Chapter 49 - Kidnapping, Confinement, Brainwashing, Hypnosis, Training

Elisia stood in the center of what was once a splendid but now utterly ruined auction hall, her expression hardened.

...What do I do now?

With the artificial sun contract now out of reach, there were no more options left. All she could do was flee to the north and deny any connection to the "Rift Incident"...

But in a world where the truth hardly mattered, no one would believe her even if she screamed it out loud. No matter how much she struggled, it was highly likely she would end up as a scapegoat.

[It's because of you…]

Perhaps it was because her mental exhaustion had reached its peak. Her hallucinations began to intensify,, tightening their grip around her neck.

As she felt the intense pressure and pain, she forced herself to squeeze out a breath. Just then, she suddenly noticed a pure white statue holding a heart in the distance.

Ah.

The moment she saw it, the last resort she had been avoiding due to its excessive risks came to mind—using an artifact to steal Damian's ability.

She had avoided this method because the fallout would be unbearable, but now that everything had fallen apart... If she didn't steal even a shred of warmth, there was no way she could survive. With no other choice, she resolved to steal his ability and decided to head to where Damian might be.

But the investigators are searching too aggressively.

She concluded that it would be better to hide for a while until the search died down and decided to leave the auction hall.

About a week later, while she was staying in an inconspicuous rented room, a letter on the table floated into the air, burned with black flames, and slowly formed a black portal.

...Has he returned?

It seemed that Damian had resolved the issues that had erupted and returned. A sense of relief washed over her, but she couldn't let her trading partner see her relief, so she maintained a blank expression. Just then, a man who clearly looked out of his mind stepped out of the portal.

"..."

His unfocused pupils and gaping mouth. His appearance had changed so much from when she last saw him that she wondered if it was even the same person. As she stood there in shock, he staggered forward a few steps before collapsing to the floor.

Completely unprepared for this scene, she froze. Just then, she heard a clicking sound from inside the portal, and someone stepped out holding a hammer.

"Long time no see."

The person she least wanted to see, yet paradoxically, the person she most wanted to meet—the one who had brought her down, Damian. The moment she faced him, she found it hard to control her expression and forced a bitter smile.

"Yes. It's been a while."

She accepted his greeting and tightly gripped the artifact hidden in her pocket. Activating it would take a few minutes, so she needed to buy time by keeping the conversation going, no matter what. 

She spoke in as calm a voice as possible, "So, how does it feel to have your revenge? Satisfying?"

He chuckled and replied, "It's been fun."

Fun. He dismissed her despair with a single word, which irked her slightly. But if she succeeded in using the artifact, all these trivial issues would be buried and forgotten.

Just endure a little longer.

She decided to keep the conversation going and spoke in a calm voice, "...I don't know how we ended up like this."

At her words, Damian smirked and replied, "I don't know if that matters now. After all, emotions are just tools for you, aren't they?"

"..."

The north was too harsh to cling to emotions... No, making excuses to herself was meaningless. So she decided to ignore it and waited for the artifact to finish charging.

 When she felt a slight tingling in her fingertips, she pulled out the artifact and spoke, "Then let's end this."

"Shall we?"

With those words, she activated the artifact, attempting to use its ability to absorb powers.

Boom!

Suddenly, the artifact exploded on its own, sending it flying to the ground. Her fingertips, red and burning from the explosion, and the intense pain of the burns. She hadn't expected it to explode before she could even use it properly. 

As she stared in shock, the girl in front of her spoke in a calm voice, "Crude."

"...Crude?"

It was an ancient relic passed down in the north, not some ordinary item. How could something like this be called crude? It was an absurd statement, so she quickly tried to pick up the artifact from the ground.

"Oh my, it's broken. Are you really going to take it back?"

A woman snatched it away, sneering.

"It's useless now, so why don't you just give up?"

If she lost that, it was all over. Desperate, she tried to grab the artifact from the woman's hand, but just then.

"You never fail to disappoint until the very end."

Damian, who had been looking at her with disgust, raised his hammer and swung it down at her head.

Crash!

***

I clicked my tongue as I looked down at Elisia, who had been smashed into the ground, her head crushed. It was clear she had been driven mad. 

I frowned, then poured a potion over Elisia's head and spoke to Liana, "Elisia is officially missing now, right?"

"Yes."

"So, no matter what I do, there won't be any problems, right?"

"Right? What are you planning to do?"

I answered as if it were obvious, "Kidnapping, confinement, brainwashing, hypnosis, training?"

"..."

At my words, Riana took a step back and smiled warmly. Seeing her smile, I quickly shook my head and said it was just a joke.

"No, no, I'm not planning to do anything weird. I was just thinking we could use her like we did with Dale."

"Is there really a need for that? She's already been abandoned, so she probably has no value left."

It was a valid question, but I realized Liana was missing a key point and explained, "If we use Elisia to achieve something, she might not have any value. But if we use her to cause chaos, there are plenty of places she can be useful."

"Have you lost your mind?"

I listened to the praise coming from the front and looked down. Elisia was writhing on the ground. Seeing the woman I had once loved enough to sacrifice everything for in such a state brought a slight pang of guilt, but...

As memories of Elisia's actions under the guise of helping the north surfaced, the guilt vanished, replaced by anger and disbelief.

She tried to kill me and even tried to steal my abilities.

With that truth swirling in my head, I no longer felt even a hint of remorse. I crossed my arms and shook my head. 

Just then, Siren poked Daisy's belly and made a suggestion, "If you want to use her, there's a way."

"What is it?"

"Use the artificial sun that Pigsy swallowed to combine it with her mana structure and apply conditions that make it impossible for her to disobey orders."

Daisy, offended by being called Pigsy, smacked Siren's head, but Siren, unfazed, continued, "Even though Piggy-Daisy ate the artificial sun like a pig, since Piggy-Daisy is actually a spirit, not a pig, she can spit out the core mana structure. So, we can use that to utilize the core functions of the artificial sun."

From Daisy to Pigsy, and now to Piggy-Daisy. 

Daisy, unhappy with the nickname, kept hitting Siren, but Siren, unaffected, chuckled and continued, "To explain in more detail, the basic formula structure of the artificial sun is informationization and synthesis. By applying this, we can informationize the target and then control them as we please. To explain further..."

It would be good to understand the principle, so I listened carefully, but the explanation was too technical, and I couldn't grasp it no matter how hard I tried. Realizing it was pointless to listen further, I calmed Siren down and asked for a summary.

Siren hesitated for a moment, struggling to condense it, but soon her eyes lit up as she came up with a good idea.

"Hmm... So, ah, this is good. Damian, do you remember what you once told us?"

I couldn't recall, as she had said so many things. Siren pointed at Elisia, who was lying on the ground, and said, "Kidnapping, confinement, brainwashing, hypnosis, training."

Such an outrageous answer made me cough involuntarily. 

I blinked in confusion and looked at Siren, who continued with a straight face, "Using the artificial sun, we can achieve a similar effect."

With those words, a way to utterly humiliate the north came to mind.