"If it's just a doll, I guess there's no way to get useful info out of it, huh?"

Yuri tilted her head slightly, bored by the silent entity before her.

Though tightly bound on the surface, it never stopped struggling.

The threads wrapped around it vibrated intensely. Tiny cracks had already split some spots!

It wouldn't take long to break free from her restraints.

"You, with no soul, don't even give me the pleasure of erasing you..."

Yuri's fingers lifted gently, then clenched sharply!

Crack!

With a crisp snap, crimson threads sliced deep into the doll's body, carving crisscrossing grooves.

But under the strain, most threads snapped instantly!

A flicker of gray light flashed in its skull-like eyes.

Hiss!

Its body dissolved into black mist, teleporting. In a flash, its dagger pressed against Yuri's neck!

Just a slight push would slice her skin, delivering death.

But...

As the blade touched her throat, a black gun muzzle—raised unseen—pressed against its forehead.

Bang!

With a twisted smile, Yuri's neck pierced while the bullet shattered the doll's brain and half its head.

The force slammed its body hard to the ground.

Yuri lowered the gun and sneered.

The massive wound on her neck healed impossibly fast, vanishing in seconds.

"Boring thing. You should've knelt and waited for destruction."

Bang!

Another soft gunshot dropped the doll as it tried to rise.

The bullet's explosion tore a huge hole in its chest!

Its lone pale gray eye flickered weakly.

Just as Yuri prepared to finish it...

"Judgment... error. Failure. Long... live the end." A raspy, broken voice hissed from beneath the mask.

Huh?

Yuri raised an eyebrow. This thing could speak?

As surprise flickered, its eyes blazed dangerous red!

"Self-destruct? Such a cliché."

Watching the assassin glow red, the girl shook her head disdainfully.

An explosion wouldn't matter, but...

"Disturbing others right now won't do."

Thud!

Blood-red spikes erupted beneath the doll, impaling its limbs and lifting it high!

Yuri stepped close. Her pale fingers plunged without hesitation into its lower abdomen.

"A toy with human internals? Interesting."

She withdrew her fingers, examining the dark blood on them, eyebrow raised.

Mechanical exterior, steel brain—yet human parts remained.

What was this? Modification?

No one would transform themselves into this monstrosity.

Besides, when did this world's tech advance so far?

After her hand withdrew, the glowing assassin went utterly still.

Yuri had crushed its energy core to dust.

Thud!

The blood spikes dissolved. The body crashed down, twisted and broken.

"Boring..."

Kicking the motionless form, Yuri yawned slightly.

But then...

Huh?

The discarded doll twitched eerily under her gaze.

"Wow, so impressive. Taken down so easily." A crisp, childlike voice rang from its body—pure and innocent, utterly unlike the assassin.

"But big sister, breaking my toy makes me very angry. The price is very, very severe. So next time..."

The voice cut off abruptly.

Black smoke curled from the doll. It fell completely still.

Yuri paused, then laughed softly. "Interesting..."

Meanwhile, in a distant, unknown place.

"Oh dear, even the lowest-grade toy was so fragile."

Gripping a white rabbit doll tighter, the shadowed figure's lips curled into a smile.

"Interesting, truly interesting. Hey, a formidable monster, brother... don't you agree?"

Silence filled the empty room. No answer came.

"I want it, I want it. A toy that can't be broken is amazing! Like brother, so..."

Buzz!!

Hundreds of gray eyes snapped open in the darkness!

Just as a command formed—"Not the time."

A young man's voice cut in. The eyes vanished instantly.

"...Brother?"

"Not the time. That person's order."

...

The darkness rippled, then sank into deathly silence.

Yuri knew nothing of this.

But she noticed something else: the assassin's mask.

Distant memories surfaced—a special organization, people wearing near-identical masks.

"'Tianming'? No... impossible."

After a moment's thought, Yuri shook her head, dismissing it.

Similar, but not them.

She ignored the strange familiarity. "Whatever you are, I'll take you all out."

Crimson flames ignited from her fingertips, engulfing the corpse.

Like sparks on gasoline, fire serpents consumed it whole.

In the blaze's glow, Yuri's gaze turned hazy, fading to pure crimson.