Chapter 57: Escape
Their eyes met.
For the first time, Performer felt a sense of helplessness.
For a few brief seconds, she held her breath, not daring to move a muscle, not even daring to curse inwardly.
Because the person in front of her was a lunatic…
A true, unpredictable lunatic.
The Seer stared at Performer with an unusually solemn expression, then suddenly clapped her hands and shouted,
“I know!”
You know what?
Performer’s snake-like pupils trembled, the sting of the slaps on her face still lingering.
“You’re also eating mushrooms! People can eat mushrooms!” The Seer’s face lit up with excitement, and she started dancing around. “Ahahaha, eat mushrooms, I want to eat more mushrooms!”
She ran around Performer in circles, then, still laughing maniacally, ran deeper into the subterranean cavern.
“…Unreasonable lunatic.”
Performer muttered, though it was the truth.
However, at least the girl hadn’t interrupted her ritual…
Just as Performer thought this, a soul-shaking shout echoed from behind her.
“Lu!”
Performer’s hair stood on end, a chilling coldness surging from her bone marrow.
She saw countless blades flying towards her from all directions, the sensation of being sliced into a thousand pieces, the intense pain almost making her lose consciousness.
When she came to her senses, Performer found her body unharmed, but her soul felt fractured.
“A soul-based attack? An Awakened One on the Oneiric path?”
Performer turned and saw a small, red-haired girl in a wheelchair, her eyes closed, her face pale with fear. The hellish surroundings seemed to be affecting her deeply.
Behind the red-haired girl stood a white-haired girl of similar age, her expression cold.
It was fortunate that Performer had suppressed the white reishi; otherwise, Luo Ling and Elsa wouldn’t have been able to withstand the intense mental assault.
Even so, the sight of the subterranean cavern alone was terrifying enough.
“Ci!”
“Yi!”
“Mie!”
Elsa’s voice continued. Her ability had no effect on Luo Ling, so she could use it without restraint.
As three more words left her lips, Performer’s soul experienced the tortures of beheading, dismemberment, and hanging, threatening to shatter completely.
A soul in this state couldn’t maintain the ritual. The demonic eye on her fingertip slowly closed, seemingly disdainful of such a fragmented offering.
“No…”
Performer, recovering from the agonizing pain, watched as the ritual she had painstakingly prepared crumbled irrevocably, her gaze filled with hatred as she looked at Luo Ling and Elsa.
How was this possible…?
How had they broken free from her psychological suggestion?
Even a Mid-Order Awakened One, without any external interference, should have remained under the basic psychological suggestion for at least half an hour.
“In that case, I’ll offer you to ‘Him’…”
Tears of blood streamed down Performer’s face as she used psychological suggestion again, despite her damaged soul, intending to push it to its highest level, regardless of the consequences.
But…
It had no effect.
Luo Ling and Elsa’s gazes remained clear, unaffected by the psychological suggestion.
“So this is An Yu’s ability…”
Luo Ling was inwardly impressed.
She could feel a force acting on her consciousness, but it was instantly erased upon contact.
And Elsa’s ability was equally terrifying.
She was clearly an Awakened One on the Oneiric path, and she had managed to survive the exchange group’s ambush, perhaps even killing them… she was definitely not weak.
But under the effect of Elsa’s ability, Performer’s soul, which should have been her greatest strength, was incredibly fragile.
After using her ability four times, Elsa’s face was pale, the strain evident.
But she gritted her teeth, preparing to utter the fifth word.
Just then, Performer’s furious expression vanished, replaced by confusion as she looked at her fingertip, then at Elsa.
“What’s going on?”
Then, as if realizing something, a look of understanding dawned on her face.
“I see…”
“Yan!”
The torture of burning descended upon Performer, her soul feeling as if engulfed in flames, but she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Hahaha… I see…”
The next moment, Performer’s expression hardened as she used psychological suggestion again.
But this time, not on Luo Ling or Elsa, but on herself.
—Suggesting, Scientist.
“Oh dear, Performer, how did you end up in such a state? Having to trouble me to come all the way here. I’m on a tight schedule, you know.”
Performer’s voice suddenly turned cheerful, a playful glint appearing in her eyes.
But just as quickly, her expression returned to its previous state, filled with hatred and resentment.
“Cut the crap. Is that girl in the wheelchair your experiment? She’s using Grotesquery abilities.”
“Let’s see,” Performer looked up languidly, her gaze falling on Elsa, and her eyes lit up. “Well, well, well, isn’t this my dearest Elsa, still holding the little Bella that Artist gave you?”
Hearing these words, Elsa, who had been about to use her ability for the sixth time, paled, her face filled with terror.
“You, you’re…”
Buried memories surged forth, the deepest secrets of her heart, the past she desperately wanted to avoid.
“It’s me. Don’t you recognize your dear Sister Scientist? Did you think you could escape to a place I couldn’t find you? Hmm, I couldn’t indeed, but you came to me yourself!”
Performer laughed triumphantly, so hard that she coughed up blood.
“What the hell happened to your soul? Oh, right, it must be Little Elsa’s doing. Naughty girl, didn’t Sister Scientist tell you not to hurt people with your ability?” Performer looked at Elsa, a cold smile spreading across her lips. “You should listen to Sister Scientist… wasn’t I clear enough?”
“Cut the crap, make your experiment stop! She interrupted my ritual!”
“Oh my, were you trying to steal a snack? Tsk, tsk, such a big appetite, not leaving any for me? I don’t care about Artist, but I came all this way, and I’m not leaving with just one runaway little darling.”
“If you keep babbling, you won’t get any at all!”
“Tsk, tsk, such a hothead. I was just making small talk, heh…”
Performer’s expression kept shifting, talking to herself, but the terror in Elsa’s eyes deepened.
“No, no…”
She wanted to escape.
Desperately.
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