So before cremating him, he naturally had to plunder his ability first.
And if he caused him pain while plundering him, it should speed up the process.
Just like how it's easier to trick someone when they're not fully conscious.
Although Takasaki Souichi had been under Hikari's control ever since regaining consciousness, he had never stopped struggling.
He knew his psychic power was useless against Hikari.
But he still tried to control other objects on the rooftop, hoping to smash Hikari with them.
To Takasaki Souichi's frustration, there weren't many things on the rooftop that he could control.
Only a few rows of large, heavy solar panels seemed suitable as weapons, but they were too heavy for his psychic power to move.
And Hikari, standing in front of him, was like a city wall, absorbing most of the telekinetic force he released.
It was like throwing water onto a sponge.
But Takasaki Souichi refused to give up.
Having only just become a ruler, as he liked to call him, he had no desire to live under someone else's control.
What happened next, however, finally shattered the composure he had barely managed to maintain.
Takasaki Souichi suddenly convulsed as if struck by electricity, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints in shock.
Ever since awakening his psychic power, he had never panicked like this before.
"M-My psychic power?"
"Why... why can't I control anything anymore?"
"It's disappearing... Why is my psychic power disappearing?"
As a growing sense of weakness spread through his body, becoming stronger and stronger, he completely panicked.
In his panic, Takasaki Souichi quickly noticed the only other living person on the rooftop.
He watched the energy that had once obeyed him like an extension of his own body escape from every pore, flowing like a river of stars into the other man's outstretched palm.
Looking at Hikari, who had extended his right hand toward him, Takasaki Souichi suddenly understood.
"It's you! It's you, isn't it?", Takasaki Souichi shouted, glaring at Hikari.
"You're stealing my psychic power! You're absorbing it, aren't you?"
"How are you doing this? How can you absorb my psychic power?"
"Thief! You're nothing but a thief!"
"I awakened this psychic power! What gives you the right to take it?"
"You're a robber! You're robbing me!"
"You'll die a horrible death! You'll die a horrible death! If you don't stop right now, I'll kill you! AAAAH!"
Takasaki Souichi desperately pushed his remaining power to its limit, but it was like throwing pebbles into a black hole, nothing came back.
Feeling that strange power steadily being stripped away from him and flowing toward Hikari, Takasaki Souichi cursed frantically.
He alternated between cursing and threatening Hikari.
But Hikari didn't say a word.
He completely ignored him.
When Takasaki Souichi realized his curses had no effect,
he began begging in a low voice, "Hikari-kun... don't do this... please don't..."
"I'm begging you... Please..."
"Don't take my psychic power... I'll do anything..."
Takasaki Souichi knew exactly how powerful this ability was and how important it was to him.
With psychic powers, he was the ruler of the school.
Without them, he was nothing.
So feeling his psychic power being stolen, hurt him even more than death itself.
He screamed, cried, and begged Hikari for mercy, tears streaming down his face.
He even threw away all his dignity and said, "Hikari-kun, I'm begging you, spare my life! Please don't take my psychic power! As long as you spare me, I'll be your dog! I'll use my psychic power for you! I'll become your right-hand man and do anything you want, just as if the power were yours..."
Hikari smiled faintly, "You're confused. Once you're dead, the power will still be mine."
Takasaki Souichi froze.
Only then did he realize that the bargaining chip he thought he had was already sitting on Hikari's dinner table.
He immediately exploded into another round of furious cursing.
Hikari ignored him and continued plundering.
About a few minutes later, Takasaki Souichi's face had turned deathly pale, with dark circles around his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for three straight days and nights.
Hikari had completely plundered his Telekinesis.
Feeling the strange new power, Hikari decided to test it.
He looked around.
Then he slowly raised a hand toward the heavy solar panels on the rooftop.
"Rise."
As Hikari slowly closed his fingers, the air across the rooftop seemed to freeze.
Six solar panels, each as large as a truck, rose into the air, their metal frames spreading out against the evening sky like butterfly wings.
The huge, thick, heavy solar panels slowly floated into the sky together, rising higher and higher.
Takasaki Souichi's cracked lips trembled open as he watched those enormous objects, once far too heavy to move, dance at the slightest movement of the young man's fingertips, their reflected light even more dazzling than the evening glow.
The half-dead Takasaki Souichi instantly snapped back to his senses.
His mouth hung open in shock.
"T-That's impossible!"
"H-How did you do that?"
"How can you control something this big and this heavy?"
Takasaki Souichi knew telekinesis had limits. You couldn't just raise your hand and lift the entire planet.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be a superpower, it would be the Trisolarans. [T/N: Aliens from Three Body Problem franchise.]
For example, he had tried controlling these very solar panels before.
It had been completely impossible.
With that much weight, he would have been lucky just to move one a few centimeters.
Yet Hikari had lifted them into the air with telekinesis.
And he didn't even look like he was struggling.
It completely exceeded Takasaki Souichi's imagination.
Hikari had only just acquired telekinesis.
Takasaki Souichi himself had gradually improved over time, coming from lifting a sheet of paper, to a pen, to a banana. He had always taken pride in that progress.
But Hikari had only just begun. With a casual lift of his hand, he controlled something Takasaki Souichi might never be able to move.
How could Takasaki Souichi not be shocked?
What Takasaki Souichi couldn't accomplish no matter how hard he tried with telekinesis, Hikari accomplished effortlessly after obtaining the same power. In its own way, it was a kind of NTR.
Takasaki Souichi's face turned ashen.
Like someone forced to watch another man take away his girlfriend, he watched his own psychic power perform all kinds of incredible feats in Hikari's hands, unable to understand why.
Hikari, however, knew exactly why.
Because there was an enormous gap between their mental strength.
This so-called telekinesis was also related to a person's overall attributes.
The two most basic human attributes were the body and the mind.
After constant training and spending attribute points day after day, Hikari's body had long surpassed that of an ordinary person. It could already be called superhuman.
As someone living his second life, he had already possessed exceptionally strong mental strength. Combined with his improved physique and everything he had experienced, his mental strength had naturally surpassed ordinary people as well.
So what Takasaki Souichi couldn't do, he could.
What Takasaki Souichi couldn't control, he could.
When your basic stats are high enough, you can do whatever you want.
He made those massive solar panels, heavy enough to crush someone to death, dance through the air, rising and falling, circling around.
After testing the ability for a while, Hikari had basically mastered the telekinesis he had plundered.
Then he turned to look at Takasaki Souichi, who had been insulting and cursing him the entire time.
The moment Takasaki Souichi saw Hikari's gaze turn toward him, he immediately shut his mouth.
"What happened? Why'd you stop talking? Weren't you enjoying yourself earlier?"
"You said I'd die a horrible death and go to hell. You cursed my ancestors and insulted the women in my family."
Hikari looked at Takasaki Souichi with a smile.
Takasaki Souichi trembled, not daring to say another word.
He wanted to beg for mercy again.
Hikari suddenly clenched his hand.
The plea that Takasaki Souichi hadn't managed to speak froze in his throat.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
His face turned bright red.
Looking at him making muffled noises, Hikari raised a hand and ordered, "Pick up the ice blade beside you. Then cut your own body, one slice at a time."
The moment he heard those words, Takasaki Souichi's eyes widened with terror.
But his body completely ignored his will.
His hand gripped the ice blade tightly, paying no attention to its freezing cold.
The instant the blade touched his skin, what he saw wasn't a spray of blood, but the ashes of his crushed dignity.
Slice! Slice!
Takasaki Souichi began carrying out a slow execution on himself.
His heart and expression were filled with pain and unwillingness, but his hands never stopped moving.
Hikari looked at the pain and pleading in his eyes without any expression.
"So? How does it feel to be forced to do something completely against your own will?"
"Do you understand now? Once the puppet strings tighten around your fingers, even your tears become entertainment for the puppeteer."
"Weren't you laughing just like this when you watched those girls cry?"
"Why aren't you laughing now? Come on, laugh."
"Smile a little. Maybe I'll let you stop."
Hearing Hikari's words, Takasaki Souichi shook his head repeatedly.
He finally understood how utterly hopeless it felt to be manipulated like a puppet.
His eyes were full of pleading as he looked at Hikari.
It was as if they were saying, "I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. I've experienced how hopeless it feels to be controlled like this. I swear I'll never do anything like this again!"L
[T/N: Before I start, LEAVE A REVIEW, NOW! Ahem! So, this month's review is up in both my p@treon and d!scord. I talk about what will happen to the works going forward and it matters if you don't want your favorite fanfic to get axed. D!scord invite is in my WebNovel profile. Have a great day~]