At No. 6 Leinstar Street, the battle between the Mandated Punishers and the Evil Spirits continued in the Aurora Order's hall.
Stewart had used Distortion to twist Mr. A's "prohibition," allowing his teammates to fight, barely, by calling out the names of their abilities...
But as time passed, the Abyss of Flesh ritual magic suppressed the Mandated Punishers more and more. Every use of an ability now cost several times as much Spirituality, and controlling those abilities grew increasingly difficult.
Even McConner, a powerful Ocean Songster, could no longer keep attacking Mr. A. Instead, he joined Stewart in tying him down, leaving him no chance to go after the Mandated Punishers Squad members, who were barely surviving the Evil Spirits' assaults.
More importantly, they had all heard fighting in the basement and seen the slight change in Mr. A's expression. Other Beyonders had infiltrated the site of the ritual, so they could not let Mr. A or those Evil Spirits get away...
Just then, Mr. A changed direction. Rather than try to reach the basement entrance, he caught McConner and Stewart off guard and sprang toward the living room door.
At almost the same moment, every Mandated Punisher, Stewart included, felt a headache and fever coming on. Their noses itched, and they were about to sneeze.
Disease! The word flashed through their minds. Covering one another, they seized the chance to pull potions from their pockets and drink them.
Ever since the Demoness of Affliction incident, Backlund's Mandated Punishers had routinely carried potions to suppress disease. Besides, they had followed a Demoness here. Of course they were prepared.
But their preparation did not mean a certain Marionettist present was prepared too...
This Sequence 5 powerhouse from the Secret Order had been using the Psychological Invisibility provided by his Marionette to