Lunar Awakening-Chapter 69: The Puppet Master & Her Horse.

"Avan, can I have them?"

The tall man looked at the young girl seated on the living corpse of a horse and nodded. "If you fail to contend with two awakened at your level, you know what will happen."

Cotton turned her head slightly and glared at him. "I’ll turn them to puppets in no time." She shifted her attention to the two awakened standing at the end of the hall and smiled.

Roxy had just finished summoning her artifacts, which appeared to be dual scimitars. Their blades were silver in colour, each possessing a radical curve at the end, the hilts wrapped in thick dark leather. The blades resonated with an unnatural wave of energy that was almost palpable in the air.

The huge awakened immediately picked up on it. "Those blades are not of ascended tier, are they?"

She smiled slightly. "They are transcendent."

The awakened almost exploded in shock, mostly due to his inability to actually believe the claim. It was not uncommon for awakened superhumans to possess artifacts of their respective tiers or even one tier higher, such as ascended weapons. However, wielding a transcendent-tier weapon as a mere awakened spoke volumes in the world of superhumans.

Transcendent artifacts were known to carry magical properties that made the wielder far more versatile on the battlefield. It begged the question of how she came to be in possession of not one, but two of them.

The awakened first wondered if she perhaps had the support of a powerful clan. If she did, then why would she need to earn money on the street? The second possibility was that she had acquired them by slaying a beast of the alpha tier, though he doubted any awakened could manage such a feat.

The huge awakened tried his best not to dwell on it. They had more pressing problems at the moment.

Cotton placed her palms on the neck of her dead horse, causing it to roar like a beast. The two awakened watched in shock as the little girl began to sink into the corpse’s body as though it were quicksand.

The huge awakened seized this opportunity to attack, charging forward with his flail spinning through the air. Despite his massive frame, his speed was nothing short of remarkable. As he approached the girl, who had nearly been devoured by the corpse, he stole a glance at the tall man standing a few feet back.

The awakened swung his flail at the tall man, who leapt backward to avoid the deadly blow. This gave him the chance to deal with the corpse horse.

By then, the girl had been fully absorbed by the horse. Its body wriggled as though billions of worms were crawling beneath its skin. The huge awakened swung his flail at it and watched as it shattered upon impact with the creature’s skull.

"What!?" he boomed.

The horse roared again, its body shifting and transforming into something hideous and terrifying. Its ribs exploded outward from its chest and shot through its back like steel spikes. Seven dark horns sprouted from the skull of the monstrosity, two emerging from its empty eye sockets, one replacing its nose, two from its mouth, and two from its forehead. Its tail grew longer, turning a dark shade of green before splitting into two parts, each moving like a living organism.

The once-rotten flesh of the corpse now filled every open gap with uneven patches of mismatched tissue, giving the impression that the monstrosity was an amalgamation of several corpses, both human and beast alike.

Seeing this, Roxy called out to her companion. "You fool, don’t go killing yourself."

Unfortunately her companion did not have the liberty to pay her any attention as he faced the thing before him.

The hideous monstrosity looked like something straight out of a horror movie as it thrust forward, aiming all seven of its horns at the huge awakened.

"Shit!" he cursed, rolling to the side and narrowly avoiding the charge. He opened his palm, trying to summon another artifact in time to stop the beast’s next charge.

Dots of light shimmered between his fingers and palm, growing and shifting as he waited for the artifact to take shape. The monstrosity was already rearing its head and preparing for another charge. When it shot forward with explosive force, it moved like a charging bull on steroids.

Luckily, he managed to summon his next artifact, a defense-type item. It was a long grey shield shaped like a rectangle. He raised it to absorb the brunt of the monstrosity’s attack, praying it would hold.

The monstrosity slammed into the shield with overwhelming force, nearly popping his shoulders out of their sockets. Had he not been such a bulky figure, he was certain both arms would have dislocated instantly. Surprisingly, the shield held, and he managed to keep his footing.

"You might be a monster of your own rank, but I am Guetta Kalivan, the Titanium Knight," the huge awakened boomed. He yanked the shield aside and threw a punch at the monstrosity’s chin, landing the blow with perfect accuracy.

The monster roared as it was launched into the air despite being the heavier of the two. The awakened proved to be far more resilient.

Roxy remained behind, unwilling to intervene. Her bright blue eyes calmly observed both the battle and the tall man, who did the same. She had decided she would only interfere if he chose to join the fight. For some reason, she believed he would do the same if she intervened first.

For now, she would wait and watch.

When the monstrosity collided with the ground, it shattered the beautiful tiled floor and the mirrored wall behind it. Guetta staggered, staring down at his fist, now broken. "What the hell is that thing made of?"

The monstrosity rose onto all fours, shaking off the attack before speaking. "Big man, you will make a wonderful puppet. So don’t worry, your corpse will not go to waste."

Guetta glared at it coldly. "I don’t care if you’re a little girl. You’re threatening my cash flow, and I can’t have that." He raised his broken arm and began summoning another artifact.

The monstrosity cackled, its neck splitting open to reveal a gaping mouth lined with dozens of sharp teeth. "Do you think you can beat my precious creation? The amalgamation of one thousand and one beast and human corpses to form my corpse general! The ultimate corpse."

Guetta finished summoning a massive battle axe in one hand, his shield still in the other. He slammed the flat of the axe against the shield with a loud clang and screamed at the corpse general. "Come at me, bitch."

The monstrosity screeched as it charged forward. "I will make you eat those words, vermin!"

Guetta raised his shield, ready to block the charge like before and counter with his axe. He was not prepared for what happened next.

As the monstrosity closed in, all seven of its horns merged into one, forming a long bone-like spear that pierced through the shield effortlessly and impaled him through the shoulder. A pained groan escaped his lips as his vision wavered. He watched in horror as his cherished defense artifact began to fracture before crumbling into nothingness.

Guetta poured all his remaining strength into his arms and swung his axe at its head, hoping to sever it. At the last moment, the monstrosity’s skull coated itself in a fresh layer of bone like reinforced armor. He could only watch as his axe shattered and disintegrated.

[Your artifact has been destroyed]

Tears nearly welled in his eyes at the sound of those words. He shook it off and tried to fight back, only to realize he was paralyzed from the neck down.

"What the hell—" he tried to speak, but the child’s voice within the corpse cut him off.

"I told you, didn’t I? I hold the strength of an entire army of corpses within this body. Don’t worry, after I drain you of all your blood, I’ll assimilate you into the corpse general." The creature giggled.

A flash of white light interrupted her as a gleaming silver scimitar pierced the horn still lodged in Guetta’s shoulder. The corpse general turned to glare at the remaining awakened who had challenged her but there was no one there. It was as though she had vanished into thin air.

"Who are you calling ugly?" said an oddly familiar voice.

The corpse general snapped its gaze forward and saw the blonde-haired woman standing directly in front of it. "What!? How did you get here?" it demanded in shock.

Guetta was equally stunned. He hadn’t seen her move, nor heard a single sound, it was as if she had simply appeared.

Roxy gripped her scimitar tightly, staring up at the monstrosity. Her blue eyes sparked as though lightning itself were sealed within them.

She opened her mouth and spoke in a dark, steady tone. "Flowing Water Battle Art— First Technique: Overflow."