The ceiling collapsed into Ilai's bedroom as a winged beast crashed through. Ell, half-asleep in Selin’s arms, watched blankly as her bed was reduced to shreds beneath the beast’s claws.

  Having slept lightly—or never at all—Selin was wide awake. She slammed open the French-windows and darted out the balcony, wings beating furiously in the air.

  Ell clung to the guard tightly as the winged beast followed after them, shrieks piercing. Two other beasts tore through the roof, each appearing to have a target. Selin confirmed Ell’s thoughts, “They’re controlled by a Puppeteer.”

  The frightened cries of children drifted through the air and burrowed into Ell’s ears. She grabbed at Selin’s collar. “The kids!” she exclaimed against the onslaught of chilly air.

  Selin continued to distance them from the mansion. “I’ll put you someplace safe first.” Blessed beasts used to be animals who had fed on human Blessed blood, and unlike its transient effect on humans, Blessed blood granted non-human creatures permanent powers.

  The chimeric beast on their tail was clearly Blessed, but which Blessing it was, Selin was not keen on finding out.

  For Selin, the princess’s safety was her priority, and the right course of action was to guarantee it before anything.

  But Ell was not Ilai. She did not deserve such privilege. In exchange for the life Ilai had given her, Ell would ensure those Ilai favored lived on.

  She pulled up her DVP.

  [Deviation Points | 0255]

  [Plot Deviation | 1.54%]

  If the beasts were controlled by a Puppeteer, then she could become one too.

  [Puppeteer | Unlocked]

  [Level | 1

  Description | Gain control of a target.

  Maximum Targets | 1

  Deviation Points | 15 DVP per minute use]

  Ell grabbed Selin’s ear. “If the beast stops moving, can you kill it?”

  Selin’s narrow pupils snapped to Ell. Her gaze flickered to the Blessed mark on Ell’s forehead. “Yes.”

  Ell smiled. “You have to be quick.”

  With little time to be wasted, Ell activated the Puppeteer skill. The beast halted the chase, flapping its wings mid-air.

  Ell exclaimed, “Now!”

  Selin noticed the beast’s movements and drew an arc through the air as she turned back. She pressed Ell’s face against her neck, instructing, “Close your eyes.”

  Ilai held an aversion to blood and a contempt for meat. It was for this reason that Ell was made nauseous by Kael’s burnt stench earlier.

  Ell did as she was told, closing her eyes tightly as she continued to focus on keeping the beast still. She had expected some resistance from the original Puppeteer when she initiated the skill, but contrary to her expectations, she overrode his Blessing easily, the beast directly obeying.

  The beast felt like another extension of herself. A limb she could control with ease.

  The beast’s body hung in the air, long, smooth neck twisted around a feathered belly. The head hung under the torso, a forked tongue peeking between mandibles. An unholy combination of a snake and an oversized swan.

  Selin held onto Ell carefully as the thin bony protrusions pierced through the outer surface of her right wing and extended out like blades. In a heartbeat, she had herself and Ell wrapped within the left unbarbed wing then folded the right wing on top, spinning fast as she sliced through the air and turned the beast’s thick neck into a bloody mess.

  The snake-swan shrieked in pain and Ell halted the control, having lost half a minute’s worth of DVP.

  Trees shook as the beast tumbled through their branches. Only two more to go.

  Selin unfurled her wings. The mansion was tens of meters away, but she did not hasten back. Ell was worried she’d seek and explanation, but the guard asked instead, “Can you do that again?”

  Ell nodded. “Yes.”

  In a few breaths, they were at the mansion. A transparent protective shield surrounded Sonia and the two kids as they huddled together in the garden. Cracks ran though the yellow glow as a beast tore at it with its claws.

  The other beast spat venom at a swift figure wielding a green whip. The whip extended when struck out, leaving deep gashes in the flying beast’s belly. But the chimera remained unflinching, spraying out liquid that corroded and dissolved all that it touched.

  Selin and Ell hovered a safe distance away, unnoticed. Ell spoke under her breath, “The garden one, first. Now!”

  Ell took control of the beast, halting its assault. Selin mimicked her move earlier, but before she could strike at the beast, they collided with a white barrier.

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  The beast outside Ell’s control had noticed them, or rather, its Puppeteer did. It shrieked as it attacked them, spitting venom with its beaked mouth.

  Selin pushed her feet against the barrier, propelling herself away, but the beast had drawn close, spawning one barrier after the other in quick succession, trapping them within. The winged guard could only dodge the onslaught of venom and maneuver around glaring white rectangles that restrained her movements.

  Luckily the barriers’ size and generation frequency were limited, allowing them some room to breathe.

  Only two minutes' worth of DVP were left.

  The beast towering over Sonia and the children moved in response to Ell’s thoughts. It rammed straight into the winged beast attacking them.

  The two beasts grappled in the air, the Puppeteer’s beast overpowering Ell’s.

  Not all those who had hands could draw.

  Ell's control of the beast was awkward. It was her first time puppeteering, unlike her experienced opponent.

  Varoth and Selin did not sit still. Varoth coiled his whip around the beast’s foot as Ell’s beast clawed at its neck. Selin followed the beasts’ movements, ensuring Ell had a clear view of the fight.

  When both beasts had sustained grievous injuries, the deviation points ran out.

  The Puppeteer regained control over both beasts, focusing their attention on Ell and Selin.

  Selin dodged deftly, assessed her chances, and dropped towards Varoth. “Shield!”

  Varoth activated his shield the moment Ell landed by his side.

  Free to act as she pleased, Selin deftly evaded the white barriers and grabbed a beast by the neck and bit down. Blood spurted, sharp teeth tearing away a chunk of flesh and reptilian skin. Her throat bulged as it slid into her stomach unchewed.

  The guard’s limbs twitched. Her figure, smaller than a beast’s claw, rose and extended as bone writhed beneath skin. Feathers sprouted on her wings, her tail grew longer, and a forked tongue hissed past her lips.

  Transcenders were as such, evolving as they ate. They became closer in appearance to those they devoured, constantly edging closer to becoming unsightly abominations. Ultimately, to remain human, they had to consume their original kind.

  Selin had more than doubled in size, now half the beast’s height. She broke through the obstructing barriers with ease as they spawned, sinking the arced claws of her hands into the beast’s throat. She pulled in opposite directions, unflinchingly as the agonized beast and its companion spat corrosive venom at her. With a final jerk of her wrists, she tore the head away from the neck.

  Only one to go.

  The remaining beast flapped its wings in hasty escape but was blocked by the Transcender’s barriers, meeting a death not too different from the one before it.

  Beast corpses trampled greenery beneath. But as Selin descended, she realized they’d lost the fight—

  —Sonia and the children were gone.

  Varoth stared blankly at where his family had huddled in the garden, a great pit gaping where they’d been. Ell stood to the side, hair in unkempt and clothes disheveled. One moment she and Varoth were keeping up with the fight, the next they found all but the three of them gone.

  Everything had happened too quickly.

  Selin, whose attire and artefacts were tailored to morph with her change in physique, gulped down a vial of human blood, changing back to her original height but otherwise maintaining the characteristics she’d gained.

  She was the most level-headed out of the three, pulling out a communication mask and calling the nearest patrol for assistance.

  “They will be all right,” Selin said as she put away the mask.

  Varoth whipped back grabbing Selin by the collar. He snarled as he recalled her staying with princess tonight, “You knew they were coming!”

  Selin slapped his hand away. “Sooner or later, they were bound to come. Weren’t you aware already?” Her usual expressionless face donned a derisive sneer.

  Hot blood coursed to Varoth’s head. “How would I?!”

  Selin’s countenance cooled to its usual indifference. “Sonia is not the only one with keen ears, Varoth.”

  Varoth paled at her words, taking a stunned step back. His fists shook as he choked out, “She wouldn’t go that far.”

  While the two sprung words Ell understood yet could not coherently fathom at each other, she checked her deviation points.

  [Deviation Points | 0098]

  [Plot Deviation | 3.9%]

  Despite consuming all the DVPs in the fight earlier, the moment it ended the deviation points shot up, continuing to rise steadily. Tonight’s events did not transpire the way they did in the original plotline. Upon closer inspection, Ell realized there was no mention of Varoth in the novel, his existence erased entirely. Even Selin was mentioned off-handedly as 'the winged guard of the fallen princess'.

  Perhaps, Ilai and Selin had not stayed the night at Varoth’s after the banquet. Perhaps, tonight, Sonia and the children were not the only ones taken away.

  Ell had revealed her powers to save the children, but from the cryptic exchange between Selin and Varoth, it seemed she needn’t have bothered.

  No wonder Selin had taken her away so decisively.

  Although their attention was now elsewhere, Varoth and Selin should have noticed Ell’s unusual powers. The current plan was to attribute the new powers to Ilai’s Blessing, but to prevent an unfortunate slip that would cost her her life, Ell allocated a quarter of her points to Impersonator and activated it.

  “Quit speaking in riddles.” Ell stepped forward, face dark with displeasure.

  Varoth looked away as Selin laid the truth out. “Sonia had been convincing him to quit your service for a while now. Judging by the orchestrated kidnapping, I’m assuming he refused.”

  Metallic green flashed in Ell’s periphery as Varoth’s whip struck out, splitting a grand tree in half.

  “Selin,” Ell called. The guard understood, snatching the whip from Varoth’s grip.

  “She wouldn’t. Why would she?” Varoth mumbled, fingers curling and uncurling as he eyed the whip.

  Selin secured the whip around her arm. “Whether she did or not, you can tell by looking at your state.” The beast had only attacked Varoth with its venom, yet not a drop had landed on him. Rather than claiming the beast had missed, it was more accurate to say it had hit where it should—away from Varoth.

  No matter how fast the artefacts helped him move, he was not a trained warrior.

  Selin continued, “If you had not guessed at the Puppeteer’s true intentions, why didn’t you perform a cleanse?” She moved closer to Varoth, peering up at him. “You believed the beasts would not cause harm as long as they were controlled by the Puppeteer, didn’t you?” Puffing a short sigh from her nose, she turned away. “As for why she would do such thing, we will know once we find her.”

  Treason. The word rattled in Ell’s head as her heart skipped a beat.

  The General’s 'treason' had cost more than his head. All those who had worked in his service were implicated, losing their lives in a massacre that left none to tell the tale. Until Tyra found Ilai that was.

  Or what was left of her.

  In the original plotline, Varoth had not been dragged into the bloodbath. If Sonia’s deliberate arrangements were what had saved him, then she had to be tracked down. The accusations against the General were a month away. Hastening to sever their connection to the General so early on could only mean one thing: she was in on the frame-up—worse yet—the fabricated evidence was ready.

  Budding sunlight framed Ell’s silhouette, the halo of warmth disturbed by the chill in her voice. “Don’t worry, Varoth. We will find her.”