The Guide Played Her Role as a Stand-in a Little Too Well - Chapter 213
The espers, who were at odds with each other, began to fight using their abilities without paying any attention to the people around them.
The site was filled with the painful groans of those falling and the rampaging espers.
Among them were many wounded, bleeding profusely, but everyone was too busy running away to transport them, instead pushing each other and trampling over the injured. Watching this, Pheon clutched his head.
If Cayden hadn’t broken the brainwashing, he wouldn’t have even glanced at this situation.
‘It’s such a relief that I listened to Karina.’
Pheon recalled the moment he fell for Cayden’s brainwashing and imprisoned Karina deep in the underground of the mage tower.
To think he had drawn out desires that should have remained just thoughts.
‘Cayden must have really lost his mind in his quest for revenge.’
He still couldn’t believe he had gone that far.
Even at that moment, Karina, instead of being disappointed in him, took his side, saying he was a victim of brainwashing. Her image was vividly etched in his mind.
But bitterly, that wasn’t the only thing etched in his mind.
This incident also made him realize how strong the trust between Karina and Hedonia was.
Hedonia’s determination to rescue Karina from him stood out, and Karina had the certainty that Hedonia would come to rescue her.
Otherwise, even in captivity, her actions to resolve the situation would not have come before worrying about her own life and death.
‘A hopeless one-sided love, indeed.’
What could he do? Life had never gone the way he wanted.
Since he had done wrong, he had no choice but to support the two for now.
‘There’s always after the divorce.’
What are the odds that a couple will stay together for a lifetime?
He had to wait for the next opportunity.
First, he had to deal with his mistake that was right in front of him.
“Since it was partly my fault due to the brainwashing that led to this situation, I’ll give you two some time to talk.”
Pheon reached out toward the espers who were busy fighting each other. Flames flowed from his hand, bursting in the air and spreading into a large fire, which then transformed into a kind of barrier that divided the espers who had started to confront each other.
“I never thought the skills I honed before meeting Miss Karina would be used like this.”
Pheon muttered quietly with a bitter smile. His term of address for Karina had reverted to ‘Miss’ without him realizing it.
Knowing he had to start over from the beginning, he was the first to draw a line.
The espers couldn’t easily cross the line due to the menacing fire.
However, the atmosphere of mutual hatred between them didn’t seem likely to subside easily.
* * *
“……It shouldn’t have escalated this much.”
Hedonia stared at the group of espers who had begun to fight, blood splattering. No matter how much he thought about it, something was off. It wasn’t the first time they had grievances, but it made no sense for them to express their opinions so blatantly like this.
‘Unless they were brainwashed by someone.’
Hedonia’s eyes narrowed.
These were the people who had obediently followed the words of Hedonia and the other S-class espers.
There hadn’t been any significant catalyst at today’s festival to trigger such an outburst of accumulated anger.
‘Then it must be Cayden’s brainwashing.’
Cayden’s brainwashing ability wasn’t as strong as Hedonia’s. It could bring subconscious thoughts to the surface but couldn’t create thoughts out of nothing.
However, his brainwashing left afterimages even after the power was gone. They couldn’t return to their state before the brainwashing.
Even if this situation was roughly resolved, the thoughts awakened in their subconscious would always remain a danger.
This was undoubtedly Cayden’s intention.
To break the brainwashing, Hedonia had to act personally.
‘I have to go through everyone’s mind myself.’
To subdue the thoughts Cayden had implanted back into their subconscious, Hedonia’s ability to deliberately handle thoughts was necessary.
‘……Can I do it?’
There were roughly 300 people under the influence of the brainwashing.
