Ying Su was dead.
He had not been killed by Night Four's mechanism puppet. He had died in the midst of battle.
Although his strength had fallen below Foundation Establishment, he still held an overwhelming advantage over the mechanism puppets. They could not touch him at all.
Unfortunately, Night Four had one mechanism puppet that perfectly countered him:
"Second-Order Puppet · Steam Lightning Arts Celestial Master"
"Attack Power: 11200" (value after enhancement) "Health: 11400" "Trait · Lightning Arts · Splash: This puppet's attacks deal 300 points of lightning splash damage, dealing double damage to mechanisms, corpse fiends, and monsters."
It had originally been a mid-game puppet that countered specific races, but it was also remarkably effective against heralds. Its method of attack was to slam the ground and create a huge web of lightning. Once Ying Su was caught in it, he would be briefly paralyzed, greatly limiting his attack frequency and range of movement. He had tried several times to charge through and deal with Yan Qing and Ying Ru Shi, but seven puppets were simply too many, as immovable as a city wall.
On the path of his final charge, he had been like a wind-up doll whose spring had run out, collapsing to the ground without moving. Aside from Ying Ru Shi's initial counterattack, he had suffered no other injuries throughout the hard-fought battle. Yet the moment he fell, he lay in a pool of his own blood, blood escaping through every gap in his armor.
While searching him for his token, Night Four turned him over as well. Only then did Yan Qing realize that he was not much older than them—in fact, he still had a hint of childishness about him. Night Four felt him and discovered that his body was as soft