Chapter 227: Breaking the Puppeteer

"KILL HIM!"

The command came out of Serith’s mouth before she had even processed the failure of her psychic attack. Her controlled voice was gone. There was no seduction or calm authority left, only a sharp scream from someone whose greatest weapon had just failed.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!"

The penthouse doors exploded inward.

BOOM!

Six figures charged through the doorway. They weren’t the glassy-eyed Rank 2 enforcers from the casino floor. These were bigger, faster, and far more dangerous. Heavy black plate armor covered their bodies from neck to boots, while each carried a massive two-handed greatsword humming with Rank 3 energy.

Rank 3, 2-Star.

All six.

Serith’s elite guard.

These were the personal bodyguards she kept on the tenth floor for situations like this, when the smooth approach failed and someone needed to die quickly.

Holden’s 10,000x processor assessed them almost instantly. Their eyes were just as empty as the other enforcers downstairs. Serith’s psychic control had stripped away their free will and turned them into weapons.

They were victims too.

Holden rose from the chair.

One hand moved toward his side as he summoned his sword from his Inventory.

The Eclipse-Sun Sword appeared in his grip.

Black and crimson patterns ran along the blade like veins of shadow and fire. Its Rank 4 aura filled the room, making the temperature drop as the walls seemed to darken around it.

The six guards didn’t slow down.

They couldn’t.

Serith’s command controlled their bodies, driving them forward in a tight formation. Three charged at the front while the other three followed close behind, as their greatswords rose overhead.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Holden didn’t ignite the sword.

The Eclipse-Sun Sword was a Rank 4 weapon. If he released its full power, these Rank 3 bodies wouldn’t survive.

Holden had no intention of killing them.

Their minds had been stolen. Their bodies had been turned into weapons against their will.

He would put them down without taking their lives.

The first guard reached him.

The greatsword came down in a heavy overhead strike, carrying the full strength of a Rank 3 cultivator.

Holden used Void-Step.

Shhp.

He disappeared and reappeared behind the guard just as the greatsword slammed into the floor.

CRACK!

Stone broke beneath the impact, sending a shock through the room that rattled the chandeliers and made the glasses behind the bar tremble.

Holden swung the flat of the Eclipse-Sun Sword.

Not the edge.

The broad side of the blade slammed into the back of the guard’s helmet with enough force to shake his entire body.

CLANG!

The guard stiffened and collapsed.

Thud.

[Rank 3 Guard (Enslaved) Neutralized! x1!]

[Non-lethal takedown. KP Awarded for restraint!]

[+500 KP! 2x Booster! +1,000 KP!]

The second and third guards were already turning. Serith’s psychic link fed them Holden’s new position, allowing the two to react almost instantly. They swung together from opposite sides, their greatswords cutting across the room in parallel arcs.

A pincer.

The blades were meant to trap Holden between them with nowhere to escape.

He spotted the fallen guard’s shadow stretching across the floor beneath the chandelier.

Shhp.

Holden vanished into it and reappeared between the two attacks.

The greatswords passed on either side of his body, close enough for the displaced air to brush against his face.

The Eclipse-Sun Sword moved left.

CLANG!

The flat of the blade smashed into the second guard’s helmet.

Thud.

Two.

Holden turned and struck the third.

CLANG!

Thud.

Three.

The fourth guard reacted differently.

Not because he was smarter.

Serith was adapting through the psychic link, feeding her guards information from their own senses and adjusting their attacks as they fought.

The fourth guard didn’t swing.

He thrust.

The greatsword shot forward in a straight line, aimed directly at Holden’s chest.

Holden saw it coming before the attack fully began.

The guard’s shoulder shifted.

His weight moved.

That was enough.

Holden stepped forward, moving inside the sword’s reach. The blade slipped past his hip and tore a small opening in his suit jacket.

The Eclipse-Sun Sword struck with its flat side.

CLANG!

The guard’s head snapped sideways.

His body went limp.

The fifth and sixth guards attacked together.

Serith had synchronized them through the psychic link, turning their movements into one coordinated attack. Their greatswords swung in mirror-image arcs, converging on Holden from opposite sides.

Holden spotted the shadow of the armchair behind him.

Shhp.

He vanished.

The two greatswords struck the chair at the same time.

CRASH!

The weapons tore through the chair and split the wooden frame in half. Stuffing exploded into the air as the broken pieces slid across the floor.

Holden reappeared behind the wreckage with two quick movements.

Left.

Right.

CLANG!

CLANG!

Thud.

Thud.

Six guards in sixteen seconds.

The penthouse looked nothing like it had moments ago. Cracks spread across the marble floor, the chair had been reduced to pieces, and the chandelier still swayed from the earlier impacts. Six armored bodies lay unconscious across the room.

Holden stood among them with the Eclipse-Sun Sword still at his side. His suit jacket had a small tear near the hip, but his tie was still straight.

Then he looked at Serith.

She was gone.

While the guards had attacked, Serith had already crossed the room. She rushed toward the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Lake Sereth.

Her plan was obvious.

Break the glass.

Escape.

Disappear into the casino crowd.

Three thousand people lived and worked on the Gilded Lily. If she could reach them, finding her would become much harder.

Serith raised one hand.

Rank 4 psychic energy gathered in her palm, no longer aimed at Holden’s mind. This time, she was preparing to blast the window apart.

Holden tracked her movement.

She would reach the glass in just over a second.

The attack would follow almost immediately.

That was enough.

His eyes found a shadow cast by one of the ceiling beams. The chandelier above was still swaying, shifting the shadow across the upper wall.

For one brief moment, it lined up perfectly with Serith’s path.

Shhp.

Holden disappeared.

He reappeared in the air behind her, directly between Serith and the window.

Her hand was already raised.

The psychic blast was already forming.

Then something grabbed the back of her dress.

Holden’s hand tightened around the fabric.

He pulled her away from the window.

Serith’s eyes widened.

"Wait!"

Holden didn’t.

He threw her back into the room.

Her body flew across the penthouse before crashing into the couch where she had been sitting earlier.

CRASH!

The couch skidded across the floor, its wooden frame cracking from the impact. A crystal glass fell from the nearby table and shattered against the floor.

Serith rolled off the couch and landed hard on the floor.

She tried to push herself up.

Her arms shook.

Dark hair fell across her face as she struggled to regain her balance.

Holden was already behind her.

He had Void-Stepped.

The shadow cast by the broken couch stretched across the floor, giving him the perfect path.

Shhp.

He appeared behind Serith with the Eclipse-Sun Sword in his right hand.

The flat of the blade rested against his palm.

Serith slowly turned her head. Her eyes met his.

Fear filled them.

She had just watched a Rank 3, 7-Star fighter dismantle her entire elite guard in seconds and appear behind her before she could even stand.

Serith raised both hands.

Rank 4 psychic energy gathered in her palms.

There was no elegance left in the technique. She was simply throwing everything she had into one desperate attack.

Holden moved first.

The pommel of the Eclipse-Sun Sword struck her right shoulder.

CRACK!

Serith cried out as her arm suddenly went limp. The blow had hit a sensitive nerve point, cutting off the strength in her arm and disrupting the psychic energy gathering in her hand.

Before she could react, Holden struck the other shoulder.

CRACK!

Her left arm dropped as well.

The psychic energy in both hands vanished.

Serith collapsed.

Her legs gave out, and she hit the floor face-first.

Then something changed.

The psychic network collapsed.

The invisible connection between Serith and the thousands of people she controlled began to break apart. The mental links connecting her to guards, dealers, waitresses, and other workers across the Gilded Lily went slack one after another.

Serith couldn’t maintain them anymore.

Her concentration was broken.

Ten floors below, three thousand people began waking up.

Holden didn’t need to see it.

He could feel the change.

The Rank 4 psychic pressure that had filled the casino for years was disappearing.

The Gilded Lily was waking up.

Serith remained on the floor.

The woman who had controlled thousands now couldn’t control anyone.

Holden stood over her with the Eclipse-Sun Sword hanging at his side.

He looked down at Serith.

She had enslaved thousands of people and turned them into tools. She had built her empire by taking away their freedom and forcing them to serve her.

Now that empire was falling apart around her.

Holden’s system registered the result.

[Lady Serith (Rank 4, 2-Star) Neutralized!]

[Non-lethal disarm. Psychic network destroyed.]

[3,000+ Enslaved Civilians Freed!]

[Bonus KP Awarded for Mission Parameters!]

[+50,000 KP! 2x Booster! +100,000 KP!]

Holden dismissed the sword.

The Eclipse-Sun blade vanished from his hand, taking its black and crimson glow with it.

For a moment, the penthouse was quiet.

Then the sounds from below began to change.

The hypnotic chimes of the slot machines were being drowned out by voices. Confused voices.

Three thousand people were waking up from a nightmare they hadn’t even known they were trapped inside.

Holden looked toward the doorway.

Footsteps approached from the corridor.

Cora and Sera appeared in the doorway. They both looked around the ruined penthouse, taking in the unconscious guards and the woman lying on the floor.

Then their eyes settled on Holden.

"Master Voss," Cora said. "The casino is in chaos downstairs. The mind control is gone. People are waking up."

"Good."

Sera glanced at Serith.

"Target status?"

Holden looked down at the defeated Rank 4 cultivator.

"Disarmed," he said. "She’s all yours."