Under the Blood Moon

Doing The Paperwork

Ciel pov: The day of decision is close, according to Mother Riesbyfe, and if Arcueid is to be trusted, all-out war may break out soon after Roa is taken out. We can't sit around and show weakness.

"Elisia, we got word from Mario stationed in Iceland!" Noel told me:

I took the paper message from her and read it: "He's been compromised." I told her

She glared at me, not understanding why I would say that. However, this is clearly a trap set out for us. We mobilize and go to Iceland, only to be attacked by thousands of puppets. We won't be ambushed by a damn child.

Noel stumbled forward and landed in my arms. She looked at me and blushed. "Sorry," she told me.

"No-no, it's fine, but be careful!" I told her

"Master Ciel, I think we are under attack." Nanako claimed

"That is impossible..." I told her

I stepped outside and saw our sisters fighting Nrvnqsr Chaos, but after a closer look, I saw it was a Mario puppet.

I sprinted forward, throwing keys at it, but they all bounced off. Of course, Mario made the puppet strong; he wanted to kill us after all.

The puppet's fingers shifted into snakes, and it shot at me. I dodged only to feel something stab me anyway in ten different areas.

"Of course a snake can move." I growled

Noel used her polearm to break the snakes off of me, and she pulled me back inside.

"Are you alright?" She asked me

"Yeah-Mario really did it..." I told her

"Let's get him." Noel declared

I nodded, but first we need to survive this battle. I can't wear the virgin armor or use the seventh holy scripture yet. "Master Ciel, maybe you should hide." Nanako suggested

I could hide, but then the Holy Church would seem weak. I'm an executioner. I'm supposed to be strong. Akiha, Dr. Arach, and Arcueid have all humbled me recently.

"We can't fight this puppet head-on; we have to find a structural weak point somewhere or else we are going to lose, but the puppet won't let us close," I said.

"Elisia, there were no strings," Noel pointed out.

That gave me an idea: it must be a remote puppet, so there has to be an antenna or something letting the brat control it.

I ran back out onto the battlefield and ran as close as I could to the puppet. It is way too dark to see since it was painted to blend into the darkness of night.

I can't let this puppet get the best of me. If I lose to an inanimate object, Arcueid will never let me live that down. I have to end things right here, and now I need to surpass my limits. Then, after this, we will find and execute Mario for his blow to the justice system.

The Nrvnqsr puppet pulled me in with more snakes, almost stabbing through me with a rhino horn.

The puppet stopped moving after that one move, and that made me wonder: can it only do a few commands at a time before shutting down and locking itself up?

The structure of the puppet also changed clearly, so there is something wrong. Why would it become more defensive right now?

Wait, maybe there is a reason its weak point must be visible when it attacks, but that is a small window, and I can't rely on that.

"Elisia, I think it's broken," Noel claimed.

I don't see it like that; it must be resting, as I thought there was no way it was going to be broken.

Mario is cunning. I will tell him that he is really smart and isn't someone who would make a weak puppet for no reason.

"Come on..." I mumbled while trying to rack my brain on this. I need to figure out how to beat this puppet.

As it began to move again and attack, all I did was dodge and stare at it, trying to decipher where the weak point was. Sometimes Noel helped me block the attacks, but mostly it was just me dodging.

"There is no weak point!" I shouted

Noel saw something and threw a key at it, and to my surprise, she made sure it lodged into it. "Why?" I asked her quickly.

"Right above where I hit, that is where you need to hit, and since I don't have as much power as you, I'm worried I wouldn't be able to finish the job!" She told me

It is a small spec. The chances of hitting it are slim to none, but I at least have to try to hit it.

The puppet charged at me and slammed me, causing me to temporarily black out. "Ugh..." I mumbled.

Noel ran in and swung her polearm. I smirked as I saw her manage to hold it in place.

"Now Elisa!" She yelled

I clutched my key and threw it as hard as I could, watching as it flew forward, hitting the intended spot. The puppet fell apart.

"That was too easy," I commented.

Noel nodded. All of a sudden, more puppets that looked like Nrvnqsr dropped from the sky-at least five of ten of them.

"This isn't good." I pointed it out.

Noel gulped and spun her polearm around. "I know..." she told me.

We both didn't know if we could even take out one more, and from the looks of it, these were all built differently; they all have different weak points. We can't just do the same thing over and over.

"This may be it," Noel claimed.

I don't want this to be it. I at least want to take down Arcueid, but right now Mario is being a thorn in our side. That bastard is committing treason. He needs to pay for everything he is doing to us. He needs to suffer.

"Mistress, I'm ready!" Nanako yelled

Or I could use the seventh holy scripture, which should be just fine.