The Guide Played Her Role as a Stand-in a Little Too Well - Chapter 143
The difference was the inherent quality of guiding itself.
Hedonia now understood why Robert was so obsessed with nurturing and managing guides.
Respecting and embracing all abilities would threaten his position.
‘…I always knew you were a coward, but…’
He hadn’t expected it to go this low.
“Did you not realize that death could be a more merciful end?”
But Robert underestimated Hedonia.
The reason Hedonia had been so eager to kill him was to eliminate the threat to Karina immediately.
He prioritized Karina’s safety over his own revenge.
‘But now that it’s come to this.’
To resolve the situation, Robert had to be kept alive for now.
Robert, seeing Hedonia’s chilling gaze, began to doubt his decision.
Had he sacrificed too much to save his life?
Robert gulped.
“If you inflict too much pain on me, I’ll trigger it immediately.”
“So you’re saying you’d bite your own tongue off.”
Hedonia immediately understood Robert’s threat.
His life had always been controlled by Robert’s manipulations.
But he refused to let that continue.
Blood trickled from Hedonia’s lips as he bit down hard.
‘If I can’t do anything…’
How can I call myself an Esper?
Hedonia’s golden eyes sparkled brilliantly like the newly risen sun.
From his hands, golden threads began to emerge.
‘…What is this?’
Hedonia frowned, but Robert, with his triumphant expression, seemed oblivious to these threads.
‘Is this my power?’
Instinctively, Hedonia understood how to use these threads.
They wrapped around Robert’s head.
Robert felt his mind becoming increasingly foggy.
‘…No way.’
Hedonia hadn’t used his abilities until now. Turning his head, Robert saw Hedonia concentrating.
“What the…”
Hedonia said nothing, but Robert was seized by a sense of impending doom.
‘This can’t be.’
His instincts screamed in warning. But the sensation lasted only a moment.
Suddenly, a thought rose and dominated his mind, whispering sweetly.
‘Do as you’re told… accept everything…’
It’s the natural order and fate.
The insidious voice gnawed at him.
Is this how Espers feel when being guided?
For the first time, Robert experienced the sensation of an Esper receiving guidance.
And it was not a pleasant feeling at all.
“No…”
Robert resisted strongly.
He wouldn’t go down easily.
He was a man who had survived many battles and navigated the aristocratic society for a long time.
But Hedonia had endured Robert longer than anyone else.
Brainwashing a person requires a lot of time and a well-prepared environment.
Changing someone’s beliefs requires that much time and effort.
Even with all the right conditions, changing a single thought can be difficult.
This was the case with Kayden Cairoze.
To brainwash someone, you need information about that person.
The ability Hedonia had was more about igniting existing thoughts.
It couldn’t be called complete brainwashing, but it could be considered such because it incited and amplified non-existent thoughts.
However, Hedonia’s ability was entirely different.
‘Is it because I endured by Robert’s side?’
Or was it the deep-seated desire to destroy everything Robert had?
Whatever the reason, his ability had the power to overturn the game Robert had set.
Hedonia, with a faint smile, muttered,
“Release the brainwashing on all the guides immediately.”
Robert’s body trembled violently.
The more he resisted, the more Hedonia’s eyes became intense, sweat beading on his forehead.
Guiding someone who wasn’t an ordinary person was much more difficult than he had anticipated.
Moreover, it was Hedonia’s first time using his power, making it even harder to control.
The ability to read a person’s mind and extract what he wanted required far more concentration than he had expected.
But Hedonia did not give up.
He repeated his command.
“Release the spell on all the guides immediately, Robert Apharantes.”
Robert’s eyes gradually lost focus.
“…Yes.”
Finally, Robert nodded in agreement.
