Ethan pressed his foot against the side of Roly's face, the gravel scraping fine bloody scratches across her cheek.
“If you insult me, your people will die. If you curse me, your people will die. If you do nothing, your people will still die. But if you listen to me and do as I say, your people can live. Roly, can you choose? Do you even have the right to choose?”
Roly opened her mouth, a few broken syllables squeezing from her throat. She wanted to curse. She wanted to swear. She wanted to scream. But she couldn't say a thing. The word “save” repeatedly exploded in her mind.
Save the others. Let her clansmen live. No more slaughter.
Her mother was dead. Her companions were dead. The people of Red Sand City were dead. The people in the bunkers were dead.
But there were still people alive outside. There were still many, many people alive.
Her lips quivered for a long time. Finally, a tiny sound squeezed out of her throat, so quiet it was almost imperceptible.
“What... what do I have to do?”
The corners of Ethan's mouth slowly curled up. He released his foot, squatted down, grabbed Roly's hair, and forced her face toward him.
“That's more like it. Roly, what you need to do is very simple. Be obedient. Say whatever I tell you to say. Do whatever I tell you to do. You are no longer a prisoner; you are a savior. You are the successor to the High Priest, the new hope of the Amons. You will tell your people that the war is over. The outsiders are here to save them, and that the High Priest betrayed the World Tree and the Mother Goddess. As long as you do as I say, your people will live. If you don't, they will die a hundred times more miserably than these guys. Understand?”
“I understand,” she said hoarsely. “I will be obedient.”
“Very good. It seems we have reached a preliminary agreement. Now then...”
Ethan's voice paused. “Are you ready to confess your ability to me?”
Roly's body stiffened slightly.
Her lips quivered, a few broken syllables squeezing out of her throat. “I... I don't know what... what you're talking about.”
“Tsk, still playing dumb?” Ethan shook his head. “Back when I killed those three natives, you performed perfectly. So perfectly that no one would ever suspect you.”
“But your biggest mistake was trying to use your ability on me.”
A very subtle shift flickered in Roly's eyes.
It came quickly and vanished even faster.
Her face still wore that terrified, dazed expression, her long, pointed ears pressed tightly against the sides of her head as she huddled, trembling, within the vines' restraint.
“I really don't know... what you're talking about. I don't... don't have any ability.”
Her voice was hoarse and tearful, sounding just like any other terrified prisoner.
Ethan shifted his gaze to the system panel that only he could see.
In the center of the panel, a line of crimson warnings was flashing continuously.
【Affected by a mental supernatural ability. Cognition is being altered. Immune due to The One and Only True Self. Conform to the effect?】
This warning had appeared before his eyes the very first moment he saw Roly.
He withdrew his gaze and looked back at Roly.
“Heh. Still not planning to confess?”
Ethan crouched down.
Their faces were less than half a meter apart. He could see his own reflection in Roly's eyes.
“The effect of your mental power is actually quite impressive. Active at all times, silent and imperceptible. Until one day, my cognition would be completely altered by you, and I would become your slave, right?”
The expression on Roly's face froze.
The terror vanished.
The confusion vanished.
Tears still hung on her face, but the emotions in her eyes receded rapidly, like a peeling layer of wax.
She straightened her body, hovering a foot above the ground.
The dirt on her body fell away on its own, and a faint, emerald-green glow shimmered on the surface of her pale green skin.
Her long, pointed ears perked up slightly, and her damaged leather armor became pristine once more.
Her voice turned ethereal, as if coming from a great distance.
“I didn't expect an outsider like you to be able to resist my ability.”
Ethan stood up.
“Although I must have long-term contact with you to control you, there's no reason for you to be completely unaffected.” Roly's gaze fell on Ethan's face, the amber in her eyes no longer carrying any disguise.
Ethan spread the fingers of his right hand, an emerald-green light lighting up in his palm.
“I don't need to explain to you why I'm unaffected. Now, I'll give you a chance. Submit, or die.”
Roly lowered her head, looking at her chest.
Roly lowered her head, looking at her chest.
The Seed Bomb floated out from beneath her leather armor on its own.
The emerald-green speck of light hovered before her chest, the flowing patterns on its surface trembling slightly.
She reached out with two fingers, pinched the Seed Bomb, and peeled it away from her chest.
The Seed Bomb hovered quietly at her fingertips.
“Submit?” She raised her head, her amber eyes devoid of any expression. “Are you relying on this thing?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the light on the surface of the Seed Bomb abruptly dimmed.
The emerald-green speck of light trembled gently at Roly's fingertips, and all the flowing runic patterns dissipated at the same time.
The speck of light shattered into countless tiny dusts of light, drifting down through her fingers and vanishing into the air.
Ethan's pupils contracted slightly.
The mental connection between him and the Seed Bomb had been severed.
There was no mana clash, no runic unraveling, nor any energy fluctuation that he could perceive.
The Seed Bomb was dispelled just like that, like a candle flame blown out by the wind.
Roly released her fingers, the last speck of light dust sliding from her fingertips.
And then, her figure vanished.
There was no afterimage, no sound of breaking wind, and no trace of movement whatsoever.
One moment she was hovering in front of Ethan, and the next, she had already appeared dozens of meters away.
She stood beside the Priestess's corpse, her left hand grasping that bone-white short staff.
It was unclear when she had picked up the short staff, but the emerald-green crystal at its tip lit up once more.
Ethan's right hand was already raised.
Flying Leaves poured from his palm, hundreds of emerald-green leaves cascading toward Roly's position like a torrential downpour.
The leaves sliced through the air, letting out sharp whistles.
Roly raised her left hand.
She drew an arc in front of her with the short staff.
An emerald-green barrier spread from the tip of the staff, forming a spherical protective layer around her body.
The Flying Leaves struck the barrier, but not even a ripple appeared on its surface.
The leaves shattered into fine points of light, dispersing into the air.
Ethan pressed down with his left hand at the same time.
The gravel ground beneath Roly's feet exploded, and dozens of wood pillars erupted from the sandy soil, each as thick as an adult's waist.
The wood pillars thrust out from different angles, sealing off all room for evasion.
The thickest one stabbed straight up from directly beneath her, the sharp wooden spike at its tip glinting coldly under the sunlight.
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