As he charged through the doorway, Groning finally had a chance to pull out a thin mask and put it on.
The mask was said to have come from a certain Shaman King, forming after his death.
It allowed its wearer to use some of the abilities of a Shaman King and the Moon Pathway.
It had been Groning's "reward" for presiding over a large-scale sacrificial ceremony.
He had originally thought he would be able to preside over another such ceremony and earn an even greater reward.
For example, the potion and ritual for the next Sequence.
He had never expected this.
The refugees who had arrived in Orphalse over the past few days...
Had actually been a trap.
An illusion.
And now a Demoness was working with someone from the Temperance Faction.
That deeply concerned Groning.
Clearly, a powerful force...
Was targeting the Rose School!
He had to get this information out.
Sharron, dressed in a Gothic court gown, suddenly turned into an actual puppet.
And the puppet looked exactly like Groning.
The puppet let Groning's small ice-crystal arrows strike its chest.
As Groning ran, a chill struck his chest, and the blood inside him froze instantly, as though the ice-crystal arrows had hit him rather than Sharron.
Just as his body briefly faltered...
A grey tide surged outward.
It caught up with Groning in an instant.
His clothes and his entire body were stained greyish white.
It was as though he were about to turn into lifeless stone.
Just then...
Groning's body grew thin. Though the greyish white continued to spread, he was now nothing more than a paper figurine stained with it.
It was indeed a paper figurine.
One that seemed to have been condensed from crimson moonlight.
This was a Shaman King's substitution technique.
**Moon Paper