Hilia groggily opened her eyes and found herself in what seemed to be a luxurious double room at an inn.

"Hilia, are you feeling any better? You scared me to death."

Vanessa’s voice came from nearby. Hilia sat up, rubbing her forehead; the memories before she lost consciousness quickly surfaced in her mind.

It seemed something drifted out of that Magic Puppet, struck her soul—and then she passed out. After that...

Rose’s voice echoed in her mind: "It was that God hidden inside the Magic Puppet. He tried to possess your body to reincarnate, but I dragged him into the seal."

"What does ’possess’ mean?" Hilia asked, puzzled.

"It means erasing your soul and seizing your body. You can call it Divine Descent—only Gods can do that."

Hilia shivered: "I know about Divine Descent. The original Holy Daughter was a vessel for a God’s arrival, but the God only descended temporarily, never erased her soul. The Evil God is terrifying!"

Rose said with a half-smile: "The Evil God didn’t erase your soul either."

"Then... he’s a demon. Right, demons are terrifying!"

Having finished talking with Rose in her mind and grasped the situation, Hilia nodded in response to Vanessa’s concern in reality. "Much better now. Thank you, Mother Vanessa. Where is this place?"

Vanessa replied, "This is City Lord’s Castle... well, the Southern Border City tavern outside. So tell me, how did you end up there?"

Hilia said innocently, "I was just taking a walk."

"A walk?" Vanessa looked suspicious. "I remember the bishop contacted me last night—it was already midnight. You went for a walk at midnight?"

Hilia’s mind spun rapidly through various excuses before she put on a remorseful face: "Sorry, Mother Vanessa. Actually, I didn’t know that Southern Border City suddenly had a curfew. I couldn’t get into the inn, so I was going to seek help at the Divine Hall, but it was closed too. I figured I’d sleep in the square for the night, and only then ran into your fight with those heretics."

As she spoke, Hilia suddenly remembered there was an elf maiden in her room.

Hilia looked out the window and saw the sky outside was gray, turning brighter.

Oh no, she’d lasted this long—would her contamination break out now?

Hilia’s heart raced.

Rose’s voice rang out: "I’ve already sent the Magic Puppet back to do a simple purification, keeping the Demonic Qi from spreading. Hmm, she should be waking up soon."

Hilia still couldn’t share the Magic Puppet’s sight—something only Tier Four mages could do—so she could only ask Rose in her heart: "Lord Rose, please, keep an eye on her for me. I’ll go back soon."

"Alright."

Meanwhile, Vanessa stretched out her hand. The Holy Word: Purification’s light bathed Hilia, and only after confirming nothing was wrong did Vanessa breathe out in relief.

She didn’t quite believe Hilia’s explanation but didn’t press the issue, instead asking with concern, "At the end of the fight, that Magic Puppet seemed to launch a spiritual attack on you. How do you feel now?"

Hilia pretended to check herself, then replied, "I don’t feel anything... I don’t even know him. His attack was probably an accident. Didn’t feel like an attack—more like Lord City Lord knocked out his soul."

Vanessa thought for a moment and agreed—it didn’t seem like a spiritual attack, more like getting one’s soul knocked out.

"Magic Puppets don’t have souls." Vanessa chuckled. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

At this moment, the City Lord came in from outside, his expression odd.

"Did you find that mage, Lord City Lord?"

"Just call me Puniel, Lady Vanessa." City Lord Puniel walked in and sat to the side; seeing Hilia awake, he smiled. "So this must be Lady Hilia. I’ve always heard there’s a Holy Daughter in Southern Border City, only her name but never seen her in person. Now that I see, not only is she beautiful, her potential is high too. Surely she’ll become a strong one, just like the Holy Master."

Puniel’s praise made Hilia a little embarrassed. Vanessa smiled. "Thank you, City Lord, for your praise. Hilia’s future is boundless. But now isn’t the time for this discussion."

Puniel nodded and said, "After careful investigation, I confirmed something: this Magic Puppet wasn’t controlled by anyone."

"What?" Vanessa was stunned. "Has the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association already developed Magic Puppets that don’t need operators?"

"Not exactly." Puniel shook his head, his expression strange. "We dismantled that Magic Puppet and found some... human parts inside."

"Human parts? What do you mean?"

"Meaning, this is a hybrid of Magic Puppet and human. Inside its head, aside from the Heart of the Magic Puppet, there’s brain matter—something you only find in living brains. In its torso, besides rune-powered mechanisms, there are biological muscles providing power and channeling Magic Power."

As the City Lord spoke, his face was full of incredulity—and Vanessa’s as she listened was much the same.

Even Hilia, who knew it was a "Magic Puppet Man," still found Puniel’s account unbelievable.

Vanessa couldn’t help looking at Hilia, mumbling, "Maybe at that moment, a soul really was knocked out?"

Puniel went on, "Not only that, but the Heart of the Magic Puppet it used was strange—very high quality, higher than any natural Heart I’ve ever seen. That’s probably why it was so powerful.

"But when our Puppet Masters dismantled the Heart, the first one to touch it suddenly fainted. The second who went to help him also fainted after touching the Heart. Neither of them has woken up yet."

Vanessa frowned. "That actually happened?"

Hilia immediately knew what was going on, replying, "That Heart of the Magic Puppet is extremely high quality. When you touch it, the force inside tries to resonate with the soul; if the soul can’t withstand the shock, it falls into a coma. Any other symptoms besides unconsciousness for those two Puppet Masters?"

Vanessa looked at Hilia in surprise, amazed she knew such obscure knowledge.

Puniel thought for a moment. "Symptoms... Yes, actually. They look like seriously injured men—ashen-faced, weak breathing, like dying old men. But physically and Spiritually, there’s no sign of damage."

"They’re dying," Rose said.

"Can they be saved?" Hilia hurriedly asked.

The two were unlucky victims. Who’d have thought the harmless Heart of the Magic Puppet could also kill someone?

"Yes. The Heart of the Magic Puppet itself can nourish the soul. Because you’ve resonated with the Heart of the Water Magic Puppet before, you can channel the energy you gained through resonance to them and stabilize their souls."

"Can you teach me how? Lord Rose!"

"Of course. Remember, after healing them, bring that Heart back."

"Got it!"

With confirmation, Hilia quickly said, "They’re in bad shape—their souls are fading. We need to heal them fast."

"But I’ve never heard of anyone able to heal souls..."

"I can." Hilia said coolly.