Otto's existence had already given Higokumaru a scare.
But what made it feel even worse was...
It never expected that the man it pulled into the consciousness space would act as if he knew in advance how to break the game, flipping the table right from the start.
In Higokumaru's initial plan, it could use the Authority of Corruption to disable the opponent's power, pull him into its space, and torment him however it pleased.
But after controlling Yae Sakura's body and getting smacked in the face by Aaron, Higokumaru realized this method wouldn't work—the opponent never intended to get close to it in the first place.
After charging right up to its face like a maniac, Higokumaru was now on high alert.
It thought it read memories fast enough, but after finishing Aaron's memories about Otto Apocalypse, the opponent attacked before it could view the man's own memories.
Now, disguised as Head Priest Yae, Higokumaru had its avatar injured and trampled underfoot by the opponent.
Moreover, Higokumaru could even feel—the opponent's power hadn't fully recovered yet.
The opponent's power wasn't fully recovered, but Higokumaru also hadn't been able to completely strip his power away, resulting in this awkward situation.
If Higokumaru continued to stall, it would probably get beaten up by the opponent regaining his power before it could even see his weaknesses.
But if it didn't look at his memories, not knowing his weaknesses made Higokumaru feel a bit insecure.
What to do.
What exactly should I do now?
Forget it!
Not seeing his weaknesses just means I'm not certain, but if I keep waiting, who knows when he'll fully recover his power?!
This guy's aura is still constantly rising. If this keeps up, my barrier won't be able to hold him much longer!
Thinking of the oppression the opponent gave it in the real world, Higokumaru immediately made a decision.
Between a slow death and a gamble, no one would choose the former.
Do something big!
Today, I, Higokumaru, am going to do something big!
In that instant, Head Priest Yae beneath Aaron's foot vanished.
In Bronya's eyes, the giant demon fox that had slapped her to death earlier appeared before her once again.
"You... You're that thing!"
Yae Sakura, whose memories had already been partially unsealed, completely recalled everything she had forgotten upon seeing the enemy from five hundred years ago.
Her dead sister, the resentment hidden in her heart, and finally... those fellow villagers who died because of her.
Yae Sakura indeed resented the villagers for her sister Yae Rin's matter, but she was essentially a kind girl.
Precisely because she couldn't ignore the hidden resentment in her heart but was bound by morals not to fully hate the villagers, Yae Sakura, remembering her past actions, felt incomparable pain.
If she were a morally bankrupt lunatic, she probably wouldn't be in pain.
"Ah... I don't have time to comfort others right now."
Sensing the aura on Higokumaru climbing constantly, Aaron could feel that after revealing its true form, Higokumaru had indeed become much stronger than before.
This was its home turf after all. If it couldn't bring out even a little combat power, that would be unreasonable.
"Human! I am angry!"
Realizing its strength far exceeded the man before it, Higokumaru's previous self-scare became the reason for its current embarrassment and rage.
Damn it, why was I so scared just now!
Even if this human's power is slowly recovering, he can't catch up to my power in a short time.
As long as I beat his consciousness into submission before he recovers, I can still erode his body.
Once I seize this man's body, who will know I'm the culprit who injured Kallen Kaslana?
That guy named Otto wouldn't think the Herrscher from five hundred years ago had seized a man's body.
And then, as long as I find a place to hide, I can do whatever I want.
Revenge... I'll leave that for later.
With my power not fully recovered, I can't erode everything at will like five hundred centuries ago. I should consider revenge only after my power returns.
Higokumaru, inwardly planning how to happy it would be in the future, swiped a claw directly at Aaron.
As for the two women behind Aaron... honestly, it couldn't be bothered to care about them.
That gray-haired brat was just a test subject for its barrier, and Yae Sakura, the host it had originally eroded and parasitized, had long lost her value.
Their lives didn't matter. As long as I seize this man's body, I couldn't care less what happens to them!
"Ah, so annoying."
Sensing his physical stats had indeed dropped a lot, Aaron rolled away like a donkey to dodge the strike, looking at Higokumaru while exhaling a breath of turbid air.
"Hah! Human, quit dreaming!"
Seeing Aaron dodge its strike in such a disheveled manner, Higokumaru felt this match was in the bag.
The oppression the opponent gave it in the real world now seemed to be just because the gap in physical strength was too large.
But in this consciousness world, physical strength meant squat.
That's right. If this goes on, the winner will be me!
"Ah, getting cocky already... is this a common flaw of Herrschers... Hey, brat over there!"
Aaron, beginning to condense some kind of power, spoke to Bronya behind him without looking back.
"Before you retreat, remember to drag that woman away. I'm afraid I might accidentally hurt you next."
"Bro... I understand."
Bronya, who almost exposed her name due to a verbal tic, glanced at the vacant-eyed Yae Sakura, then resignedly dragged the woman's body and began retreating to the rear.
"Hah? You don't actually think you still have a chance against me, do you?"
Seeing Aaron act effortlessly enough to order his companion to retreat, Higokumaru felt it was being underestimated.
"How should I put this... Let's give it a try."
Having finished condensing his power, Aaron spoke with indifference.
"This is a consciousness space after all. It's not quite the same as the real world."
"Hmph, you sure talk tough. Let's see if your body is as tough as your mouth!"
After a moment's thought, Higokumaru didn't rush in with claws.
In its demon fox form, it wasn't lacking ranged output capabilities.
With energy gathered, Higokumaru spat out several balls of fox fire at Aaron.
"Burn to ashes!"
"Ah, that might be a bit difficult. After all..."
Channeling the condensed power, Aaron released a portion of the strength within him.
Aaron had indeed lost his physical strength in this space, but the problem was, he didn't only have 'physical strength' to use.
Power of Dominance. This power that touched the soul had already been combined with Magnetic Field Rotation by Aaron in previous battles to unconsciously create a giant humanoid aura.
And in this consciousness space, finding he could use this soul-touching power, Aaron immediately used the feeling he memorized to summon the giant humanoid aura again.
Logically speaking, without the support of Magnetic Field Rotation, whether a humanoid aura released solely by soul power could form perfectly was questionable.
However, this was a consciousness space.
In this strange place, soul power, which was closely related to mental power, could exert its rightful strength even more easily.
In Higokumaru's eyes, a terrifying oppression suddenly erupted from the enemy before it.
At the same time, this oppression formed into a giant humanoid aura, intercepting all the fox fire Higokumaru spat out.
"Wh... What is this thing!"
In Higokumaru's eyes, the humanoid aura behind Aaron wore black robes resembling a bat's wings and had long white hair.
And now, this handsome middle-aged man with an evil aura radiating from his face revealed two long, thin fangs... Wait, isn't this a vampire?
Th-this is something that only appears in the storybooks Big Sister gave me, right?
Why is it here? What is with this man!
Higokumaru, having its attack blocked, immediately connected the image before it with a character from the storybooks it had read in the past.
The Vampire King Dracula... such a fictional character actually exists???
Meanwhile, seeing the true appearance of the aura above his head, Aaron was also a bit speechless.
"Ah, what is this."
The Power of Dominance was originally Dracula's ability, so creating a humanoid aura in Dracula's form using the Power of Dominance made sense logically.
The problem is, doesn't this make me look like the villain?
Damn it, damn it, damn it. Stinking fox over there, stop shaking! The more you shake, the more wrong this scenario looks!
"You, you bastard... Don't come over here!"
Because of the property of the Power of Dominance spreading to the surroundings, Higokumaru gradually realized the truly terrifying aspect of this power.
The Power of Dominance was a power that could dominate other souls. In a sense, although essentially different from the Authority of Corruption it possessed, it could achieve a similar effect.
The Authority of Corruption eroded the enemy's body to control them.
But the enemy's power dominated the enemy's soul, completely converting them into a soul servant.
Being converted into a soul servant was certainly better than being killed, but Higokumaru felt that... comparing rotten apples was no good!
This guy feels more and more dangerous now. I absolutely cannot lose this fight!
If I lose, I feel like being turned into his soul servant would be a fate worse than death!
Win!
I must win!
Right, calm down, Higokumaru. This guy just used his aura to block a fireball.
Look at the arm of that aura. After blocking my fireball, signs of collapse have already appeared.
This thing is just a paper tiger after all.
You can't scare yourself anymore!
With this thought, Higokumaru spat out an even greater number of fireballs in succession.
As for why not engage in melee... it knew its own speed.
Even though the opponent used a very ungraceful skill like 'donkey roll' to dodge its attack earlier, the fact that he dodged the first move meant that without a speed increase, Higokumaru's melee hit rate would be in an awkward spot.
Plus, now that the opponent had a giant aura protecting him, at least until his aura was blasted away, it would absolutely not get close to this guy.
Win steadily, win steadily. Don't panic. This guy's aura isn't as strong as I imagined.
Seeing Higokumaru seem to calm down and launch another offensive, Aaron used the giant Dracula aura to shield himself while continuing to gather the only power he could use right now.
Come to think of it, although I can't do this in the real world, this is a consciousness space.
In a consciousness space, maybe I can bring that thing out... Hmm, let's try it.
Besides, this aura is just something I created unconsciously.
It works fine as a support tool, but expecting it to smash Higokumaru... that's asking too much of it.
Time to act. No more stalling.
Thinking about it, I've only been in this world for two or three days, yet I've been busy non-stop.
After solving this huge hidden danger, I'll take a break for a while... Sigh, if this guy wasn't such a huge threat to the world, I wouldn't have come to deal with it proactively.
After expending a lot of power spitting out endless fireballs, Higokumaru watched as the giant humanoid aura was indeed beaten back again and again.
And now, Higokumaru saw the places on the aura it had hit truly starting to collapse.
Yes! Yes!
This guy really is just a paper tiger. If this keeps up—
I can win!
I can definitely win!
Aaron, too lazy to expend energy maintaining the aura, watched the dissipating aura with absolutely no fluctuation in his heart.
After all, he had already completed that strange summoning ritual.
Before Higokumaru could rejoice for long, it suddenly felt a giant shadow looming over it.
"Wait, this is...!"
Without giving it a chance to react, a giant castle crashed down from the sky, heavily crushing Higokumaru's body.
.....................