Chapter 104: Using Hypnosis Well

Chapter 104: Using Hypnosis Well

As the ancient Hermes word echoed, the places where Audrey and Hvin Rambis stood simultaneously darkened.

It was as though someone had passed by, blocking the nearest window, then swiftly moved away.

By the time the light recovered, within the illusory world, the island of consciousness covered by a terrifying psychic storm had changed from Audrey’s to Hvin Rambis’s, while the one invading the other’s Mind Body had changed from Hvin Rambis to Audrey.

Luck Stealer charm!

This was a charm made using Amon’s Worm of Time as the material, with the power of The Fool as its support. It could steal the target’s fate for a short period ahead and exchange it with the user’s corresponding future.

This was the payment Audrey had received from Gehrman Sparrow when she treated Hazel’s mental collapse. With this charm, she grafted her own future, in which her consciousness barrier was about to shatter and her mind would soon be manipulated, onto Hvin Rambis. From him, she stole the fate of controlling the psychic storm, opening the target’s Mind Body, and directly modifying and planting the corresponding consciousness.

In an instant, the situation was reversed. Audrey leaped from the edge of collapse into an absolute advantage.

Of course, this advantage could last only a very short period of time.

To be honest, if she had not spent the previous two days imagining how to struggle and save herself when trapped in a desperate situation, Audrey definitely would not have thought of using the Luck Stealer charm just now. Or rather, by the time she thought of it, it would already have been too late. Similarly, at this moment, just like in the countless rehearsals in her mind, she suppressed her astonishment at the effect of Luck Stealer and swiftly confirmed her state. Taking advantage of her current superiority, she let the psychic storm mixed with the effects of hypnosis sweep forward with a roar, instantly opening the door to Hvin Rambis’s Mind Body.

Hvin Rambis immediately froze there, like an ordinary person who had placed all his attention on Audrey’s golden eyes and been hypnotized as a result.

Yes, at that moment, as a demigod of the Spectator pathway, his mind had been manipulated by Audrey, who was only Sequence 6.

Because of that, even when Luck Stealer’s effect ended, this already accomplished fact could no longer be changed!

However, Audrey knew that she had only used that magical charm to rely on Hvin Rambis’s own ability to open the door to his Mind Body and complete the initial manipulation. If she wished to do anything afterward, she would inevitably endure the corresponding resistance. With the gap between their Sequence levels, she had no way to resist or control anything too intense.

Furthermore, she could clearly sense that, deep inside Hvin Rambis’s subconscious, he was resisting the current state. In the real world, a few grayish-white scales were also beginning to appear on his face.

It will not be long before he can forcefully break free from my initial manipulation of his mind… Audrey instantly gained this realization.

She immediately cast her gaze toward Hvin Rambis’s head and somewhat regretted not carrying a powerful handgun. Otherwise, she could have seized this opportunity to fire several shots and attempt a kill.

Very soon, she remembered that she herself possessed Dragon Scales. She believed Hvin Rambis definitely had them too, and that his would be stronger and sturdier. Ordinary attacks would be unable to break through them; even the vast majority of mystical items corresponding to low and mid sequences would be incapable of doing so!

And if she could not kill him in a single strike, Hvin Rambis would certainly use that to wake up and break free of control.

Without hesitation, lacking sufficient offensive methods, Audrey swiftly reached a decision:

“Hypnotize him!”

He is most skilled at hypnosis and has extremely strong resistance against it. For that very reason, he is unlikely to have prepared additional items for defending against mental influence… I cannot make him do something that goes too far against his own will. With our difference in level, I definitely cannot oppose the corresponding subconscious resistance… Thought after thought flashed through Audrey’s mind as she slightly moistened her dry lips and carefully opened her mouth.

She worked hard not to show any abnormality. Gazing into Hvin Rambis’s eyes, she spoke in an exceptionally gentle voice:

“Find a place in Glaint’s mansion and wait. Fifteen minutes later, go to the garden to find me…”

This implantation of a subconscious idea did not stir any obvious resistance. Audrey completed the manipulation rather smoothly. For Hvin Rambis, he truly had come to find Audrey today, and the meeting location he had prepared was also Viscount Glaint’s mansion. Audrey’s hypnosis had merely changed the corresponding time and specific place, with the difference remaining within a very small range. Because of that, it fit Hvin Rambis’s will, cost little effort, and did not encounter intense resistance.

“All right…” Hvin Rambis answered her earlier words.

Audrey had no time to breathe a sigh of relief. Her spirit lifted, and she continued looking into his eyes, speaking softly:

“You will only come to find me a quarter hour later, so you have not yet seen me today.

“Since you have not yet seen me, everything that happened just now definitely does not exist. It will be forgotten.”

Because Hvin Rambis had already accepted the previous hypnosis, this followed the corresponding logic. Although instinctive resistance existed, it was not intense. Very quickly, within those bright, golden, deep, and enchanting eyes, it vanished without a trace.

“Yes. I have not yet seen you. Nothing happened just now…” Hvin Rambis repeated with a slightly blank expression. More grayish-white scales appeared across his skin.

After finishing this key step, Audrey restrained the urge to pat her chest. After thinking for one second, she said,

“When you hear my singing, you will become peaceful.”

She had originally wanted to pair charm with hypnosis, but discovered that she did not know how to strike an enticing pose, nor could she make the corresponding expression. She could only raise a hand and gather up a strand of her fallen golden hair. Her head tilted slightly; her eyes then turned flowing and bright, and her smile became radiant.

Immediately afterward, she hummed a section of the melody of Manor Beneath the Moon.

Hvin Rambis looked at the girl before him, beautiful like sunlight, flowers, and gemstones, and listened to that ethereal, airy voice. His mind gradually grew tranquil, and he no longer showed resistance.

Seeing that her initial manipulation was about to be broken free from, Audrey did not delay. She pointed toward the other side of the corridor.

“Go over there. When you see that stained-glass window, regain your clarity and remove the Dragon Scales.”

She knew very clearly that on the other side of the corridor, in the direction of the main door, there were one beautiful white-based stained-glass window after another.

This command contained no danger and did not particularly go against Hvin Rambis’s own will. He immediately stepped forward, walked swiftly along the corridor, and turned right.

Only after his back vanished from view did Audrey slowly breathe out, letting the flood of lingering fear, terror, and tension surge up and wreak havoc in her heart.

Her body trembled lightly. Her mouth opened slightly, and she uncontrollably began taking short breaths in and out.

After ten seconds, Audrey used Placate on herself and allowed herself to calm down.

Then she glanced at the wall clock, stood where she was, raised both hands, clasped them before her mouth and nose, and recited Mr. Fool’s honorific name in a low voice.

She prayed for another angelic blessing and asked that great existence to tell The World, Gehrman Sparrow, that she had already determined when Hvin Rambis would appear. She would summon him two minutes beforehand. He should calculate the time and arrive accordingly, without needing to hurry too much or come too close, lest Hvin Rambis notice that there was an ambush.

During this process, Audrey only briefly mentioned what had just happened, not describing it in detail, so as not to waste time.

Next, she raised her hands, pressed them against her cheeks, restored her expression completely to normal, and began hypnotizing herself so that the moment she saw Hvin Rambis, she would hum the earlier melody.

After all of this was done, Audrey headed to the hall. She first found the large golden retriever Susie and retrieved the Lie necklace and the Alcohol’s Nemesis diamond brooch from her—the latter, which could resist mental influence, could be worn for at most half an hour. Otherwise, the damage to her liver and brain would become irreversible. Therefore, Audrey had prepared to put it on only after leaving Glaint’s mansion, to guard against Hvin Rambis finding her midway.

Susie had failed to detect anything abnormal about Audrey. She watched as Audrey pinned on the brooch and put on the necklace.

Several minutes later, Audrey folded a thin black gauze glove and placed it into the pocket of her riding attire. Using the excuse of going to the washroom, she took a long detour and entered Viscount Glaint’s garden.

Then she looked toward the large clock on the spire attached to the house and, in a slightly tense state, began memorizing the time.

For her, she was afraid that Hvin Rambis would not come, and she was also worried that he would arrive early or late.

Time passed second by second. Audrey used Placate on herself twice to calm her mind.

When only two minutes and fifteen seconds remained, she removed the feather ornament from the hat on her head and snapped her wrist.

Scarlet flames surged upward, igniting that white feather.

This was Lie’s Manipulate Flames ability.

As the flames burned, they turned pale, needing only two or three seconds to reduce that feather—one of the byproducts of the artificial Death—to ash.

And no change occurred around her.

After glancing at the large clock again, Audrey took out a charm made of white tin and spoke a word in ancient Hermes:

“Lightning!”

The charm immediately lit up, as though many tiny electric snakes were entwining.

This was the charm that summoned Gehrman Sparrow.

When the electric light faded and the charm completely disintegrated, merging into the void, the area nearby remained quiet, without the slightest commotion.

Xio and Fors should already have found an Evernight church and begun praying… Audrey calmed herself and pretended to admire the last remaining autumn flowers.

She did not look up again at the large clock. Instead, she began silently counting down inside her heart.

Three seconds. Two seconds. One second… She slowly raised her head and looked around, but she did not see Hvin Rambis.

Did he discover something wrong and stay away from this place? Audrey’s heart abruptly tightened, and she could not help thinking back over whether she had made any mistakes.

Just then, a gentle voice sounded beside her ear:

“What are you looking for?”

Audrey’s pupils suddenly widened. From the corner of her eye, she saw Hvin Rambis, silver-haired and pale-blue-eyed, standing beside her at some unknown point, seemingly with a trace of puzzlement hidden in his tone.

Having already hypnotized herself, she did not hesitate at this moment. Following the response in her subconscious, she began humming the beautiful melody of Manor Beneath the Moon.

Amid that ethereal and airy sound, Hvin Rambis grew peaceful and listened intently.

Suddenly, he discovered that the distance between himself and Audrey had become incredibly far, incredibly distant—even though neither of them had moved.

The night had enveloped the afternoon garden, and an enormous crimson moon had risen above the roof of the nearest building. A figure stood there, dressed in a black windbreaker and wearing a half top hat, his face blurred by the backlight.