Chapter 367: Manipulator
Kaito Shirogane looked at the huge dragon head in the sky and the surrounding ocean, suddenly realizing he was in a dream.
The foundation of [Sage] lay not only in that mysterious [Devil] power, but he was also a 'Demigod.'
Sage saw crimson luster appear on Kaito's body below again, knowing the opponent had realized this was the world of consciousness.
The so-called [Collective Unconscious Sea], which should be a space where all souls and consciousnesses lack autonomy, except for himself, the [Manipulator]...
Sage successfully entered Mercenary Tao's mental island through the [Collective Unconscious Sea], intending to directly alter Mercenary Tao's subconscious again and manipulate him.
But Mercenary Tao's anomaly appeared once more. The opponent actually maintained thinking within the subconscious?!
He could even engage in logical thinking.
This phenomenon caused a rare trace of confusion in Sage's heart, but he quickly applied appeasement to his Mental Body, calming himself down.
In the Infinite Dimensional Space, when he was still a rookie, he heard a way to judge Reincarnator aptitude.
Based on whether one could adapt to Space deployment, those who couldn't adapt were [Defective Products]. These Reincarnators mostly had overly fragile psychology and would quickly suffer mental breakdowns in cruel and frequent deployment missions. Even with decent initial physical quality and initial world gains, they would be eliminated quickly.
Reincarnators above the baseline were qualified [Consumables], worker bees that could be deployed by the Space multiple times to collect [Information].
However, the reason [Consumables] were [Consumables] lay in the fact that Reincarnators of this level were at most qualified. They would naturally be worn out in mission after mission, swallowed by other Reincarnators, or die in missions, ultimately unable to grow up.
Above this, as the Space constantly recruited new Reincarnators, occasionally some high-quality goods would be encountered—those born with excellent aptitude appearing in the Space due to various circumstances.
These people might have huge shortcomings in some aspects, but were far superior to any Reincarnator in other aspects. Once they found their forte in the Space, they would rise rapidly.
Or perhaps, they were inherently intelligent to a demonic degree, toying with other Reincarnators single-handedly.
Such Reincarnators, even in the real world, would be called geniuses and become pillars in various fields—the [Brilliant and Stunning] generation.
But occasionally, some even more special individuals would appear in the Space. Such individuals were more like humans with genetic mutations, possessing an abnormality that seemed out of place even within this species.
Data, personality, logic, ethics—there were always some aspects that made you directly perceive the difference between yourself and them.
Such [Anomalies] were the most unstable, easily targeted and fallen due to this abnormality, but also often capable of growing rapidly into the most terrifying Reincarnators.
Just like that woman in the North District who obtained the title [Blossoming Tumi] (Tu Mi), once forcing [The Final Day] and [Dead Silence Fate] to retreat back to the East District, thereby having to engage in internal strife.
Abnormal growth speed, abnormal combat power, abnormal ability characteristics...
"Mr. Sage, I once encountered a low-level Reincarnator enhancing the abilities of the Lord of Mysteries sequence, but rarely saw those Beyonder characteristics in the shantytown. Are the produced materials of that world controlled by His Majesty [Fate Eternal]?"
Kaito smiled as usual. He looked around, also seeing those islands looming in the mist in the distance.
Sage's abilities were being exposed constantly. This indicated that although the opponent's abilities were eerie, he lacked the ability to kill Kaito head-on...
His Devil power must have considerable restrictions to make others substitute for death or kill others.
And that restriction was something Kaito hadn't suffered.
Kaito constantly pondered the difference between himself and [Locker] and the others, trying to find the reason why Sage could make those people die silently while he remained unaffected.
The giant dragon transformed by Sage looked down at Mercenary Tao's mental island from the sky. No, that narrow place of one square meter couldn't be called an 'island' at all.
That was merely a mental reef enough for one person to stand on.
He realized perhaps this was part of Mercenary Tao's anomaly. The reason the opponent could quickly realize this wasn't the real world and retrieve logic and self in the subconscious was because... the opponent had almost no subconscious world...
This was very abnormal.
The human brain had massive redundancy, and human consciousness also had massive residue.
How could a human have such a small mental island...
Sage's heart moved, opening his mouth to roar.
He directly invoked the storm of the Collective Unconscious Sea. For ordinary people, he needed to enter the opponent's mental island, understand their subconscious, and guide within it.
Thereby achieving the goal of knowing all the opponent's secrets unknowingly and guiding the opponent to act according to his ideas.
But for Mercenary Tao's situation, perhaps he should directly submerge him with a mental storm!
Let him be permanently immersed in various manic emotions.
Whoosh!
As a Demigod who completed the Sequence 4 acting, a [Manipulator], he was enough to stir up frenzy here.
Kaito tilted his head, seeing the monstrous waves striking. This Collective Unconscious Sea began to undergo drastic changes, and the sky also became gloomy.
He looked down at himself; his body at this moment was indeed changing.
But at the same time, he saw the giant dragon in the sky wasn't far from him. Perhaps...
Kaito closed his eyes. Some pure white luster began to bloom from his body. Simultaneously, he spoke, trying to influence Sage.
"So, that His Majesty [Fate Eternal] likely mastered the ability of some High Sequence in the Lord of Mysteries world?"
"Let me guess... [Visionary]?"
The giant dragon transformed by Sage lowered its head, opening its mouth to roar again. The mental storm arrived with a bang.
Boom!
The entire mental world instantly became a mess.
In the real world, [Red Dust] slowly climbed up from the ground. He didn't die, and that intense psychokinetic restriction on his body had also disappeared.
The long-lost free breathing made him gasp uncontrollably.
But soon, he coughed twice. Circulating internal Qi, purple toxins were rapidly expelled from his body.
Red Dust waved his hand. Intense astral wind dispersed the poison mist. This purple poison mist was probably a special ability carried by [Red Queen]'s silver Plot Equipment grade shield.
But there were no traces of others around at all.
As the poison mist dispersed, he saw that phantom burning with crimson momentum all over standing opposite Sage.
That was... Mercenary Tao?!
Red Dust beckoned with his right hand, and the precious saber immediately flew spinning into his hand.
Looking at these two, the unprecedented opportunity made it hard for him to suppress the impulse to slash.
But...
Red Dust approached, discovering both Sage and Mercenary Tao had their eyes tightly closed, seeming mentally very unstable.
Mercenary Tao's gigantic body twitched slightly, blood flowing from his nasal cavity—a sign of suffering a mental storm.
But what about Sage? Could it be that in the battle of mind and subconscious, Mercenary Tao could still affect Sage?!
Moo!
Boom!
Airwaves rose booming, far exceeding any known hurricane in the world.
In this instant, Red Dust felt like a leaf in a raging sea. A terrifying aura causing shudders erupted from ten kilometers away.
Space was being torn apart. Countless soul screams rang out simultaneously.
Red Dust turned around subconsciously, only to see at the end of heaven and earth, that huge pitch-black figure extended a hand. In the palm, golden spirit turned into debris, dissipating with the wind bit by bit.
That pitch-black figure became extremely unstable. The colorful Spirit World space began to expand wildly.
The entire city was swallowed by more than half again in an instant.
And in the sky, Tornado, who twisted half the space, was also blown away.
A red kasaya almost covering the entire city floated in the Spirit World, now beginning to be torn apart by that pitch-black figure.
"Reincarnators... I will... kill you..."
A voice that should have been childish was now full of ruthless violence. Resentful spiritual power struck bang, blowing Red Dust, Mercenary Tao, and Sage away together.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter