CHAPTER 111: CHAPTER 111 - THE DOMAIN OF THE PUPPETEER

Chapter 111 - The Domain of the Puppeteer

The first thing he felt was sheer size.

"You insolent little human... how dare you lay your hands on the King’s treasure!"

Half of its face was taken up by a massive red nose. A colorful mess of curly hair sat atop its head like a gaudy wig. And its height—

Easily over three meters.

Pierrot’s face twisted like that of a demon.

"You aren’t even worthy to be used as sacrifices for this dungeon! Uooohhh!!"

The boss that ruled over the entire BeyWorld dungeon—

Puppeteer Pierrot.

Its savage eyes swept through the room like knives.

If looks could kill, everyone here would’ve already died a hundred times over.

Its sudden intrusion into this place needed no explanation.

It had its nose cut off right before its eyes.

(Both figuratively... and literally.)

Who could’ve imagined being betrayed by the very soul it was controlling?

The Goblin Orb had been yanked away from it in the most absurd, unpredictable way possible. If Pierrot had known this was going to happen, it would never have left it in Chance’s hands.

The root of the problem was probably this—

it created too many souls.

The Goblin Orb had the ability to materialize souls. But that was all it did — give form.

It didn’t provide any absolute control.

Of course, those created would naturally show loyalty to their creator — that was the usual order of things. But if their numbers grew too large, even that fell apart.

Because the right to rule belongs only to the King.

And then, at just the wrong time —

The Goblin Hood, an item capable of commanding souls, appeared.

And with it... a man who held the title of "King of the Goblins."

That’s where it all went wrong.

Pierrot hadn’t accounted for this variable at all.

It couldn’t just sit back and wait after being stabbed in the back like this.

That’s why it came.

"You miserable little—!!"

It stomped down with ferocity.

The entire building shook as if in the midst of a quake.

It was frothing at the mouth.

Its gaze swept across the theater again and again, hostile and searching.

It was looking for something. Probably the Goblin Orb.

Jhin narrowed his eyes and pieced his thoughts together.

This situation—

He had already predicted it. He wasn’t shaken.

Pierrot had been flooding the entire area with an overwhelming storm of Power ever since the moment Jhin entered the Seed Room.

He’d known the moment he activated Flow Sight.

But there was something else that caught his attention.

[You are mildly poisoned by ’Demonic Energy.’]

Demonic Energy...?

The deep red-blackPower constantly pouring from Pierrot—

It wasn’t just any magic.

It was demonic.

Demonic Energy.

The exclusive magical power wielded by demons and entities from the Demon Realm.

This mattered because—

only beings from the Demon Realm possess this kind of power.

And among them, the ones with intelligence were classified as A Nero .

Which meant this Pierrot was no ordinary monster.

He wasn’t even a dungeon construct.

He was something far more dangerous.

A level 300+ Nero .

Jhin furrowed his brow and asked calmly,

"Are you A Nero ?"

He knew the answer. But it still needed to be said.

After all, in Exodia 1, the very first major post-launch content was the Invasion of the A Nero .

The arrival of intelligent demons.

The emergence of C-grade dungeons across the map.

All of it followed a predictable pattern in the one-year anniversary update.

But Pierrot didn’t answer.

It only growled, like a beast.

"I shall welcome you all... into death."

Ruuuuumble...!

[Boss Monster ’Puppeteer Pierrot (?)’ has declared its Domain.]

[You have entered ’Puppeteer Pierrot’s Domain.’]

It happened in an instant.

Just a blink—

And suddenly, the world was darkness.

Thick fog everywhere.

When Jhin came to his senses, all he could hear was the howling wind, echoing through nothingness.

Shhhhfft—

He dodged instinctively.

Something had come from behind, slicing through the air.

It vanished into the void.

So this is it. The Domain Chance talked about.

Pierrot’s Domain.

A space blanketed by pure Demonic Energy —

A skill that twisted perception and distorted sight.

And the terrifying part wasn’t just the fog.

It was that the space itself was saturated with Demonic Energy.

Demonic Energy is destructive by nature.

Without resistance, just inhaling it was like poison.

And the layered pressure of that energy didn’t just blind the eye—

It confused the mind.

Flow Sight? Useless.

When everything is corrupted, there’s no pattern to read.

This skill’s a pain in the ass.

Shhhhfft—

A sound.

He reacted instantly, blade clashing against another sword.

And the attacker—

"Grrrrrr..."

Drooling, eyes glazed over—

It was one of Adonis ’s own subordinates.

The whites of his eyes had turned black.

His brain, corrupted by Demonic Energy.

Clang!

Jhin pushed the attacker away with force and kicked him back.

He didn’t come again.

He must’ve found someone else to target.

Another victim.

"Hold your breath!"

"Don’t open your eyes!"

That was the proper countermeasure.

Demonic Energy enters through eyes, mouth, nose —

Skin too, but more slowly.

Thankfully, Millie and Adonis had passed down this knowledge.

But it didn’t help much.

Because mid-battle, it was nearly impossible to keep your eyes closed or hold your breath.

Even if someone could hold out—

Pierrot wouldn’t let them last long.

"KAAAAGH!!"

A scream erupted nearby.

Jhin flinched, narrowed his gaze, and rushed toward the source.

Too late.

Only a severed corpse remained.

He grimaced.

And then—

More presences were encircling him.

They all spoke the same words.

"Give us... the Orb."

BOOOM!!

...This skill is really damn annoying.

It didn’t just drive people mad.

It took control of them.

Watching the wave of puppet-like players lurching toward him, Jhin sighed.

"Die!"

He twisted and dodged, slipping through strikes.

But he didn’t kill. He couldn’t.

Instead, he struck their necks —

One.

Two.

Three.

Knocking each unconscious.

But...

This isn’t over.

He could sense more.

Double the number.

Maybe more.

He gritted his teeth and readied his sword again.

And behind him—

The three he’d knocked out?

They were rising again.

Even unconscious... their bodies moved like marionettes.

Right... he’s the Puppeteer.

To Pierrot, consciousness didn’t matter.

He controlled bodies, not minds.

There’s no end to this.

Jhin measured the encroaching signals around him.

At least Millie wasn’t among them. Not yet.

He’d heard her gunfire earlier.

That meant she was still fighting.

Still resisting.

But...

How long could she last?

At her current level, she had no real way of resisting Demonic Energy.