Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Traloc is the god of water, thunder, and storms, and also the lord of the sun, the third sun. When he is angry, he sends down a destructive rain of meteors.

The meteor shower had already begun.

Alice blinked.

The next moment, a violent burst of light was generated.

A shockwave equivalent to a small nuclear bomb exploding at close range swept in. Light, heat, and shock—after losing two layers in the light surge, four more layers shattered completely. Perception was severed; the girl's optical vision and hearing were reduced to a blank white.

Even though the violent energy turbulence had rendered many monitoring methods ineffective, Alice could still tell from her experience that a small section of the spatial structure at the epicenter of the explosion had suffered devastating damage—space was torn apart, and any mass attempting to escape would be captured by the gravitational field, disintegrated into basic particle structures to repair space. This was the rule, and the rule could not be stopped.

Even angels cannot defy the rules. At least, once they fail to leave the battlefield immediately, they are powerless to stop them.

Alice blinked a second time. Then, the chaotic, violent high-energy light waves in the air were reorganized and processed into signal waveforms understandable to the human brain after being filtered by a technique etched beneath the witch's eyelids. The pure white in her vision quickly faded, and clear images reappeared in her perception.

She had no doubt that information magic could work on these energy beings—even if the systems were different, the ultimate interference with the material world was the same. Any enemy that could be touched could become a target, and Alice had never worried about that.

Now all she wants to know is how effective her power will be.

She felt a slight itch between her eyebrows.

In a daze, it seemed as if a strange light pierced through the all-encompassing pure white, bypassing all her defenses and shining directly upon her. Before her brain could analyze the situation and react, her body reacted first.

'Bam—! '

One combat doll shattered into pieces, and nearly a third of the remaining thirteen layers of the barrier overloaded instantly. Just moments before, she had subconsciously controlled a combat doll to deploy an independent shield in front of her, and in that brief instant she had gained, she witnessed the true nature of that ray of light.

It was… a weapon that resembled a sword. Yet it was more than just a sword; it was a beam of light, a twisted, writhing beam of light with a tangible form. The battle doll that was pierced was corroded by the light, turning into a hazy white mist. And that beam of light grew even stronger as the white mist formed.

[What is this? It breaks down matter and absorbs it... What is this thing!?]

Alice thought to herself, but her reaction was swift. She stepped back, and a barrage of beams from the already arrayed mechanical soldiers obscured the beam of light before her. She raised her hand, and a simple lightning storm rapidly formed with a snap of her fingers. Blue-purple electricity sprayed in all directions, covering a 120-degree fan-shaped area in front of her.

Can you absorb energy?

The girl raised an eyebrow as she saw the angel's silhouette quietly emerge amidst the barrage of beams. Its wings folded, blocking all the projectiles and lightning, while as it unfolded, a massive offensive composed of flying light feathers and rays was launched directly at her! In an instant, the barrage from the mechanical legion was completely neutralized, but many of the remaining projectiles still swarmed towards Alice like a swarm of bees!

Bullet hell battles, a long-lost experience.

Alice didn't even have time to savor the familiar feeling before the sky full of light feathers blocked most of her area of ​​movement—although there was no rule that being hit once meant defeat now, Alice decided to carefully avoid them to prevent herself from suffering an unexpected blow.

The gravity field around her activated, and the artificially disrupted gravitational beams immediately destroyed the flight path of the light feathers. The feather-like specks of light scattered everywhere, landing on the ground, on rocks, on grass, and even among the legion. Then, changes occurred.

The ground that touched the light feathers was corroded, creating huge cavities in the soil.

The rocks that touched the light feathers crumbled like gravel.

The plants that touched the light feathers withered and died, their branches and leaves falling like ashes from a fire.

The machine that touched the light feather shattered and turned into pure white light mist.

The radiance on the angels shone even brighter as the mist formed.

[Destructive power, corrosive power, assimilative power... Is the ability to assimilate limited to my creations? It's ineffective against pure energy attacks, but that's not normal... As an angel of pure energy, its weapon's primary function should be to be effective against energy beings. Unless they never need to deal with enemies similar to themselves.]

[So that's it, a weapon of war... No, this thing in front of me has consciousness!]

What on earth is going on here!?

Alice felt a terrible headache coming on, but she reacted quickly, ordering the legion to unleash a new barrage of bullets. The battle dolls surrounding her also sprang into action, casting spells and constructing concepts to firmly protect her within them.

While dodging the rays and light feathers, she retaliated with her puppet magic cannons. However, just as the angel's barrage of bullets couldn't hit her, she couldn't simply use multiple magic cannons to strike her opponent. The two collided and entangled rapidly in the air, and the energy waves they projected would occasionally turn forests or mountains several kilometers or tens of kilometers away into a sea of ​​fire.

She couldn't defeat it, and it couldn't defeat her. However, this evenly matched situation only troubled Alice more—there was definitely more than one angel in the world. So, if she couldn't even defeat a single enemy, what would she do if multiple enemies appeared? Run away? Surrender? Or wait to die?

She didn't want to choose either option; she only wanted to win. However, no matter what she thought, the battle inevitably reached a stalemate.

Chapter 51 The Puppet Master

The Boston sky had become a boiling soup, with high-energy particles colliding with water molecules and dust particles in the air, blasting them into fragments and atoms, and then re-aggregating in the extreme environment of high temperature and high energy, forming many beautiful but dangerous natural landscapes.

First came the rainbow, then the aurora, then the thunderstorm, and finally the storm.

The balance of nature was utterly destroyed by the collision of opposing energies. Mountains were ravaged, the earth torn apart, rivers and lakes dried up, and forests were pulverized. The tide of destruction even reached the outskirts of the city, where sturdy buildings, towering skyscrapers, and bridges crumbled under the shockwave. In the heart of the battle, the land within a radius of several kilometers had long since reverted to its primordial state. Apart from the dead earth and scorching winds, only flowing lava remained.

Alice didn't intentionally kill, but she also lacked the energy to control her own power. She hadn't reached the level where she could precisely manipulate every minute wisp of energy. Even if she could, she didn't have the extra energy—the only thing she did that wasn't destructive was to send several mechanical soldiers to protect the stunned Kessler father and son after the battle began. She wouldn't kill them, but she wouldn't let them leave the battlefield either. Only in this way could she ensure that the energy creatures before her wouldn't recklessly flee.

She had lost five combat dolls, and the mechanical legion was now suffering over a thousand casualties. The angel's radiance had dimmed by about thirty percent compared to its previous peak. However, for either side, such losses were hardly crippling.

Both the puppets and the mechanical army are items that can be mass-produced simply by consuming time and accumulating mass. As for that angel, killing living creatures in nature or Alice's creations can transform them into her own radiance. And it is precisely for this reason that this land was blasted into scorched earth by the aftershocks of the battle between the two sides.

It's just a war of attrition; it's not that we can't afford to drag it out. Alice might have been a little anxious at first, but after receiving Patchouli's message from the Great Library during the battle, she became less worried.

[Patch, how's the situation at the church?]

Alice stretched out her hand, and a row of battle dolls floating behind her fired magic cannons in unison. From lightning to fire, from fire to ice, from ice to light, from light to darkness. The powers of various elements intertwined, forming a hybrid magic cannon that encircled the two. The air was easily disintegrated, and layers of halos of light quietly appeared around the girl as magic energy was released—these were natural distortions in space caused by the high-energy impact, and Alice also used these distortions, making them a protective barrier under the constraints of magic.

The magic cannon struck the angel's wing, instantly turning a small portion of the wing a chaotic color. However, the damaged part rapidly regenerated under the surrounding aura, the disintegrated wing shattering into palm-sized feathers of light. These feathers, after detaching from the main body, quickly changed from pure white to pitch black. From stable to turbulent—they absorbed the magic cannon's energy, overloading it internally, and then swept towards the witch like a whirlwind!

(No one died. Zheng Zha was slightly injured, and Zhang Heng was unconscious. I had the Hongpao bombard the American command post, and then airdropped a division of mechanized troops to their side. Zheng Zha and the other two have now met up with the reinforcements from Zero Point, and they should be able to return to the church in a while.)

That would be troublesome. Dealing with two angels simultaneously isn't a good strategy. It's very powerful; I'd have a hard time winning alone in a place like North America. If it were someone else… there might be casualties.

The black feathers of light came to a rapid halt under the gravitational field, their unstable structure collapsing instantly under the force of the external force. With a deafening roar, energy equivalent to the explosion of dozens of thermobaric bombs exploded simultaneously within a ten-meter radius of Alice! The chaotic energy coalesced into the pitch-black aurora, and then, as the several alien dolls that had suddenly activated and released a three-dimensional energy field enveloping Alice crumbled like waves crashing against rocks.

The unstable space served as an effective barrier. This barrier was strong enough to withstand any energy impact lacking cohesion. Most of the black aurora was captured by the damaged space itself, directly becoming material for repairing the spatial structure. The remaining portion lost speed under the influence of the gravitational field and was then captured by the magic circle, becoming a source of magical energy for the witch.

One side attacked, the other defended; neither side gained the upper hand.

However, after the aurora dissipated, the angels vanished without a trace.

(I know, but Xiao Honglu contacted me, hoping to use this battle to unite the team and avoid facing even greater difficulties later.)

Are we being excluded?

(This was our choice, Alice, you should know that. Neither you nor I can make room for anyone else in our hearts. We may be comrades-in-arms, we may be allies, but we can never be partners who entrust their lives to each other.)

(You should know very well that from the moment we made that promise hundreds of years ago, the only person we can entrust everything to is each other.)

Alice raised an eyebrow, and before her nerves could transmit the 'raise' signal to her facial muscles, the gravitational field surrounding her activated on its own. The inward-contracting vortex that had been capturing magic instantly transformed into an outward-bursting wave that repelled everything!

The form of an angel immediately appeared less than five meters away from her!

It gripped the radiant blade, which writhed like a living creature, and thrust it towards Alice's neck! The outermost protective shield against energy attacks shattered like glass. Waves of gravity spread from the tip of the blade. Even hindered by the powerful repulsive force, the sword's speed remained swift.

Then, it was stopped.

Alice's fingers flashed through the air, leaving a trail of afterimages. The fingers of the two battle dolls then conjured elemental swords made of magic. The first doll parried the angel's sword, while the second closed in, stabbing at the angel's body the instant the blade swung down!

'boom--!!!!'

"Is that so...? That's certainly true. But that's not what I meant. This world is in trouble, and I suspect we've gotten ourselves involved in a bunch of messy things that we shouldn't be getting involved in right now. So, every force needs to unite... I forgot to tell you that earlier."

(...Understood, I'll help them and try to integrate myself into the group. But what about your side? From what I'm seeing on the orbit, the situation on your end doesn't look good. Don't you need my help?)

[It's just that we lack a single-target attack with enough destructive power. Let's have the macro cannon fire this way later. I'm already familiar with the angel's power. I've also found a way to break this stalemate.]

(That's good……)

Communication is interrupted.

Alice casually brushed away the dust kicked up by the explosion. She could clearly sense the energy crystals, which were components of the angel's body, dissipating not far in front of her. And after a circle of electromagnetic waves of a specific frequency swept over them, those energy crystals transformed into tiny, solid orbs of light—just like the sample she had obtained earlier.

This could perhaps be seen as the blood of angels.

Based on the bloodstains, Alice could easily pinpoint the angel's location—the previous attack had successfully struck it, leaving a tangible wound. Its internal energy structure had been damaged, slightly slowing its movements.

[...close combat might be more advantageous.]

With a thought, her fingers, wrapped in magic threads, trembled slightly, and with her will, more battle dolls drew their energy swords. She stomped her foot, and for the first time in this battle, actively moved closer to the angel!

That sword possesses an assimilation and absorption ability of unknown origin. Although it is ineffective against pure energy, it's best to avoid being hit by it. And...

[...There's a strange sense of déjà vu.]

The girl pondered in her mind, but her hands didn't falter in the slightest. She was a puppeteer; the puppets' hands were her hands, and their weapons were her weapons. However, although she only had two hands, she could manipulate more than two puppets. As she approached the angel's side, she unleashed five simultaneous slashes from different angles!

The first strike was severed by the lightsaber, and the second strike was deflected by the light mist.

The third strike was blocked by the wings of light, and the fourth strike was hindered by the halo.

However, the fifth strike pierced through numerous obstacles, slicing a patch of pure white energy crystal blood onto the angel's humanoid body!

After five slashes came six gunshots, and after six gunshots came five swords. Alice still controlled sixteen puppets, giving her sixteen different attack methods. The impenetrable barrage of attacks rained down like a storm, catching her target completely off guard!

It has only two hands and one weapon. Alice, on the other hand, has sixteen, and each weapon she wields possesses a speed approaching that of an angel's sword. Overwhelmed by numbers, Alice naturally has the upper hand.

—Until it suddenly spread its wings!

'LA——————————'

Alice heard its voice for the first time; it was a clear, pure female voice, like shards of ice skimming across a winter river. Accompanying this voice, an energy surge, not unlike a small nuclear explosion, erupted centered on the angel's body!

The world has become quiet.

The air, the medium for sound transmission, was completely pushed aside in this impact. Also blasted away were Alice's combat dolls, including those from Shanghai and Penglai. Eighty percent of the angel's energy was used to repel these small dolls wielding magical weapons, while Alice, the core of the angel, was deliberately ignored; the impact didn't even knock her backward!

[Well done! You spotted the weakness in the puppet fighting technique at a glance. Excellent work.]

The girl raised a finger, and a sudden burst of light blocked the oncoming light blade. Her figure then swayed, deftly dodging a second attack from the pale light wings after the blade!

—A string of hidden runes behind her neck lit up.

The puppeteer's weakness lies neither in the puppets they manipulate nor in the puppeteer themselves. The greatest flaw lies in the connection between the two. Because a connection implies a medium, and a medium represents a barrier. This problem has plagued puppeteers for many years, and even the creation of giant puppets completely encased within them, manipulated directly with their minds or brainwaves, has not solved this problem. Therefore, throughout history, the most effective way to defeat a puppeteer is to sever her connection with the puppet.

Alice is no ordinary doll maker; she has experienced all sorts of situations and has contingency plans for different scenarios. Therefore, the connection between her and her dolls cannot be easily severed.

However, the angel did not intend to sever her connection; all it wanted to do was temporarily separate the dolls from her.

The first sword was blocked, but a second one followed. After the second came a third, and after the third a fourth. In the blink of an eye, the dozen or so layers of magical barriers the witch had used to defend herself shattered—she raised her hand, and the magical threads attached to it immediately wrapped around the writhing beam of light sword!

The puppet would arrive in no more than two milliseconds, which would be more than enough time to react. The angel's risky attack was doomed to fail, unless, of course, other unforeseen factors intervened.

Other unexpected factors...

The next moment, the form of the light sword suddenly disintegrated, and even the angel's hand holding the sword collapsed!

Something unexpected happened...

Another hand emerged from the angel's heart, holding a lightsaber as well. This lightsaber passed through all of Alice's attempts to defend herself and pierced straight through her chest!

So you don't actually have a fixed physical form; pretending to be human was just a disguise?

[When I was surrounded by puppets earlier, I deliberately maintained my human form just to lull me into a false sense of security, so I could launch a fatal attack only when necessary.]

"What a pity." Alice looked at it calmly, her pretty face showing no sign of pain. She suddenly took a step forward, and the magic thread that had slipped earlier suddenly converged towards the center, binding herself and the angel tightly together!