attending to Marionette simultaneously, it would be a miracle if she could truly retaliate.
Pinned to the ground, Marionette was horrified to discover that she not only couldn't use elemental power but also couldn't withdraw her consciousness from this body.
"Stay put. You'll watch as your creations are destroyed, piece by piece." Black Blade said to Marionette, then vanished once more… The fully awakened Fatui headquarters was like a colossal beast stirring from slumber, with countless soldiers as its cells.
Ever-present searchlights, patrol teams moving between buildings, checkpoints densely spread at intersections… these were the beast's immune system, attempting to ferret out anything that didn't belong.
But clearly, these measures had no effect on Black Blade.
One after another, Marionette's duplicates were destroyed, yet the Fatui couldn't see who was striking.
Snezhnaya's night now held a sharp dagger, and it would relentlessly destroy everything it intended to.
"Boom!" A black wave of light shot out of thin air, and the distant puppet, carrying a wisp of Marionette's soul, instantly turned to ashes.
By the time the soldiers guarding this duplicate recovered, the object they were protecting had already become dust.
Neither defense nor interception could stop Black Blade's advance in destroying Marionette's duplicates… Inside the Fatui headquarters' conference room, all Harbingers who could attend were present.
The Rooster scanned the room: Dottore, Damselette, Marionette, The Knave—these were all who could make it.
"Are Balladeer and Regrator dealt with?" The Rooster looked at Marionette, who was currently just a simple puppet, but capable of communication.
"According to them, Regrator only lost an arm. As for Balladeer, I don't know. I'm currently pinned to the ground and can't move." Marionette responded indifferently.
Upon hearing Marionette's confirmed answer, The Rooster's expression darkened.
This meant there was a powerful force capable of directly breaking through the Fatui's numerous defenses and carrying out decapitation strikes against them.
Moreover, this force had clearly expressed its malice. This was bad news, both for them and for the Tsaritsa.
What alarmed The Rooster even more was the stealthiness of this force. If Marionette hadn't been special enough, they might have killed all the Harbingers before anyone even knew.
"Appearance?" The Rooster tapped the conference table. He needed to devise a countermeasure, a plan to eliminate this force.
"It's meaningless. There's too little information about them; we can't find a way to detect them now." Marionette spread her palm, and a phantom image of a woman in silver armor and light gauze appeared in her hand.
The Knave, in the corner, saw the image of the woman in Marionette's hand, and her pupils contracted slightly. The person who attacked the headquarters was identical to the individual she had fought in Mondstadt!
However, she quickly composed herself. After all, she had contended with The Rooster for a long time; she possessed this level of emotional control.
Although she had some intelligence, The Knave had no intention of revealing it. On one hand, this intelligence was far less than what Marionette provided, and on the other, she didn't quite trust The Rooster.
It was true that every Fatui Harbinger had their own agenda, but they were all loyal to the Tsaritsa. The Knave was an exception.
She joined the Fatui simply because it offered her greater benefits. If an even greater benefit arose, she could directly betray the Fatui.
Benefit was her, Arlecchino's, sole guiding principle.
However, to The Rooster, who was absolutely loyal to the Tsaritsa, this was tantamount to betrayal. That's why The Rooster had always been at odds with her.
Under these circumstances, if she revealed that she had encountered Black Blade long ago, there was no guarantee The Rooster wouldn't use it against her later.
After all, The Rooster was notoriously petty and cold-hearted. In his eyes, everything had value. If he could gain greater value by sacrificing some inexpensive things, he would be very willing.
"My segments have seen this woman." Dottore glanced at the image and recognized Black Blade. That experience of having his kidneys removed was deeply etched in his memory.
"It's indeed as Marionette said, their traces are hard to find." Dottore merely mentioned it and then said nothing more. His understanding of Black Blade was even less than The Knave's—he had met Yu Jin disguised as Black Blade.
The Rooster had no doubts. As one of the top three Harbingers, Dottore could rival a god. Of course, this was when all his segments were gathered.
"Have you thought it through, The Rooster?" A light and melodious female voice came. Beneath Damselette's veil, her eyes remained closed.
Behind her pink and black hair were three pairs of gently swaying white wings. Damselette exuded a sense of languor in her every movement, as if she had just woken from a dream.
The Rooster looked at Damselette. Even though she wore a serene smile, he dared not treat her as a true maiden.
This individual before him was a genuine god-tier combatant of Snezhnaya.
The Tsaritsa resided deep within the palace, The Jester was perpetually abroad, and Dottore's segments were scattered across various locations. Only Damselette was the god-tier combatant in Snezhnaya who could respond at any moment.
The Rooster nodded at Damselette, then said to Marionette, "Destroy all your puppets! We'll go to your factory and wait for them."
"But…" Marionette was about to argue, but The Rooster immediately interrupted:
"The situation is urgent; there are no 'buts.' Your creations can be rebuilt if destroyed, but the chance to eliminate them, once missed, won't come again."
Marionette looked at The Rooster's serious expression and swallowed the words she wanted to say.
"Alright." With that, this duplicate of Marionette fell silent.
"Let's go. Time is short; we still have things to arrange." The Rooster's heart remained unchanged by Marionette's actions.
Marionette's current value was to create an opportunity for them to ambush Black Blade. As for anything else, it didn't matter.
The Harbingers filed out. The Knave, walking last, looked at the burnt puppet behind her, then at Dottore and Damselette ahead, and couldn't help but clench her fists.
Greater power, where could she find it?
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