Chapter 305: Mind Control

"Kill me."

Zild’s voice echoed in the area as he knelt in front of Killian.

He had just woken up a few minutes earlier, and it did not take long for him to remember everything that had happened before he was kicked unconscious.

Around him, Vanessa, Hans, Raxon, Marzana, and the other who were able to remain conscious and witnessed what he did all looked at him with strange gazes.

Although everyone was aware of the relationship between Killian and Zild, they knew that it was a friendly rivalry at most and would never reach the point where they would go for each other’s lives.

Thus, it made the earlier incident all the more strange.

In fact, even Killian himself did not know just what went through Zild’s mind for him to take such action.

Now, looking at the person in question kneeling in front of him with regret written all over his face, he did not know what to do.

Had this happened on any other normal day, Killian would have taken pleasure in mocking him, but it was different now.

While Killian was immersed in his thoughts, Zild was currently gritting his teeth so much to the point that he was starting to taste iron.

Clearly, his gums had begun to bleed due to the pressure.

’Why the hell did I do that?’

Every time he tried to remember what exactly caused his strange actions, a splitting pain would assault his mind.

Zild could clearly sense the gazes of his companions all over him, making him feel even more guilty.

A few minutes passed by before Killian finally shook his head, "I can’t."

"Please, just kill m—"

Before Zild could finish, a fist went straight to his chin.

Thud—

"Stop being so pathetic, god damn it!"

Killian shouted, rage apparent in his gaze, "How dare you say something like that!? Stop being such a coward! You think your life’s worth all that? What? You wanna die? Are you just gonna take the easy way out while dumping all the burden on us? Stop being so selfish!"

His outburst surprised everyone around them.

For as long as they knew Killian, they had never seen him become so emotional.

In the years that they spent with him, not once did he ever show such rage.

Of course, Regis and Pandora were exceptions.

How could they have known that this was Killian’s sore spot?

He was the one who wanted to kill himself the most before he met Regis.

And throughout the years, he was able to reflect on his past thoughts, decisions... and reflect on himself overall.

Thus, from his perspective, Zild’s words reeked of immaturity and selfishness, which triggered him.

Of course, the sudden pressure of protecting everyone around him also contributed to his sudden emotional outburst.

Just as Killian was about to speak again, a soft voice chimed in beside him.

"Calm down. We need to focus on the mission."

"Huh?"

Killian’s face froze as he slowly turned his head to the side.

What greeted his sight was a pair of ruby-red eyes— something that unconsciously brought the terror of the woman he faced earlier.

"Ah!"

Killian involuntarily let out an audible gasp as he scurried away.

Only after a moment did he notice that it was none other than Pandora who had just spoken.

"Tsk, why did you just pop out all of a sudden? What if you gave me a heart attack!?"

Killian protested, but the other party ignored him.

This sight lightened everyone’s mood considerably— this was the Killian they knew, after all.

Not paying attention to the blonde noble protesting behind her, Pandora observed the kneeling Zild with a neutral expression on her face.

Facing her blank eyes that seemed to suck everything into them like black holes, Zild could not help but feel comfortable.

This lasted for a few minutes before Pandora nodded, "Hm..."

"Hm? What does "hm" mean?" Killian said from the side.

Marzana and the others also looked at her in anticipation.

Pandora sighed, "Although I don’t know what exactly happened, Zild seemed to have been subjected to a mental-interfering magic spell— No..."

"This... is not a magic spell..."

Her brows wrinkled deeper by the second, "It’s... an evil craft. I believe the person you faced earlier must have been someone who had deep connections with a strong demon..."

"A superior demonic worshipper?" Marzana asked curiously.

Pandora glanced at her and nodded, "Mhm."

"Zild," She then called out, her expression still as neutral as ever.

Zild flinched like he was a child who was caught doing something wrong and answered meekly, "Y-yes...?"

"Can you describe what you felt earlier? Like, did you sense losing control of your body?"

Faced with such a question, Zild thought for a moment before shaking his head, "No... All I can clearly remember is me dashing to that woman called Merriam, but... Ah!"

He suddenly clutched his head as he groaned loudly.

This sudden behavior caught everyone off guard.

Pandora immediately said firmly, "Forget it. This evil craft must have been so powerful to the point that it interferes with his memory... or even his soul."

"Hah... Hah..." The moment Zild stopped himself from forcefully remembering what happened, his body relaxed and slumped on the ground.

Pandora turned her gaze to everyone who was awake and said with a serious expression, "The enemies we have right now are not simple. Let’s assume that they have a strong mind control ability that could bypass everything..."

"Mind control?" Vanessa murmured beneath her breath.

Patti also had a grave expression on his face, "Is there even something we can do about that? Even from what I know through our connections, very few mages tackle mental magic since it’s viewed as an unorthodox field of magic, meaning that there are even fewer records regarding mind control magic spells."

"Frankly, there’s nothing much we can do about it..."

Pandora’s words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone’s hopes.

Though in the next second, she added, "But it’s not like we’re helpless against it..."

Her ruby-red eyes turned towards Marzana, making the elven girl shudder unconsciously as she pointed at herself.

"M-Me...?"