One-Eyed Monster

The Puppet Monster didn’t reveal this secret; he needed blood to maintain his power. When this power descended upon him, there was nothing unusual. At that time, the Clown told him this power could rid him of shame and fulfill his wish for revenge. His family was paralyzed and driven insane by those extreme audience members, leaving this world shortly after. Especially his daughter, only sixteen, at the peak of her youth, was destroyed by these extreme audience members. He never imagined they would break his daughter’s limbs, severing her tendons with sharp tools, then hanging her up with ropes, frantically chanting, ’Look at the Puppet Master’s daughter, just as foolish and ugly as his puppets...

The Puppet Monster didn’t want to tell anyone about this humiliating past; it was a deep pain in his heart. His wife went insane because of it, his daughter was paralyzed, and he was powerless before those extreme audience members because they were Adventurers with Class. Even against a small Fighter, he could not resist. The gap in power made him feel insignificant, and that moment planted a seed of hatred in his life.

With his daughter and wife gone one after another, he became a Shadow Ghost sustained by hatred, endlessly seeking power for revenge, even if it meant trading with the Devil.

The appearance of the Clown gave him hope. He had heard of these unbelievable occurrences from wandering beggars. Having been part of the Circus himself, he felt he should submit to this legendary group.

The pleasure of revenge came swiftly. The Clown soon accepted him and granted him a power he couldn’t even fathom, suddenly possesses unparalleled strength. It’s indescribable; a God-given Power, as they called it.

In their hearts, the Clown became a god-like being.

The power directed him, made him feel pleasures never before known. He could control anyone with his Puppet Tools, gradually merging them with himself, transforming into a hideous form.

That power took over his consciousness, guiding him on where to go and what to do, eventually turning him into a puppet of the power. But he willingly embraced this puppet role, for only as a puppet could he feel the pleasure of revenge.

When he controlled those extreme audience members, watching them tear apart each other’s arms under his control gave him an inexplicable thrill, a hunger for blood stemming from that massacre.

’I will devour your blood, consume your flesh, leaving your bodies and souls incomplete. I will use your blood to honor my loved ones!’ That night, the Puppet Monster truly became a monster, satisfying his desire for revenge, dancing in a pool of blood. The blood gave him a different strength, and the power became insatiable after tasting blood, making him even more bloodthirsty.

After this slaughter, the Puppet Monster’s temperament changed. The strength made him no longer servile and pretentious. He could provoke in front of Adventurers with Class and fight those extreme audience members anytime, anywhere. In his eyes, no audience was innocent; they were all blind spectators, symbols he could toy with.

He wanted to turn them into dogs of power, making them understand that only the powerful wouldn’t be bullied.

He missed his daughter, but she could never return.

He went to the Clown for help, wanting to know how to revive his daughter. As long as she returned, he would give everything.

The Clown, stroking his head, taught him a skill that led him to attempt unimaginable things. The Clown said death and life could be transcended. The memories of your daughter imprinted within you could come back. You just needed to devour others’ skills using these memories. Then, your daughter would be reborn; the body was merely a shell. The true eternal was consciousness. You must extract your daughter’s consciousness from your life, continuously invading others’ bodies, and your daughter would return.

He did as instructed, doing it madly. He extracted all his daughter’s memories, seeking targets at will, devouring them, controlling them, gradually abandoning his own body.

He began fantasizing about his daughter’s likeness, transferring everything within himself to a new body, even imagining himself as his daughter, thus crazily occupying young women’s bodies.

In this way, he let his daughter be reborn, and under normal circumstances, he was in the form of a young girl, claiming he was asleep himself.

This is a secret the Puppet Master kept within himself, hidden from all eyes.

The Puppet Monster thought of his daughter again at this moment, but now he couldn’t switch back to that young girl’s state. His battle had failed; all puppets were out of control. Without the Puppet Tools, he couldn’t summon puppets anew...

The individuals in front of him, remarkably, had defeated him. Since joining the Circus, nothing like this had occurred.

This made him feel despondent.

What puzzled him further was the Blacksmith, who seemed to have sharp eyes, seeing through him at a glance.

He still couldn’t understand, why could this Blacksmith easily discern him as a Puppet Master and know that his attack methods depended solely on the Puppet Tools?

He couldn’t comprehend it, perhaps this was why the Clown wanted him to capture the Blacksmith’s Spirit Core!

Now, the mission had failed.

Everything was in vain.

When he felt the presence of the Craftsman Spirit as the Blacksmith forged weapons, it indeed excited him immensely, and the power within him seemed to have found a kind of belonging, surging madly, as if devouring this Craftsman Spirit’s Spirit Core would enhance his strength.

But now, he could no longer taste that feeling. He had failed. Even if there was a little bit of Energy left, it couldn’t be harnessed, making it all pointless.

He looked resentfully at Master Lao, with many doubts in his heart.