Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 376, Section 375: Melee
Klein's mind worked quickly. The Church of the True God might be kept in the dark about the Secret Order's large-scale operations and human trafficking cases, but it must have been able to sense the turbulent situation in Backlund...

Why do both the Miskatonic Church and the Orthodox Church believe these people suffer from some kind of mental illness? Is it possible that their leaders were bribed and tacitly approved of this?
Triss laughed: "I think you figured it out too, didn't you?"

"With such a huge number of secret puppets, how could those guys not have noticed?"

Her voice gradually became sharp, cold, and filled with hostility and madness.

"They tacitly approved of this, or rather, someone wanted to push this forward, and something terrible is about to happen in Backlund."

In the past, the Great Smog of Backlund resulted in the deaths of over 60,000 people, including Prince Edsac Augustus. George III intended to use this incident to cover up the missing persons and his plans to build his mausoleum.

They want to use a thick smog to whitewash the situation and cover everything up.

Now, the situation has changed. An unknown, secret organization has emerged, members of the Witch Cult have withdrawn, and a new ageless witch is in Backlund. However, human trafficking cases continue to occur, and the Secret Order has become involved, sending a large number of puppets to Backlund. Everyone pretends not to see or hear them...

Something far more terrifying than anything before, something far more terrifying than the Great Smog of Backlund, is about to happen in this metropolis of a thousand cities.

Triss originally did not believe that any of the high-ranking members of the Orthodox Church were cooperating with George III, but the differences between this life and the previous one made her think about many things.

The waters of Backlund are getting deeper and deeper.

"Moreover, in Backlund, those who were transformed into Mystics exhibited an unusual characteristic."

Although Klein was an extraordinary individual in the Diviner's Path, he was not a Sequence 5 Mystic Master. His understanding of this sequence was limited to the sealed artifact that Rosago had become and Tang's account. He dared not comment on what Triss had said.

"What unusual characteristics?"

"I can't explain it, after all, I'm not a master of puppets."

Triss was not a master of puppetry either. She smiled slightly and kept everyone in suspense, "But perhaps you, Detective Moriarty, will see it soon."

Klein: ? ?
What does this mean?
Before Klein could figure out what Triss was talking about, the rest of the resistance fighters seemed to notice something. They all stood up, and the sound of guns being cocked was particularly clear in the quiet warehouse.

Triss's smile widened slightly, while the others wore solemn expressions.

"They've caught up," Captain Sirius whispered, glancing behind Klein.

“Yes, and quite a lot.” Triss snapped her fingers, and the light in the warehouse disappeared instantly, leaving only the crimson glow of the Crimson Moon seeping into the dusty room from outside the window.

What's catching up? A secret puppet?

Klein felt a chill run down his spine; he was completely baffled by the cryptic exchange between the two.

"The Secret Order's puppets deployed in Backlund are divided into two types."

Triss tilted her head and said to the great detective Sherlock Moriarty, "The first type is the kind of puppet we commonly see, which is rigid, twisted, terrifying and bizarre. The second type is very well disguised and difficult to identify through normal means."

"But what you said is incorrect."

Klein took a deep breath and said, "Unless the Puppet Master himself makes a mistake, all the Puppet Master's Puppets should, as you said in the second case, not reveal that they are Puppet Masters when he doesn't want to."

One of the principles of puppeteers is to treat the puppet as a normal person and let it perform a vivid act in front of other "audiences". The first and second types of puppets mentioned by Triss should essentially be different states of a puppet in front of and behind people.

“You’re right, but this is not the same as the puppet master’s puppet you mentioned.”

Triss slowly said, "I suspect that the marionettes lurking in Backlandre are not ordinary marionettes. They are divided into two types: one is the normal marionette you mentioned, while the other is more bizarre, more terrifying, and more difficult to detect."

"Sometimes the puppets are crazy and irrational, while at other times they are calm and perfectly normal. This is due to the manipulation of the puppet masters behind the scenes. I believe you know more about these puppets than I do. Their existence will be discovered by other puppet masters."

"But the second type of marionette I mentioned should be undetectable by ordinary marionette masters, even those at Sequence 4 or Sequence 3. I think only the Secret Order possesses beings capable of such manipulation."

"The puppet masters of the Secret Order had absolutely no need to do this..."

Why create two kinds of secret puppets? It's a completely thankless and laborious task.

"Yes, that's why I'm here to see you, Sherlock Moriarty."

Triss lowered her voice slightly, "Aren't you Miskatonics enemies of the Secret Order?"

The Secret Order controls the path of the diviner, and so does the Miskatonic Order.

There will always be some struggle between adjacent pathways. Does the Miskatonic, the official force that controls this pathway, not intend to do anything to the Miskatonic Society?

After learning about the anomalies in Backlund, that person will probably take action, right?

If it were that person who intervened in this matter, even if high-ranking members within Miskatonic were transformed into unrecognizable puppets, that person, if vigilant, might be able to react in some way to deal with the unusual situation on Backlund's side.

"After all, it is never a wise move to simply confront the official Extraordinary Organization."

Triss subconsciously ignored the possibility that Miskatonic might have done these things, even though there was a considerable probability of it.

Klein's gaze sharpened; he too realized how terrifying this matter was.

"Perhaps those who claim to suffer from paranoia don't actually have this illness?!"

The secret order has extended its reach into Tingen City?!
Triss's gaze seemed to pierce through the wall, allowing her to see the distant view clearly.

There are quite a few warehouses in the dock area, which is an important area for Backlund's import and export trade. It is guarded both day and night.

But even under these circumstances, a considerable number of secret puppets silently approached them.

"Do you want to go?"

Triss asked the man who picked up the gun, a man who looked to be in his thirties with a fierce and silent expression.

Sirius nodded: "Yes, we can't confront them head-on. There are too many of those Mystic Puppet; we can't handle them."

After saying that, he looked at Klein and said in a low voice, "Leave here and go report to that person."

Klein knew who "that person" was referring to.

Mr. "Mistake," Nikolai Flamel, the angel of the Thief's Path, the master of Tingen, the leader of the secret organization Miskatonic, is a big name with a great reputation in the world of occultism.

He also understood why this group of rebels would take a roundabout route.

They feared Mr. Flamel, and when the balance of power between the two could not be maintained, even if the behemoth on the other side had no ill intentions, they could only proceed with extreme caution.

Just like Mr. Fool and his minions.

Then, before Klein could say anything, the already dilapidated windows of the warehouse were suddenly smashed from the outside.

A bloodied head poked its head in, a grotesque smile spreading across its withered face. "Found it."

Then two hands braced themselves against the window frame as the thing tried to climb in from the outside.

"coming."

Triss's figure disappeared, blending into a mirror beside her.

Sirius raised his revolver and blew the puppet's head off with a single shot.

The puppet fell from the skylight, and then more puppets rushed in through the window.

Klein: ...?
Is this a secret doll or a zombie?

Klein was torn between helping to deal with these puppets or turning around and leaving immediately.

"Klein."

Just then, he heard Mr. Flamel's voice.

"Mr. Flamel!"

Meeting fellow countrymen here made Klein feel that his luck wasn't too bad today.

At least it's not the worst.

Noticing the subtle change in Klein's expression, Triss and Captain Sirius seemed to realize something as well.

Have Miskatonic's investigators, or Nikolai Flamel, arrived nearby?

The reinforcements came as they hadn't expected, and Triss realized that Sherlock Moriarty was not the insignificant Sequence 7 that Miskatonic had thought, but rather a rather important person.
With a constant stream of puppets in front of them and investigators, or perhaps "Mr. Wrong," behind them, the rebels seemed to be caught in a dilemma.

They weren't sure whether Mr. "Mistake" would choose to listen to them first or simply deal with them as well, since Soren Einhorn Medici was on their side, and according to the Red Angel, there was a Miskatonic angel in Backlund who was hunting him down.

Dealing with superiors is troublesome, no matter who comes.

Therefore Triss decided:

“Let’s go, let the investigator, or that one, confront Backlund’s questions.”

She immediately ordered that the remaining rebel comrades be quickly grabbed through the mirror and pulled into it.

At this moment, the warehouse door silently twisted, its "closed" nature malfunctioning. The closure, both inside and out, rapidly extended from the real world to the spatial world, seemingly attempting to block the transmission of the world in the mirror.

The world reflected in the mirror is as dense as a spider web.

Triss's gaze darkened. Captain Sirius, standing beside her, reached out, and iron filings flew swiftly through his hand. Crimson rust quickly spread throughout the mirror world, preventing the "wrong" power from turning it into a sealed environment.

Just as Triss was trying to use the mirror to lead everyone away, her eyes narrowed.

She saw a young man wearing a black silk top hat and a matching tailcoat appear in front of the group and block their way.

"Nice to meet you, everyone."

The young man, holding the brim of his hat with one hand, smiled and reached out to grab Triss with the other.

Triss suddenly felt something rapidly leaving her.

In that instant, she lost her extraordinary abilities in areas such as plague, black flames, and frost.

Thieves, high-sequence thieves!
This outfit, this image.

Triss's heart sank.

Sirius pulled Triss back and faced Nicola Flamel, the Rank 1 Angel King.

"Oh?"

A hint of interest appeared in Nikolai's light brown eyes. "You're just a harvester, so why can you use a portion of the Red Priest's authority?"

With a "bang," the harvesting began, and bullets flew through the mirror world, striking Nikolai in the head.

This "mistake" showed no sign of struggling or dodging; its body simply fell backward.

While everyone was incredulous that their captain had so easily defeated the enemy, His body transformed into countless transparent insects with twelve segments, attacking them.

"It's parasite!"

Triss said quickly.

This guy wants to parasitize them and control them first.

Triss's mind raced. She realized that the "mistake" before her was not as powerful as it seemed. Otherwise, it wouldn't have needed to use parasitism to control them, nor would it have only stolen a portion of her supernatural abilities. In fact, it had even retained her most important mirror-traveling supernatural ability.

However, we cannot fight back.

will die.

Even if he isn't powerful, and this might just be an avatar, as the highest-ranking figure on this path, "Mistake" Nicolas Flamel has countless ways to destroy them.

Countless Time Worms filled the mirror, blocking all the passages. Each Time Worm transformed into a young man wearing a black silk hat, and together they made a stealing motion towards the captain.

Something was pulled out from the captain.

Although it was very slow, Triss could clearly see that the evil spirit of Soren Einhorn Medici was being dragged out little by little.

The evil spirit laughed wildly, looking at Nicola Flamel, who was smiling at it, with malice and madness.

"A mistake? Ha, you dare to call yourself that—!"

Among the rebels, one man suddenly took out a monocle made of crystal from his pocket and put it in his left eye socket.

Triss's pupils contracted slightly, then she realized something.

The young man wearing a monocle adjusted his glasses, then smiled as he looked at Nicholas and the Red Angel spirit.

"I think this is a fairly reasonable development, don't you think?"

(End of this chapter)