The last monster from the gacha, Vestera.
“The Cursed Puppeteer?”
Vestera’s appearance that appeared on the screen was bizarre at first glance.
The form of a hunched old woman. But she was completely different from a typical old woman.
Vestera’s face was pale white, as if smeared with powder, and deep wrinkles were etched all over her face.
Her hair was a mixture of white and gray, as if a ball of yarn had unraveled, extending haphazardly in all directions from the crown of her head.
What was most eerie were her eyes and mouth.
Outside her sunken eye sockets, button-like eyes were embedded, and her mouth was split open to her chin as if someone had slashed it with a knife.
Traces of rough thread, crudely stitched, were visible between her lips, revealing black space through the stitches.
“This is a bit creepy.”
Vestera’s hands were also grotesque. Dozens of thin threads extended from her long, almost skeletal fingers.
The threads writhed in the air as if alive. And at the end of each thread hung small wooden puppets.
“A truly strange monster has appeared.”
It was a monster he had never seen before.
“Is it not an ordinary monster?”
He read the description below.
– Name: The Cursed Puppeteer, Vestera (★★★★)
Characteristic: A puppeteer monster that pursues beautiful aesthetics. She is fixated on the dolls she makes and constantly strives to create perfect dolls.
As expected, it was not a typical monster type like the usual goblins or skeletons.
More specifically, she was in the same category as Kaleido, the illusory mage and subordinate officer of the satellite dungeon operated by Necros.
“But what am I supposed to use her for?”
The description said she made dolls, but it wasn’t clear what ability that entailed.
If she just knew how to make dolls, she seemed rather useless…
“But what are the dolls, really?”
Furthermore, although it was said she pursued beauty, the small dolls hanging from Vestera’s fingers seemed to be screaming.
As if they were terrified of something fearsome.
So, despite having dolls, the overall atmosphere was chilling rather than cute.
If it were a succubus like Celia, or a slime that could transform freely like Betta, their utility would have been clear, but he had no idea how to use Vestera, who had just appeared.
“Well, I’m not going to be controlling her, so it doesn’t matter, I guess.”
The monsters drawn this time were solely for Azmo to command.
He trusted that Azmo would handle them well, even without his direct orders.
* * *
The central hall of Dungeon ‘Illusionary Temptation’.
Azmo was examining the monsters that had been summoned a little while ago.
They were the new reinforcements sent by Master.
“As expected of the Great One.”
Azmo muttered with awe-filled eyes.
“To summon such diverse beings in an instant.”
Among the summoned monsters were goblins, imps, and skeletons, but Azmo’s gaze was fixed on one spot.
It was Vestera, the hunched old woman standing in a corner of the hall.
“The energy I feel is special.”
The power emanating from Vestera seemed no less than Betta’s. But there was something alien about it.
Azmo walked towards Vestera.
As Azmo approached, Vestera slowly lowered her head and opened her mouth.
“My name is Vestera. Master has called me out into the world.
Her mouth, stitched with thread, parted irregularly.
“You are… an incubus.”
Vestera’s voice sounded like the creaking joints of a wooden doll.
“What a beautiful face.”
Her gaze shifted to Azmo’s face.
“So beautiful that I want to tear it off and make it into a doll.”
“That’s far enough,” Azmo said lowly. Vestera flinched.
“…I apologize. It’s been a while since I’ve encountered such perfect material…”
The old woman lowered her head and crouched.
The power Azmo exuded was immense.
If Azmo had been of similar strength to her, Vestera would have acted immediately.
“Master has sent you, so there must be a grand plan. What are your abilities?”
To Azmo’s solemn voice, she turned her head. Towards the piles of corpses in a corner of the dungeon.
The corpses were hunters whom Azmo had killed to offer to Master.
“Fresh materials.”
Vestera said, and slowly began to move her fingers.
Thin threads extending from her fingertips danced in the air. The threads grew longer and stretched towards the pile of corpses.
“Wait, that-”
Azmo spoke urgently, but Vestera’s threads had already touched the corpses.
The first corpse touched by a thread suddenly convulsed.
As Vestera moved her fingers again, the corpse slowly stood up. It walked towards Vestera with a chattering of teeth.
“…Interesting.”
Azmo’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“Your ability is to control the dead?”
Vestera’s mouth split into a wide grin.
“It’s not over yet. Only after flaying the skin and preserving it can true beauty be completed. Dolls with eternal beauty that never fades.”
Her threads stretched to more corpses.
One by one, the corpses began to move.
Each had a different pose and expression.
Some had expressions of screaming terror, others peaceful smiles, and still others faces lost in deep sorrow.
Whoosh-
Vestera swung her fingers. And the corpses began to move in unison.
Dancing, beautifully, yet grotesquely.
“What a beautiful dance.”
Azmo exclaimed.
As an incubus himself, he was knowledgeable about art.
Vestera’s eyes shone brighter.
“Master called me out into the world.”
At the same time, the dolls simultaneously stopped moving and knelt on the floor. They bowed their heads as if in prayer.
“Gratitude to the Great Master…”
At Vestera’s words, the dolls opened their mouths as if in a choir.
No sound was made, but their lips moved in unison.
And when the old woman cut the threads, all the corpses collapsed to the floor.
“They are fresh ingredients, but not beautiful. They are unnecessary for dolls.”
Azmo nodded slowly as he watched the scene.
“Master always makes the right choices. Your abilities will be very useful to us.”
Azmo smiled with satisfaction.
Vestera’s abilities exceeded his expectations.
He thought it would be great to appoint her as the manager of the black market.
As the replacement boss for the deceased Kang Do-yoon.
* * *
Vestera walked slowly along a night path dimly lit by the moonlight.
Her figure, walking with a hunched back and dragging a heavy hem, would have appeared to be just an old woman returning late from afar.
But upon closer inspection, the threads extending from her fingers shimmered in the moonlight, drifting through the air.
While in Azmo’s dungeon, she learned about the world of Earth.
Although she hadn’t learned it perfectly yet, it was very different from the El Dorado Continent of her time.
And above all.
-Humans here pursue beauty.
The stories of people undergoing facial surgery and bone sculpting for beauty struck a chord with Vestera.
Was it not akin to replacing the head of an old doll with a new one?
A noble effort towards perfect beauty.
Such human efforts were truly admirable.
Vestera stopped at the entrance of a narrow alleyway on the outskirts of the city, where even the streetlights were out.
From within the damp darkness, crushed sounds were escaping.
“Ugh, please… I gave you all the money… Please stop…”
The woman’s pleas were a mixture of resignation and fear.
At that desperate tremor, Vestera’s button eyes glowed with a faint red light.
“Shut up! You’re being noisy.”
“Isn’t tonight too good to just take the money and leave? Don’t you think so?”
Greasy, vile laughter echoed along the brick wall.
Vestera moved silently towards the source of the sound.
Inside the alley, three ruffians had cornered a woman against the wall and were leering. The woman desperately clutched her torn collar.
“Truly, a beautiful material.”
It was a low voice, but it swallowed all the sounds of the alley.
The men started in surprise and turned around.
A hunched old woman stood in the darkness.
“What is this old hag? Get lost, don’t ruin our fun!”
The man at the front, holding a knife, spat and growled.
“You could get killed if you interfere.”
Instead of replying, Vestera slowly raised her head. The moonlight, having emerged from behind the clouds, illuminated her face.
Her face was white as if painted, her mouth stitched with thread, and buttons were embedded in her eye sockets.
“Wh-what is that?”
“Shit, is that a person?”
The men instinctively stepped back. But by the time they recognized the fear, it was too late.
Swish-!
Suddenly, threads flew out.
“Kkh…”
The man let out a gurgling sound instead of a scream. He clawed at the threads wrapped around his neck, but the threads tightened as if piercing his skin.
Vestera’s stitched lips stretched eerily.
At her gesture, dozens of threads wrapped tightly around the man’s entire body.
“Ugh… Ah… Ahh…”
The threads tightened around his neck and dug in. Soon, blood spurted like a fountain from his neck.
“Y-you crazy monster bastard…!”
The man with the knife, losing his sanity, charged forward. The blade flew towards Vestera’s face.
But the knife cut through empty air. Threads that had suddenly extended grasped his wrist.
“Aaaaagh! My, my arm!”
The man screamed.
The silver threads wrapped around the man’s wrist and arm. Digging into his flesh, after a moment, his arm was severed.
“Kkiiyaak!”
The last man turned around in haste at the sight. Two of his companions had already fallen victim to the mysterious old woman.
He had to escape.
But his feet seemed stuck to the ground. Threads that had suddenly ensnared his ankles were crawling up his legs like snakes.
“N-no!”
The men’s screams continued. And soon after, they collapsed to the floor like dolls.
All of them were dead.
The woman leaning against the wall remained frozen, forgetting even to breathe.
Vestera slowly approached her.
“It’s alright. No one will harm you now.”
The woman could finally let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed certain that the old woman had come to help her.
Perhaps her bizarre abilities meant the old woman was a Hunter.
“Th-thank you so much!”
The woman bowed deeply and expressed her sincere gratitude.
If it hadn’t been for the old woman, she would have suffered something terrible.
It was undoubtedly a terrible thing that the men who had been tormenting her were killed before her eyes.
But the world had long since changed.
A world of the jungle, closer to death than life.
Those men had simply died because they underestimated the strength of their opponent.
The woman bowed again to the old woman.
But.
“Truly, a beautiful material.”
Vestera caressed the woman’s face and let out a strange laughter.
