>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!<

Devastation spread across the area, tearing down the monolith Kuzon had made.

As the house was engulfed in a sea of bright energy, the only two inhabitants of the house were locked in an embrace.

Kuzon held Ana rightly to his chest, feeling her little body cling to his.

“What are you doing?” Ana asked.

Her face was red again.

She was embarrassed, to say the least, about being handled like a little kid.

‘I can’t count how many times he has carried me so easily. Not fair…’

But, it wasn’t time to be concerned about that, was it? An enemy attack just came in, so Ana had to save the matter for another moment.

“Looks like he finally came…” Kuzon smiled, releasing his dense golden Mana.

>FWOOOOSSHHH<

The smoke and destruction that ravaged the environment cleared instantly, leaving only trails of the explosion.

With everyone in their line of sight gone, the enemy’s appearance was right in front of them.

“Who is that?” Ana asked with slight surprise, still wondering when Kuzon was going to put her down.

Fortunately, the young Midas wasn’t dense, so he did so without wasting too much time.

“He’s a Fairy. One of the higher-ranked members of the Cult…” Kuzon smiled, staring at the enraged face of the Fairy King hovering above him.

“….Well, his clone, that is.”

Kuzon had enough experience to tell that the opponent before him was simply another Automaton or remotely controlled Golem.

The only problem was that he couldn’t hack into the signal that the owner was emitting to control it.

‘Then I guess it’s an Automaton… hmmm…’ Kuzon glanced at Ana and saw that she was fine.

Was he being too doting? Should he not overdo things? The boy’s thoughts wandered, but it soon converged at a single conclusion.

‘Beruel came at the wrong time. Ana and I were talking…’

Though a smile was on his face, Kuzon was actually quite angry at the Fairy King.

But, unlike the young Midas’s slight dissatisfaction, the opponent was raging in fury.

“You… you killed my subordinate!” His wings glimmered with multiple colors as his regal outfit swayed with the wind.

A staff hovered in the air, and he seemed ready for business.

“Ah, which one was it? The Fairy that was the weakest out of your little group? What can I say?”

“This bastard… you’ll die in the most miserable way.”

“That guy’s death wasn’t satisfying in the very least. It was just boring. Want to know why?” Kuzon stepped forward, and as he did so, golden strings swirled around him.

“It’s because he was weak. Let’s hope you don’t fall short of my expectations.”

The Fairy King didn’t waste any more time as he instantly lunged for Kuzon.

His speed was insane, and the fact that he oozed bloodlust would make anyone’s skin shiver.

However—

“Predictable…” Kuzon murmured.

Instantly, his strings formed the appropriate model to handle the incoming Fairy.

Like threads weaving into one another, his strings could form whatever Kuzon desired—as long as he knew their concepts or structure.

Their durability also depended on the Mana he poured into them.

Of course, as a Royal, Kuzon did not like exerting more force than necessary. By reading his opponent, he knew just what level of power to use.

Which was why he didn’t bother to utilize The Emperor or Xenia, his familiar.

He looked at his ring and bracelet. They were both treasures that housed different abilities, but he wasn’t really using them at the moment.

“DIEEEEEEE!!!” Beruel used his lance to pierce through Kuzon’s threads and kept his charge.

“No, thanks.”

The golden strings instantly weaved back to existence, and several of them charged at Beruel.

“Out of my way!” Instantly, another blast burst from the Fairy King.

It devastated the environment, sending shockwaves for miles.

Once the golden threads were utterly decimated, Kuzon now seemed in sight and Beruel went for the kill.

However—

“U-uh…?!’

—He was stopped mid-air.

“Everyone always falls for the same trick. You get so carried away with the threads you can see that you forget the ones you can’t.”

With his hands in his pocket, Kuzon floated until he reached Beruel’s location in midair.

“You know… my Original Magic is called Marionette for a reason.”

Yes, Kuzon could use threads for most of his combat, and he could even coat himself in it for enhancements.

However, his strings had other uses.

“I can easily control your body however I like, like a puppet through a string.”

All he had to do was to link his Mana with his opponents, using the strings as a conduit.

Once that happened, he would force Resonance and allow himself to take charge of the opponent’s body.

“Keukk!”

“Do you get it? I’m currently in control of this body…”

The boy’s grin widened as he whispered into the Fairy King’s ear.

“… Just like I was in control of your subordinate. You know, it was fun seeing him peel out his own wings and killing himself in the most gruesome way possible.”

There was no form of remorse in Kuzon’s voice… just pure sadism.

“You bastaaaarrrrddd!!!” Despite everything, the Fairy King did not move.

Rather, he couldn’t.

But—

“Kuzon, watch out!”

>WHOOOOOSSSSHHHH<

—The forgotten lance that Beruel wielded came out of nowhere and pierced Kuzon from behind.

>SPLOOOOSHH<

Instantly, blood poured out of the young Midas, causing him to open his mouth in shock.

“KUZOOOONNNN!!!” Ana screamed, but suddenly felt someone tap her on her shoulder.

“Relax. That’s not me.”

Beside her emerged Kuzon, the real one—or was it?

“K-Kuzon? But… wait a sec…” Ana closely observed the one that was hit, but it turned out to be another one of Kuzon’s constructs.

“Bastard!” Fairy King Beruel growled.

“Well, playtime is over. I’ll be coming to visit you soon.” The golden haired boy shrugged, ready to end things.

“You think you’ll ever reach me? You’re strong, I admit… but you won’t be able to crack through everything and reach my location.”

In response to that statement, the boy remained silent.

Beruel was right, after all.