One Link After Another

Upon hearing this, Angel's eyes widened instantly, regaining their sparkle as he stared intently at "Alex".

Perhaps because she had been in a daze for too long, the sudden news that her younger brother had died actually stirred a spark of life within her.

Because, as far as she knew, the wizard was indeed capable of doing such a thing.

The wizard finally escaped York's blade. He kicked aside the troublesome doll and reached out to grab Yu Xing's arm.

Yu Xing noticed a faint black aura emanating from the wizard's palm, which gave off a chilling feeling. He immediately lashed out with the cane he always carried with him. The huge recoil made Yu Xing's hand go numb slightly.

[You engaged in a power struggle with the wizard; your stamina has decreased by 5.]

[You were struck by the wizard's power; your health decreased by 10.]

From the moment he entered the attic and met Angel, Yu Xing's stamina had been steadily decreasing in order to avoid the dolls. Although the decrease was small at a time, it had continued until now, bringing his stamina to a rather unsafe level.

And its health points also decreased slightly under the occasional licks of the flames.

[Stamina: 32]

[Health Points: 73]

The wizard took a step back, looking at Yu Xing in astonishment. "You have demonic power within you! You're not a detective at all, who are you!? Which cult do you belong to!"

Yu Xing glanced at him sideways. "What a coincidence, I'm just an ordinary detective. I have absolutely no interest in your so-called cult."

Taking advantage of the wizard's surprise and uncertainty, he turned his head and smiled at Angel, his voice carrying a bewitching power:

"Angel, you've harmed so many people, all your efforts have been in vain. If you regret it, do you know what you should do?"

Angel clenched his teeth, appearing to be distracted.

"You know the three of us are the last three souls the wizard wants," Yu Xing whispered in her ear, leaning closer. "But do you know that among the first forty-one souls, one was Alex, without a physical body? He was already... killed by your own hands..."

"Ah!!!" These words were like a knife to the heart. Angel screamed hoarsely as if he had been tortured. Yu Xing straightened up and met the cold-eyed wizard's gaze.

At this point, it's safe to say that the wizard's entire plan has been exposed.

The wizard, however, calmed down. "Angel, there are only three left. I promise you, if you kill them, you will be free."

Where is my... brother...?

Angel had called out enough. Her beautiful, deep blue, but lifeless eyes stared at the wizard; she already knew the answer.

The wizard scoffed, "Just as they say. However, you don't need to care too much about your brother. Once you've done what I want you to do, you'll be completely free—I can erase your mad genes entirely, and you'll become a normal person, living the life you want."

"I will never believe you again, you are a complete and utter liar!" Angel avoided his promises like the plague. She had already killed so many people, and even if her genes were erased, she had lost the right to be a normal person!

"Stranger!" she cried pitifully, "Kill me! Only by killing me can the dolls finally stop, only by killing me can the wizard's scheme completely fail! I want all his scheming to be in vain!"

"You damned woman!" the wizard cursed viciously, and reached for Yu Xing again.

He doesn't have the energy to control Angel right now; he plans to take care of these three people one by one, cutting off their limbs, cutting off their flesh, letting them suffer while they live, and then making them the end of his plan!

Yu Xing knew that his physical strength was no match for the boss of the deduction Yugi, so he could only dodge. During this time, he accidentally pulled on the white silk ribbon attached to Angel's waist. A chill ran straight into his body from the ribbon, making him stiffen and almost get caught by the wizard.

This feeling is all too familiar.

Yu Xing glanced discreetly at the small magic circles on the wall, then nimbly dodged again, shouting to York, "Cut these silks!"

He didn't have anything sharp on him, so York, who had a fruit knife, was the best choice.

York licked his lips, carrying the cross in one hand and a fruit knife in the other, and charged forward with remarkable agility.

Almost no one could see clearly that the silks broke into several pieces in the cold light.

"No!" The wizard's unwilling anger burned fiercely, as if it wanted to merge with the burning clutter in the attic.

The white silk was filled with a ghostly aura, and black energy, identical to that in the palm of a wizard, could be seen emanating from it. Then, several screams, as if from a living creature, suddenly rang out from somewhere, piercing and eerie.

Angel regained her mobility. Trembling, she covered her head and, stimulated by the minor melody in the music box, suddenly realized that the power transmitted through the silks over the past few months had made her mind increasingly dull, and she was about to become a puppet who could not think and only knew how to make dolls!

Now that her mind was clear, Angel felt a sense of absurdity. There were many things that were wrong that she hadn't realized before, such as how a wizard could impersonate her brother and move around in this house if he were still alive.

And also... how could she have survived this long without eating or drinking anything?

She was better off not thinking about it, because the moment she did, hunger surged through her body. She could clearly feel her stomach shrinking, followed by her other internal organs, then her flesh and tissue... Every part of her body was drying out and shrinking, and her throat felt constricted...

It hurts.

This feels so painful.

She's getting dry.

"Wizard, you will be punished!" Angel cursed with his last breath, his voice barely audible.

Her hands had also become withered. She grabbed the nearest doll and laboriously placed it on her face.

Soul Drain!

In his final moments, as he was being dried into a human body, Angel chose to use Soul Drain to preserve his own soul within the doll.

"Thud."

The doll fell to the ground, and Angel's body became a gruesome desiccated corpse.

Without her as the main controller, all the dolls quieted down and remained motionless.

The plan to collect forty-four souls was also ruined.

Flames roared, setting a soulless doll ablaze. Then, one doll after another was set ablaze, and the temperature in the attic soared, threatening to engulf it completely.

"You knew all along that I was a wizard, not Alex?" Under the intense heat, the wizard's Alex skin began to wrinkle slightly. He looked at everything destroyed, staring at Yu Xing's face, as if he were memorizing it.

Judging from his reaction, Yu Xing knew there was no boss battle. Finding an opportunity to destroy all the white silk ribbons in the doll sea was already a difficult task for these beginner, intermediate, and Advanced Deducer. The focus was on collecting props like music boxes.

If he hadn't used the doll to kill Mrs. Brown in the garden, there would be another Female Ghost now.

If he hadn't torn out Susan's birthday note from the music box, Susan wouldn't have died because of the doll, and they wouldn't have been able to disturb Angel with the music box in the attic.

These are all interconnected.