Chapter 378: Jashin
Chapter 378: Jashin
Watching Solenne’s energetic self finally fall asleep was like watching paint dry.
She didn’t need to sleep, that was the catch. She could’ve gone on and on searching throughout her entire Silver Palace, trying to find Rael. But like all those who’ve lived for almost eternity, she got bored pretty quickly.
And coincidentally, it was now nighttime, which meant that it was the perfect time for Rael to stage his escape.
But before he left, he continued lingering in her mind, trying to gain some information from her dreams.
<The Voice has begun to wonder…>
<…What is the best place to grow stronger?>
[Mmm…] Solenne grumbled in her sleep. [The Silver Palace of the Blazing…]
She fell asleep again. But clearly, this was a biased answer. He wanted an actual serious answer, so he had a fallback for whenever he wanted to grow stronger over the next couple of months.
But the moment he had that thought, a certain something flashed in front of his eyes.
<Hollow Oath: You are recognized as a candidate for the Hollow Throne.>
<Candidate Selection Timer: 5 Days>
<Total Candidate Count: 92,553>
Oh? Right. This thing… Rael facepalmed inwardly. I thought I was no longer a candidate because my name was erased. But that works out, I guess. After that, I might visit Heaven or Hell. They sound too cool not to have something special in them.
Alas, he might not even be allowed in Heaven because he wasn’t an angel, but that was a problem for future him to deal with.
Anyhow, he decided to simply add the finishing touches and leave.
<The Voice has begun to wonder…>
<…Alcetas and Alene are lying to me…>
<…They gave me the wrong magic mirror…>
<…I’ll deal with them after I get some rest…>
A faint frown appeared on Solenne’s face, and like that, she entered deep slumber.
He waited a few minutes, and then, he extended his focus outward.
His Sloth Skill allowed him to sense everyone who was sleeping in a pretty large radius, and after careful searching, he finally found the person he was looking for.
It was a pretty fractured mind, and it belonged to none other than Jashin Artemios, the Fifth Seat.
He was practically radiating negative thoughts, and the closer Rael got, the stronger he felt. After all, he thrived on negative emotions, especially fear.
But now that Rael had locked onto the target, he closed his eyes, then reopened them. Immediately, it looked like he had begun to float right above Jashin’s body.
He was riddled with bruises from head to toe, and it was obvious he hadn’t eaten in days.
I guess losing a piece of your soul because of carelessness does that to people. Touché.
Still, Rael could only remain in this form briefly, so he didn’t hesitate to float down and tap Jashin’s forehead.
The moment he did, a few surprising pop-ups appeared.
<Confirmed>
<Entering the Dream Realm!>
<The Mindforged Emperor has all the authority!>
<Choose your Dream invasion type!>
<…>
<The target’s mind is unstable!>
No invasion types appeared. Instead, Rael felt as if he could simply enter Jashin’s body, so he did just that.
He floated down, and in the next moment, his vision turned dark.
But not even a moment later, it returned.
Rael found himself in a Mind Realm with several dozen cracks in the sky. There was a single red moon hanging overhead, shining light through the cracks onto the same exact area where a single figure lay.
The figure was none other than Jashin. He was curled up with his head resting on his knees. Faint sobs echoed, prompting Rael to approach carefully.
Stopping right in front of Jashin, Rael crouched down, and as expected, his eyes were completely hollow, hence why Rael was able to access his mind so easily.
“Hey…” Rael called out, tapping him on the forehead a few times. “If you can hear me, then you best wake up.”
At first, he didn’t react, but with each annoying word Rael uttered, it seemed like a slight pulse shot throughout the Mind Realm. And with each of those pulses, the cracks overhead began to grow.
That was when the entire sky finally shattered, dropping the red moonlight onto the entire Mind Realm, enveloping even Rael himself.
With the light, Jashin finally lifted his gaze and met Rael’s eyes. Then, he spoke.
“You’re… I feel like I remember you,” Jashin mumbled. “Your face, and these annoying abilities of yours. Have we met before?”
“You could say I was the one responsible for putting you in this kind of mess,” Rael replied nonchalantly. “I dealt so much Soul Damage to you that you practically became a cripple. A shitty way to go out, don’t you think?”
Jashin’s brows twitched. “Have you come to finish the job?”
“Mmm… kind of,” Rael said, tilting his head. “You are going to die whether you like it or not, but if it makes you feel any better… the reason the Fourth and First Seat visited you earlier was to check out how you were doing. Based on that assumption, they are going to report your condition to Solenne tomorrow.”
A smirk appeared on Rael’s face. “She mentioned something along the lines of replacing you. Crazy stuff, right?”
Jashin stared at him blankly, clearly not believing him. But after recalling the earlier visit, he knew that what Rael was saying was at least partially true.
“But don’t worry, I plan to take revenge for you,” Rael said, extending his hand forward and grabbing Jashin’s neck. “After all, I plan to kill every single one of you Blazing Sun bastards.”
With those words, Rael activated one of his skill effects.
<Essence Absorption has been activated!>
<Consume the opponent’s fractured mind and obtain 20% of their Mental Integrity.>
<+204 Mental Integrity!>
Jashin’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. Just like that, he was knocked out for a good while.
Rael could kill him here and now, then buy his identity, but he had some concerns.
For starters, what if by killing Jashin, a message would be sent to Solenne?
Therefore, the soonest Rael could kill him was after looting the Vault.
So with that in mind, Rael used one of his skills.
-500 Mental Integrity | 2,929 / 3,429 [x1 Synaptic Hijack]
<Ding!>
<Target is not showing any resistance!>
<You may control the target however long you please!>
Coincidentally, he realized that whenever he used skills inside his Mind Realm after getting the Mindforged Emperor race, the mana was basically converted into Mental Integrity.
So he could even cast Draconic Neuroweb without Dragon Force. It was too overpowered.
Still, Rael’s vision shifted slightly, then cleared up.
He was inside Jashin’s body, and as expected, he felt incredibly weak.
But weak or not, Rael stood up and fixed his clothes. Then, he glanced at the door as a grin appeared on his face.
Obviously, it was time to loot the Vault.