Chapter 306: Original Mission

"Yes."

Pandora answered straightforwardly without an ounce of hesitation on her face.

"..."

Marzana was at a loss for words.

Just as they were about to continue discussing their next course of action...

"Ugh..."

"What happened..."

"Argh..."

...

Pained groans sounded in the distance, prompting everyone to look over.

There, they could see that their companions who had been unconscious since earlier were now starting to wake up one by one.

A few minutes went by in a flash.

The caravan had now gathered together and sat in a circle after they made sure that everyone was fine.

Killian and the others who were able to remain conscious had also informed their companions about what had happened earlier.

This lasted for a few minutes.

After hearing the details, Aurelia was the first one to speak as she first turned her gaze towards Killian with a strange look in her eyes, "Can I ask you something first?"

"Of course," Killian answered amiably.

"When you ate the food earlier, how did you make sure that the poison in it was not lethal?"

Aurelia’s question also made Pandora and the others raise their brows as they looked at Killian for answers.

"I didn’t."

Hearing Killian’s response, everyone could not help but be taken aback.

Even Patti, Zild, Hans, and the other who were able to remain conscious could not help but look at him with peculiar gazes.

Killian raised his finger, "Since I didn’t know at the start whether it was harmful or not, I tested it first."

"You tested it?"

"Yes, that’s right."

Killian nodded and continued explaining, "When I first took a sip of the wine, I used my lightning elemental aura to accelerate my metabolism. That allowed me to notice the subtle effects the poison was having on my body.

After that, I repeated the process while sampling the different dishes. And since they weren’t selectively serving food to our table and yours, I assumed they weren’t using different poisons on us."

"I didn’t know you were that capable. Good job," Pandora gave him a thumbs up as she spoke in a flat tone.

’Is that a compliment or not...?’

Killian almost choked on his own saliva, before he forced a smile, "T-Thanks..."

The previously grave atmosphere had now become comfortable for everyone again.

Aurelia then chose to change the topic as her gaze swept through each member of the caravan.

"What should our next course of action be?"

After a brief moment of silence, Pandora looked at her and spoke, "Let’s get back to our topic earlier."

"Oh, the conversation about the mind control abilities of our opponents?" Since they had already been informed earlier, Aurelia and the others were not strangers to the earlier discussions when they were still unconscious.

Pandora nodded, "Yes. First of all, I need to give everyone a basic understanding of mind control magic. Although our enemies are using evil crafts that achieve similar effects, the underlying principles should be somewhat alike."

She thought for a moment before continuing, "Mind control magic is pretty self-explanatory. It interferes with people’s minds, while some stronger ones interfere with the soul itself. Since knowledge regarding this magic is basically limited, let’s focus on how we’ll be breaking it."

At the end of her words, Pandora glanced at Marzana, making the elven girl shift uncomfortably on the large root she was sitting on as she continued to speak.

"There are only two known ways one can break mind control magic."

Pandora raised her index and middle fingers as she spoke, "The first method is through stimulation. If the stimulation is strong enough, the one being controlled can break free from the spell. This stimulation can come in the form of intense emotions, physical pain, or sudden mental shock.

In some cases, even a drastic change in surroundings or a life-threatening situation may be enough to disrupt the control temporarily."

"How about the second method?" Aurelia asked curiously.

Pandora sighed and answered, "Through will alone. When controlling others via mind control magic, those with stronger minds would be a harder target. And if one’s mind is strong enough, they can render the spell ineffective or even break out of it on their own."

"..."

At her words, everyone in the caravan could not help but fall into deep thought.

However, Pandora was not done yet as she continued speaking, "What I told you was information on how to break out of mind control magic. But our opponents are using evil crafts, so the two methods might not be as effective considering the edge of demonic power over mana."

Her gaze slowly turned to Marzana’s direction, "Fortunately, we have someone who can use chaos energy, which has the ability to nullify even demonic power. Since Brother isn’t here, you’re the only one who can help us.

Our plan would be simple: whenever we feel ourselves losing control of our bodies, we must do our best to dash towards Ms. Marzana."

"But when I was controlled earlier, there were no warning signs whatsoever..." Zild chimed in from the side.

The earlier guilt and regret written on his face were now replaced by determination.

At his words, Pandora fell into deep thought, "That makes things more complicated..."

It was then that Marzana raised her hand, "I won’t directly participate in the fight. Instead, I’ll focus on watching your conditions. Since I won’t be affected by the mind control, I think it would work."

"That indeed sounds like the most effective pla—"

Before Aurelia could even finish speaking, everyone’s ears perked up as they sensed fluctuations.

Killian hurriedly got up, "Something’s happening in the direction of the Xerxes Village..."

It was unclear when it happened, but Marzana was now kneeling beside a massive ancient tree, her palms pressed against its enormous roots as she closed her eyes, her brows furrowed in concentration.

This lasted for only a few seconds before she opened her eyes and said, "The trees... their voices are being blurred by the surge of demonic power. The only information I heard is the fact that demonic worshippers are currently attacking Xerxes Village."

"It seems like they launched an attack immediately after they knew that we were reinforcements..." Auryn furrowed her brows in worry.

Vanessa could not help but chuckle from the side, "They didn’t even give us any time to prepare, huh~."

Despite their words, everyone immediately got up and dashed towards the direction of the Xerxes Village.

After all, their original mission, the moment they first stepped into the Forest of Eternity, remained clear as ever:

Help the elves get rid of the demonic worshippers.