Moving to the other side of the Marionette doll, she was currently monitoring Envy who was relaxing on one of the roofs of the building near the Music Hall. Feeling Natasha's presence getting closer, she moved to meet her before she reached Envy's place. Suddenly Marionette appearing in front of Natasha made her react want to cut her neck but stopped when she realized the person in front of her was Marionette, even so Marionette did not move an inch when the sharp blade of Natasha's sword was on her neck. They both stood on the edge of a tall building, but did not care at all.
A happy whistle came out of Marionette's mouth before speaking, "Relax, don't rush. Envy is currently not doing anything. Sprouts evolving means the main problem is in the host."
Natasha's gaze did not change an inch, she drew her sword and disappeared it like an air, "That's why, don't you think Envy will stay in the same place every time for no reason?" she said asking her hypothesis to Marionette.
"I've noticed it, but don't forget that among the other Seven Sinful Sins, Envy is the second most intelligent. We can't trust every action of hers as something obvious, Natasha," said Marionette who explained the situation from her perspective. Turning her body while humming she thought, "But why do I feel strange, something is very strange..." she looking up at the night sky, seeing the projection of a giant playground made by Siamese but there was something that made Marionette feel uneasy, especially the night sky and the crescent moon.
Natasha who saw Marionette's gaze diverted to the sky made her curious, she followed the same direction but because she couldn't feel any feelings it was just normal and couldn't understand Marionette. "What's wrong, Marionette? Did you find something or what?" she asked curiously and her curiosity increased.
Not answering her question Natasha because she was lost in her own thoughts, thinking about what she was really feeling right now. The atmosphere became silent for Marionette for a moment, looking around with a skeptical gaze and ending at Envy who also looked at the sky. "The night sky, the crescent moon, Envy who is also looking at it, and this strange feeling of mine. There feels like something is wrong with all of this. My instincts are never wrong, I have to trust my instincts too this time," thought Marionette who was trying to analyze the current situation.
On Envy's side, she was thinking whether the words Marionette had told her before were true or just a lie she had made up, especially the third and fourth facts about Asteria. "Asteria, a being with a mysterious origin, the Encore, there are several existences that are as mysterious as him but were not told by Marionette. Is that true or just Marionette's creation? It's probably a lie, how can he live without needing a physical body, that alone sounds strange to me, the soul should go to its proper place if it doesn't have a container..." she muttered to herself who had little knowledge about the concept of the soul. "Besides, where are my Sprouts, they should have returned to me bringing the Petals I need to heal myself because of the lack of Sinful Hearts," she complained as she looked into the distance where she felt her Sprouts were still moving. Feeling strange when she first felt her own Sprouts, she commented softly, "What is this strange feeling, it feels like my Sprouts aren't mine. It's strange but it feels real... what does this mean..."
After turning to Envy, Marionette returned her gaze to Natasha, "If you want to find the host, he's in one of the buildings here. I don't care if you messing the place. But you should still remember, even if the host dies, the Sprouts will still live," she said in a serious tone, a contrast from her usual humorous and crazy personality.
Natasha raised her eyebrows, "Mhmm, that's enough. I just want to know the location, I still remember that Sprouts are a representation of their host. So the real Sprouts were hiding when I fought earlier, no wonder it never ends," she said, finally confirming her suspicions. "I just need to find where the real Sprouts are nesting, I think fight Envy doesn't change this situation at all especially my power already cooldown..."
But Marionette immediately told her after taking a deep breath, "From the direction of two o'clock from where we are now, judging from Envy's gaze it should be in line with her view." Marionette finally laughed after feel enough putting on her serious mask, she looked back at Envy with a thin smile back to her own nature. "Only the original is left, I saw it through my doll. Now the Sprouts are red, it seems like someone changed it because I saw a red light coming down from above during the evolution or new birth process,"
Natasha look to the direction where Marionette tell her about, "That's where I last fought with Sprouts, that means the nest is right there," thought Natasha who immediately moved faster, instead of running below she chose to jump between buildings to be faster. On her way she thought once again about the red light that Marionette meant, "Red light from above, Celestial? Abyss usually carries a blue fire color, not red light. There's no mistake, that's the only answer I know."
The background music performed by Asteria changed to be slower and was performed like a preparation. Envy who realized that Marionette was watching her turned to where she was standing, "Doll, if you want to talk, just go ahead. I'm in a dilemma right now,"
Marionette laughed happily and swung forward to stand on the same building, "Ohhh~ this is a dilemma~ even though I only told you about four truth," she replied, seemingly enjoying Envy's situation.
Complaining, Envy turned her face away from Marionette. "That's not the problem! Tch, someone messed with my Sprouts. What's this, is someone jealous of me, I should be the one jealous of them, I'm Envy!" she exclaimed, looking annoyed while scratching her head.
"Ohh, so you feel like your Sprouts are being messed with? That's right, p-" Marionette's sentence was cut off by Envy who glared at her sharply and sounded very angry when she spoke.
"Who! Don't tell me you did it, Marionette!" she shouted, pulling Marionette's collar tightly. Her gaze clearly showed that she was angry because her Sprouts were being messed with.
Marionette as usual was unfazed by it, instead she laughed happily and stroked Envy's cheek gently, "Awhh~ so cute~" she commented before explaining what really happened. "In short, the upper realm or the Celestials did it. I saw it clearly, there is no other explanation for the red light that came down from above other than the Celestials," she said with a wide grin on her face.
"How can I believe that?!" asked Envy who was skeptical of Marionette because of her deceitful nature.
Marionette shook her head with a disappointed sigh, "Ahhh... I told you, my words depend on you to believe them or not. Whether what I said is the truth or just a lie, find out for yourself." A soft giggle escaped from Marionette, she looked up at the sky and spoke to the readers, "You are also included, my information is not necessarily true or maybe there is?"
Envy did not understand Marionette's last sentence and made her a little confused in the midst of her anger. Knowing that she had fallen for the bait, Marionette freed herself by stabbing her hand with a needle. Envy reacted quickly by hitting her but was outmatched by Marionette, she fell before Envy could hit her. Locking her legs to the wall of the building using a needle and thread, in order to trick Envy.
"Oops, next time don't be careless. Oh one more thing, why would I ruin my own pleasure to see your Sprouts evolve again after so long. You should realize this is not the right time for us to compete with each other for Sinful Hearts or Petals," said Marionette who was standing on the wall casually.
Envy tried to calm herself down by muttering and saying something unclear, but what was certain was that she said angry and harsh words to calm down. After waiting for a while, Envy finally calmed down even though her anger was still inside her. Marionette commented softly with a sly grin on her face, "This will be interesting..."
Envy sat on the edge of the building while looking down at Marionette. "Celestial, right? What are they, I've never heard of them before," she asked curiously and a little annoyed in her words.
"Honestly, this time trust my words. When it comes to personal pleasure, I'll usually be honest and there's a small chance I'll lie, buy still it's up to me. Wel certainly it's more trustworthy," she told her so that she could dominate the situation and take this conversation as she wished. "So, Celestial is the upper realm, different from our current selves who are in the connecting realm. Why is it called connecting, because you have to pass through our realm to be able to go to the Abyss," Marionette said happily and slowly so that Envy could digest it.
Envy interrupted briefly by raising her hand, "Didn't you say before that we have twenty-five worlds, which part are Celestial and Abyss?" she said, curious and thinking about the concept.
"It's simple, we have to penetrate dimensions to reach different dimensions or realms. Up for Celestial, down for Abyss, while for the twenty-five worlds that I mentioned there are special mechanics," said Marionette who summarized it to sound easy. She immediately spoke before Envy could answer, "Hold up, I can't explain the special mechanics you want to ask about now. To go to the upper or lower realms, you definitely have to have the power to penetrate them, such as tearing, destroying, opening, or other things."
Envy was a little amazed because Marionette was able to answer the question she wanted to ask, she crossed her arms before speaking. "So what? I can't control my Sprouts right now, it seems like they've been completely taken over. I also don't have the power to penetrate dimensions to find the culprit," she said, sounding increasingly annoyed when she found out that her Sprouts were currently increasingly uncontrollable. She tried once more, but it immediately slipped away. "Tch, still get denied..." she muttered
"Envy, how about a little offer? Release your Sinful Hearts from Glaze, then we the Willingness including Asteria will take you to Celestial," offered Marionette who provided a solution to her current situation. Thinking for a moment by analyzing the current situation and circumstances, Envy finally had no other choice but to accept the offer. "Alright, I accept your offer, Marionette," she said agreeing, but harboring a sense of cunningness inside her because she wanted to try to take advantage of the offer.
Marionette smiled broadly at Envy, her heart starting to pound because she was getting happier. "And most curiously, Celestial was the one who resurrected you from your seal," she said after which Marionette immediately swung away quickly, leaving Envy in deep shock hearing her last statement. A happy laugh was heard loudly from her as she swung, making Envy's mood even worse.
"Celestial resurrected me, they also took over my Sprouts, they..." Envy muttered in disbelief at what Marionette said, but she thought it was true even it's hard to believe.
Feeling used and cheated, she immediately withdrew her Sinful Hearts that were in Glaze's body. Making her total Sinful Hearts five, including the ones Marionette gave her earlier.
"I will definitely beat up whoever it is, that bastard Celestial!" she shouted in great annoyance, her hands clenched into fists until her veins were visible. Her anger could no longer be contained, she immediately tried to calm herself down as much as she could so as not to be like Wrath. "I hate being seen as that temperamental man more than being controlled," she whispered, refusing to look like Wrath.
At the same time after Envy's annoyance, the background music performed by Asteria also changed to be faster towards the climax. Glaze's condition was fine even though Sinful Hearts was pulled by Envy, but there was a difference where it left a mysterious trace. At the same time, Natura managed to reach the Music Hall stage where Asteria together with Viny and the Marionette clones were performing the Grand Orchestra, Natasha charged at Sprouts who were almost close to the Summer Festival location and pushed them away, and Greed who controlled Luca's body in Overture form also reached where Sprouts was, watching the fight between Natasha and Sprouts in front of him.
Although Natasha was skilled in fighting and targeting weak points, the evolved Sprouts remembered every movement of Natasha from the previous fight, making Natasha overwhelmed. Although the Sprouts movements were a little slower than before, this new Sprouts had reflexes that were quite fast even for Natasha. The fight was too intense for Greed who wanted to jump into the fight, even though his fighting desire pushed him so strongly.
When Greed saw an opening, he immediately charged forward without calculation because he was too carried away by his passion. His appearance surprised Natasha because it was beyond her calculations when fighting, thus opening a small opportunity for Sprouts to give a surprise attack. Natasha's left arm was cut off as a result and her waist was also hit by Sprouts' sharp tail, blood immediately flowed out making her fall to the ground helplessly, even so Natasha did not react at all because she had no emotions and could not even feel pain.
Greed who advanced and released an explosive attack using Rarog's power, managed to hit Sprouts who defeated Natasha. However, the fire and explosion created by Greed's attack were absorbed by Sprouts using his cloak, after that it released back at Greed with very fast reflexes. Without having time to react, Greed was thrown into the building behind him, destroying it and creating quite a loud vibration. However, the effects of the fight that occurred were not realized by the residents because Marionette's control using Masquerade was very strong.
Sprouts walk towards Greed who had fallen to the ground, the destroyed building rained down on him. Trying to move but the side effects of using Overture for too long made him unable to move at all, the effects had completely affected his body. Being hit by a falling building made him scream in pain, his hands reaching for something that wasn't there as if asking for help. His consciousness didn't disappear because he was in Overture form, making him feel such intense pain because he was buried by the building plus the side effects of using Overture. The sound of slow footsteps, water spots with echoing effects from Sprouts made Luca, who was in the subconscious shudder in fear hearing it. Feeling Luca's body still moving, Sprouts pushed aside the debris of the building until found him. Sprouts wrapped his tail around Luca's neck pulling him up, showing his dire condition, from the debris of the building piercing most of his body, Petals falling from visible wounds, also his pocket watch pulsing with red light.
The presence of Greed with his Sinful Hearts caught Sprouts' attention, the hands prepared to take Luca's pocket watch that was on his chest, giving Luca and Greed little time to breathe even though they were on the verge of death. The music in the background faded away as Sprouts stabbed his chest and brutally pulled out his pocket watch. Greed disappeared from Luca's body, allowing Luca to regain control of his body, causing him to immediately scream and shriek from the pain he felt. However, his gaze was fixed on his pocket watch that had been taken and absorbed by Sprouts. The sight triggered Luca's emotions to the peak, without him even realizing it. Feelings of sadness, anger, and emptiness mixed together to produce uncertainty.
The background music played by Asteria started again with the violin playing a high note suddenly and entering a climax. At the same time, the urge of his emotions and old memories that brought back his past trauma caused a change in his Overture form. Light enveloped him, so bright that the light penetrated the sky. Marionette, Natura, Asteria, and Envy felt the change, even so Asteria focused on playing his music so that people's attention remained on the show. Natura who saw the opportunity to fly closer, she hid behind Asteria's hair and told her what happened when she was in the tunnel.
The light that penetrated the sky disappeared with the sound of breaking glass could be heard. Luca's Overture form changed to its original form, the gray cloth and Roman numerals disappeared. Showing the form of a gray humanoid monster with a hollow chest, sharp gold eyes, large hands covered in hard shell, his body slightly bent because of the weight of his hands, his two legs although slightly smaller but enough to make him move by utilizing the blunt surface of his feet to move like surfing. His body had a kind of layer that secreted a fairly large amount of thick red liquid, helping him move when he stepped on it. His body size was slightly larger than before, maybe around two to three meters, making Sprouts' size small in front of him.
Without any conversation, Luca immediately caught Sprouts in his hand and threw him hard towards the distant bridge. Many buildings were destroyed by the impact of the throw and also Sprouts who crashed into every building he passed, until he landed in front of the bridge with his body slightly cracked. Every time Luca moved, thick red liquid came out of the gaps in his body's layers, especially on his legs which helped him move. Moving quickly, Sprouts who managed to stand up was immediately hit by a punch from Luca. Sprouts immediately bounced and rolled to the middle of the bridge. Not giving much time, Luca immediately went forward to chase Sprouts in front of him.
Sprouts who felt strange with his body covered in thick red liquid, paused for a moment to analyze it. Luca launched a punch but was successfully avoided by Sprouts. After avoiding the punch, Sprouts tried to stab Luca's hand with his tail, but was immediately bounced off because the layer on his hand was so hard. Giving Luca the chance to catch his tail and slam it to the side and then to the side again in succession. The bridge shook violently, even showing signs of collapsing due to the fight that was happening. So much thick red liquid came out of every move Luca made, at the same time the liquid began to sparkled and cool. When the last slam that destroyed the bridge, the resulting red liquid turned into a very solid crystal. Making a new battle arena for the two of them.
The battle continued fiercely, Luca fought controlled by his own Overture form. Sprouts could keep up with him by remembering Luca's movements, but he managed to match it with his red liquid to move quickly or create a solid crystal to attack and defend. Luca's movements had no pattern, making Sprouts overwhelmed and the battle continued.
Asteria who heard the situation about Sprouts evolving after hatching the egg with the red light that fell made him a little worried but believed Luca could take care of it, especially after feeling the changes that occurred. "Natura, you just rest and return to my body. Good job, I appreciate it," he whispered to Natura who finally breathed a sigh of relief. She turned back into her card form and entered Asteria's body.
Marionette spoke in Asteria's mind while moving her two dolls to check on Natasha and Luca, "Asteria, have you heard about the red light that caused Sprouts' evolution to change?"
"I've heard it from Natura, it looks like Celestial is up to something again," Asteria replied in his mind coldly. A tired sigh was heard in Marionette's mind. "We're going to the Enlightenment Continent, to look for the moon," Asteria said to Marionette which immediately made her happy.
As Marionette approached Natasha, she was a little surprised by her dying condition. "Huff... luckily we was close to Asteria, if not, this person would have really died," she commented without any concern for Natasha's condition. Jumping down and checking her condition, Marionette reported what she found, "Asteria, one of them has fallen, Natasha. What do you think? Bring it to yourself or take it to the cafe?"
Thinking for a moment, Asteria finally answered, "Just take it to the cafe, we can't do that special treatment right now." After he finished telling his choice, he asked, "What about Luca?"
The doll closest to Marionette approached the collapsed bridge filled with red crystals, the sound of clashing blows, shattered crystals, and larger crystals could also be seen at the scene of the fight. "It seems like the fight is still fierce, Asteria. I can't see it any closer, I don't know the effects of the crystal in front of me," said Marionette who informed the condition of the fight between Luca and Sprouts.
Not feeling satisfied, Marionette decided to approach the battlefield. She checked the crystal before getting closer. Her palms felt cold, the surface of the crystal felt smooth and slippery like ice. If she was not careful, Marionette could slip, she was forced to use her needle and thread to move more freely than walking.
Judging from the condition of the two of them, Luca lost one of his legs but was still able to keep up with Sprouts who was currently also cornered. Where Sprouts' tail had been cut off, the robe was damaged by Luca's continuous attacks, especially the formation of crystals from the red liquid that stuck to the robe, and only left arms and legs to fight, even the small legs protecting the marbles had gone.
They were just silent, waiting for one of them to move. The calm but tense atmosphere felt heavy for both of them, the scattered Petals also added to the gloomy atmosphere that was happening there. Especially Luca's condition which was increasingly worrying because he had been in Overture form for too long, the effect began to take over more strongly to push him forward and fight Sprouts. The hard coating of shell on his hands began to fall off due to being in Overture for too long, leaving his arms thin but with sharper claws on his nails.
Seeing the form made Marionette amazed, he praised the still imperfect change into a form in the Morte category, "Shesshh, that beginner is brave enough to enter the Morte form or the original form of Overture. Even having such an improvement, it's even more amazing..."
Without the burden on his arms, Luca finally moved faster than before. His movements were like a big cat, but his attacks were not as strong without the layer covering his hands. Even though he only used one leg, he used both hands to move forward or turn his body, his legs were only used as support.
Sprouts who had to adapt again to the new situation, made him overwhelmed and finally defeated by Luca. The marble core was successfully destroyed by Luca, his hand penetrated the core and looked for what he wanted, his sister's pocket watch. After successfully finding it, he pulled it hard because the marble was holding him. Luca's angry emotions peaked which made him vomit so much red liquid on the marble, then turned all the liquid into sharp crystals, destroying the marbles until Sprouts' body was pierced by the crystal from the inside and penetrated out. His pocket watch was fine because it was protected by the same crystal but coated to make it safe, he pulled his pocket watch and looked at it again in his hand.
A feeling of relief and fatigue enveloped him, feeling no need to fight anymore immediately returning his form to his original human form, but his eyes were filled with blood and his nails were also gone including the skin on his whole arms, and the hole on his chest showing the effects of using Overture for too long can affect the user's physical condition. Luca fell unconscious to the surface of the crystal, unconscious but still alive.
From Luca's pocket watch, a red light came out carrying red Sinful Hearts, indicating that it belonged to Greed and it came from the pocket watch so Greed's consciousness was also there. Seeing it, Marionette threw the needle quickly before it was too late. However, the red light flew faster before the needle could hit him.
Feeling irritated, Marionette immediately called Asteria, "The red light took Greed's Sinful Hearts!" she complained to Asteria in a serious tone.
Immediately after hearing the news, with Chaos Force, Asteria moved very quickly leaving the stage without anyone realizing it. In less than a second, he had reached the bridge and used the crystal that looked up so he could reach the Sinful Hearts that were in the air. Successfully obtained by him, he immediately stored the Sinful Hearts into himself and released the red light. After that he returning to the stage before anyone realized it, he continued the show as if nothing had happened.
"Okay readers, if you are curious about two things, why Sprouts didn't use the water power and how could there be no effect from Asteria's fast movement, I will explain it slowly," said Marionette to the readers while looking up at the sky, the other puppets carrying Luca's unconscious body to Asteria's cafe. "Sprouts can't use their water powers because the Sinful Hearts in their hosts have been withdrawn. That's why I made a deal with Envy, so that the level of difficulty faced by Luca would be easier. Honestly, even in his perfect Overture form, Luca has no chance of winning against Sprouts because his condition and experience are very lacking."
Marionette moved to his puppet near the music hall, not her clone on stage. She watched the event that was still going on lively from the audience's side. Continuing to explain to the reader, Marionette moved again to one of her clones, "Okay, how can Asteria move so fast and not cause any effect around her because she moved through dimensional layers, which can only be penetrated at speeds equal to or exceeding light. Sounds too dramatic and overpowered right? But the power used is still his own body and remember Asteria is an Encore, in other words his soul is moving. If he brought his body, it would be the same as committing suicide because of the effects of his power."
Moving on to her other dolls who are backstage sitting on a spotlight, "What about me? I don't dare, I'm not Asteria. Even if he shares access to the Chaos Force, I prefer the speed of sound because I can still withstand it," she said to the readers to better understand.