Chapter 157 The Story of Aurora.

That sounds really tempting.

Wang Ma Xiaoji did not answer immediately. Aurora was not surprised by his reaction; she simply fell silent as well, patiently waiting for the purple-haired boy to gather his thoughts and give his answer.

Although the doll is not human and harbors intense malice towards humans, it considers itself to have a fairly good understanding of human psychology.

If that's not possible, how can the supernatural gradually drive humans to fear and despair, and then make them appreciate their captivating appearance?

Aurora always felt that she was different from other weirdos, an anomaly among weirdos.

This "difference" doesn't refer to a difference in strength. Before devouring another doll-like monster that was originally sealed in the Sakuraba family, Aurora's strength hadn't reached its current level, although it was also very strong back then... but it was still on par with other doll-like monsters.

Every supernatural being has its own obsession. And because of these different obsessions, many supernatural beings appear to be quite unique. For example, some supernatural beings prioritize killing delinquent youths, some are constantly searching for something important to them, and some… their obsession is simply to punish evil and uphold justice, so they don't harbor much murderous intent towards ordinary people who stray into their lives; they can even manage to communicate and cooperate with them.

So, what is Aurora's obsession?

Its origins... are unimportant. Anyway, like its sisters, it was sealed away in the families of priests, exorcists, or psychics. Then, unfortunately, the families that sealed it gradually declined, their numbers dwindled, and the last few all perished. Of course, this was purely coincidental; Aurora didn't do anything.

Many of the incredible things in this world are made up of accidents, aren't they?

Then, after the seal weakened, it successfully broke free since no one continued to reinforce it.

Different families seal their dolls in different ways, and the methods by which different dolls can be sealed also differ. With the death of the last member of that family, Aurora knew very well that it was highly unlikely anyone else could seal her away. If any human wanted her to disappear from this world, there were only two ways… one was to kill her, and the other was to convert her.

Kill it? Tsukino and Chiya had already tried that once before. Aurora wasn't afraid of death at all; death didn't exist for dolls. It could always be resurrected, and now, with its power greatly increased, it could resurrect much faster than other doll monsters. Anyone who dared to kill it had to be prepared to bear the wrath of the resurrected doll.

Redemption? Hmm... the probability of getting a puppet monster to let go of its obsession isn't high. Especially since humanity hasn't even fully understood the origins of these puppet monsters yet.

Aurora knew very well that she was now completely free. She could do whatever she wanted, whatever fun things she wanted to do. Even if it came at a negligible price, it didn't matter... after all, the doll monster had plenty of time.

It enjoys watching humans play the games it has arranged.

Because humans are really interesting.

The world has changed dramatically. Aurora thought to herself as she broke free of the seal, "I was sealed for another ten years. But it's only been ten years, and the world has already seen so many new and amazing things. Humans are truly incredible."

As expected of... the race that created these puppets.

Aurora wants to play games with humans.

However, even the most powerful supernatural beings, like the Doll-like Supernatural Beings, have limitations in what they can do. Therefore, most people in the world are unaware of the existence of supernatural beings, and many never even encounter any paranormal events caused by them, thus living out their quiet and peaceful lives.

Aurora felt it was a pity.

If possible, it still hopes to get more and more people, including those who are inherently interesting, involved in its game.

Aurora didn't know what to do yet, but she knew that her current abilities were definitely not enough to achieve this. She needed to become stronger... she had to become much stronger, possessing enough power to sustain the game.

It needs to devour other monsters to increase its power.

Ordinary supernatural powers are no match for the supernatural power of dolls, but the power gained by consuming them is still meager. So Aurora decides to consume other doll supernatural beings.

This was a truly dangerous decision. The power levels of the doll-like monsters were roughly equal; humans couldn't kill them, but the monsters could devour each other. Yet, Aurora still decided to do it.

Most of the dolls are in a sealed state, but Aurora still managed to find one that was not yet sealed.

That doll was quite different. It actually seemed to be genuinely getting along with humans? Aurora wasn't sure; perhaps it was just her sister's twisted sense of humor... Deliberately pretending to be innocent and harmless, then gaining complete trust before deliberately exposing themselves and plunging humans into despair and fear—that's indeed the kind of behavior most supernatural beings would enjoy.

But soon, Aurora discovered that this doll was actually serious.

Because those humans actually became its weakness.

The strength of Aurora and the red-haired doll was almost the same, but Aurora had no weaknesses, while the red-haired doll had the weakness of humans. So, although Aurora was also seriously injured, she still won in the end.

Although she won by a narrow margin, devouring the doll monster was no easy task. The severely injured Aurora could only slowly consume it, which took time. Familiarizing herself with and mastering its greater power also took time, and... in the end, it allowed part of the sister to escape, and she needed to find that part and eat it as well.

It's for recuperation.

It was also because of her curiosity about the humans who had developed goodwill towards the red-haired doll and wanted to protect them no matter what.

Aurora disguised herself as a red-haired doll and settled down at the Sakuraba family's house.

But in the end, it still couldn't understand what was so strange about this father and daughter. Their fear and despair on the eve of their death seemed no different from what it had seen in other humans before.

Aurora was disappointed. But there was something more important: new power.

After consuming a part of another doll-like monster, Aurora's power reached an incredible level. That power allowed her to see a portion of the future, and even some...

At that time, it was not yet able to fully control its power, so it lost control and that thing happened... A person who should not exist, who did not belong here, and who should have died appeared.

But there's nothing wrong with that.

Because she needed to restore her condition and familiarize herself with the power, Aurora simply followed what a predecessor had done and marked the person.

Anyway, there's plenty of time in the future.

There are simply too many humans. It wants everyone to participate in the game, but that's not possible for the time being. But at least... until it can increase the quantity, it can prioritize quality. In that future, Aurora saw many interesting people.

After a brief consideration, Aurora decided to approach...that person first.

The girl who caused an extremely terrifying upheaval called despair in the future.

Aurora did not kill her.

As the other person wiped away tears with a handkerchief and sobbed, "Ah, is this the despair of being suddenly spoiled and losing so much fun...?" Aurora considered the suggestion this person had given her.

Then, Aurora agreed.

And then...

That's the current situation.

Although he had to disappear for a while to familiarize himself with his powers after consuming another portion of the red-haired doll, this did not prevent the situation from gradually becoming what Aurora wanted.

Aurora knew that these interesting humans must be searching for, or even had found, something to use against her, but so what?

Humans are ultimately capable of having weaknesses.

But it didn't, so it won't lose.

The purple-haired human in front of her remained silent. Perhaps he hadn't fully grasped the meaning of her words... After all, supernatural and strange things were still a bit too far removed from their understanding, so Aurora waited a while before patiently adding her own explanation.

“I know you remember what happened before you came into this world,” Aurora said gently. “Death is a terrible thing, isn’t it? But I can let you continue to live.”

"Do you know? I can now completely control that power. Ensuring your happy life in this world is a piece of cake. You like it here, don't you? You have important people here, don't you? Don't you want to stay here and continue living with them? For example, during this time, you and Qianye..."

"Ah—wait a minute, wait a minute, okay, this is a pause!"

Finally, Ouma Kokichi spoke up.

The purple-haired boy turned around, tilted his head slightly, rested one hand on his chin, and wore a perfectly confused expression.

"These words sound a bit strange... so I wanted to ask."

"—What gave you the illusion that I would stay for whom?"