Marionette

Afterward, Truman spent several days merging the Master characteristic into the Robe of the Sage. The process had been arduous, needless to say. He'd still had to rely on the Book of Dreams to forcibly suppress it—or, perhaps, contaminate it?

By then, however, the sweeping missionary campaign had gradually quieted down, and he, the Angel of Dreams, had finally found himself with some free time.

"Do you have to have a family to gain humanity?" Lilith often came to him with all sorts of strange questions.

She was still cold and almost entirely devoid of emotion.

"Is that what you've observed?" Truman's expression turned strange.

Quite a few more believers had recently poured into his Angel Territory as a result of the missionary campaign. Some city-states and human settlements had such terrible conditions that their entire populations needed to relocate to this divine kingdom.

The large-scale missionary campaign had at least doubled the number of believers in the Kingdom of the Sun God. They'd even need to build a giant city on the surface.

Sasrir had been so busy lately that he hadn't even had time to drink!

Lilith, meanwhile, had spent this time constantly observing humans, even shaping herself into a Spectator.

"But you don't have a chance," Truman said, shaking his head slightly. Lilith now had all the qualities of a Spectator: she was "just a Spectator."

She wouldn't be moved by what she saw, or feel satisfied by what she learned.

For a Vampire like her to go searching for "humanity" was simply a catastrophe.

"..." Truman fell silent. His own existence was extraordinary, and he had an abundance of humanity, so he found it hard to understand Lilith's current state. "Why not take up a human hobby?"

"A hobby?" Lilith asked, her expression serious.

"Yes, a hobby! Start by getting involved in human activities, then work toward understanding them." Truman often found Lilith a headache, because he had no idea how to search for humanity either!

"Fine!" Lilith nodded at last, then looked bewildered again. "But what kind of hobby? Does drinking blood count?"

Truman's mouth twitched. But... what kind of entertainment did people have in this era?

It was only in his Dream Territory, where anyone sufficiently devout could enter Paradise of God, that his people had even a little entertainment. Everyone else probably just worked and prayed.

"You could..." Truman faltered, but his eyes lit up the next moment. "Make dolls!"

He'd gotten the idea from some embarrassing Sanguine in a later era.

"What? Dolls? Like the King of Exotic Species?" Lilith asked, puzzled.

Oh! Truman had only just remembered that this world had naturally occurring "Marionettes"—and the King of Exotic Species was, in fact, a born "rag doll."

So dolls, Marionettes, and rag dolls were still regarded as divine beings in this era. In the city-states ruled by the King of Exotic Species, they were genuine idols, worshipped day and night by countless humans.

"More or less..." Truman shook his head and directly took out a Marionette Beyonder Characteristic.

He'd seized it from among the countless characteristics raining down from the sky after the King of Exotic Species fell.

Truman kneaded the Marionette characteristic with his hands, shaping it into a human form. Some of the characteristic's inherent properties also began to complete the Marionette on their own.

Finally, he adorned it with Dream Phosphor, and a life-sized doll, nearly indistinguishable from an ordinary person, appeared before Lilith.

"That was easy." Truman had never seen a Beyonder Characteristic shape itself before.

"Is this me?" Lilith stood in front of the Marionette. They looked exactly alike.

Truman had shaped it in Lilith's image, and now the Marionette had evolved on its own through its characteristic until it was indistinguishable from Lilith.

"I'm beautiful." Lilith seemed pleased. She picked up the Marionette and left.

At last, I managed to send her off. Truman shook his head. Every time, Lilith came to him with questions he could barely answer.

I should have stopped her from regressing this far back then. He shook his head and continued studying the power of the Book of Dreams.

Illusionary Dream and Causality had shown him a way to explore the Book of Dreams more deeply, and he was working toward that goal.

What Truman hadn't expected was that Lilith would take things too far this time.

In just a few days, a tale spread throughout the Dream Territory about a Werewolf who drank souls beneath the moon and howled at the moonlight.

A few days later, many residents even discovered that the newly built cemetery had been robbed and the bodies stolen.

An entire region near Lilith's residence had turned into a soundless zone. All the humans had become Marionettes. They no longer prayed to Dream or worked; they had become walking corpses.

Even more bizarrely, strange events began happening throughout the Dream Territory, centered around the castle where Lilith lived.

Trees hoisted people into the air, the grass "bit" people, and the soil churned endlessly, trying to bury every human who stepped on it.

The people of the Dream Territory nearly thought that the Angel of Dreams had abandoned them and was punishing them by forcing them back into the days when they'd lived in constant fear, night and day.

The frightened people then prayed to Truman, pleading for forgiveness.

Truman was stunned when he saw all this. His territory had come alive under the influence of some power of an extremely high Sequence Status!

"Lilith..." Truman's mouth twitched. He shouldn't have told Lilith to take up a hobby. She had once been an Ancient God, after all!

When it came to understanding and using the Authority of Life, no one could surpass her!

Truman entered a palace that looked like a Fairy Tale Castle. He'd originally built it for himself, but since he now spent his days beneath the Statue of Dreams, it had become Lilith's castle.

"Are you the master's friend?" A young Sanguine woman who looked very much like Lilith came over.

Truman looked carefully at the maid, drew a quiet breath, then turned away, unable to bear the sight.

"Where is your master?" Truman asked the maid, though he was already walking toward where Lilith was.

The entire castle had an eerie atmosphere that made Truman uncomfortable. He really didn't want to stay long.

"You're here." Lilith's voice was still cold and utterly devoid of emotion. She sat on the castle lawn with her back to Truman.

"I did as you said and looked for a hobby. In the end, I discovered that what I'm best at is still creating life."

"So you gave the Marionette life? And let it wreak havoc in my territory?" Truman shook his head slightly, suddenly regretting it.

Lilith's situation was special. She couldn't be treated like an ordinary person.

He looked around the castle, his brows knitted together. "Is this all the Authority of Life that 'Mother' possessed?"

As soon as Truman entered the castle, he sensed countless eyes staring at him. The flowers and trees on the lawn, the grass, even every grain of sand seemed to have grown eyes, watching him from the corners and cracks.

They were all alive!

Though Lilith was no longer that Ancient God, she still possessed all of that Ancient God's characteristics!

With her former Sequence Status, she could also control the Authority of Life indirectly and perform all manner of incredible feats.