Chapter 401: Chapter 401: The Conspirator’s Henchman_1
Halo’s sudden frenzy startled everyone present. Although Halo wasn’t lucid on most days, she was generally cooperative when she was taken to bathe and get some air—she was just insane, not intellectually disabled. When it came to necessities of life, she was at least well-behaved.
Fortunately, the riot control officer reacted in time, grabbing the chain tightly and catching Halo. At the same time, he felt a painful wrench in his wrist—the pain was feedback from Halo’s wrist being tugged by the shackles. Thankfully, this level of pain didn’t affect the officer’s strength; he kept pulling the chain back, engaging in a tug-of-war with Halo.
Given the physique of the riot control officers, they could completely overpower Halo in terms of both strength and weight, but the frenzied Halo erupted with astonishing power at that moment. She charged towards Aiden like a mad dog being pulled back, oblivious to the handcuffs that had already cut deep into the flesh of her wrists.
At the same time, she was screaming her lungs out "Die, my Lord’s enemy! Blasphemer! Pawn of that damned conspirator!! Ahhh!!"
"Damn it!" The unexpected event caused Isabella to panic momentarily, as she instinctively reached for her baton at her waist.
"Stay calm, don’t lay a hand on her!" Aiden directed at Isabella.
It was then that Isabella abruptly realized—if she got rough with Halo, she would probably end up in the infirmary herself.
Aiden maintained a safe distance from Halo, lifted his hand, and snapped his fingers, commanding, "Full restraint mode."
The mercury golem standing by Aiden’s side sprang into action, rushing over and swiftly transforming. It coiled around Halo like a snake and then solidified back into a set of peculiar manacles that clamped around Halo’s neck. From the collar, four chains extended—the shorter two fastening her wrists forward and the longer ones her ankles backward. The length of the chains was so limited that Halo couldn’t stretch her elbows or knee joints and was forced to kneel on the ground, trussed up and immobile.
"Ahhh!!" Halo was still screaming madly.
Aiden added another command: "Muzzle."
The mercury golem differentiated a piece to form a mask that sealed Halo’s mouth, reducing her to making muffled "mmm" noises.
"Such intricate binding technique, the warden sure knows how to play!" Fille suddenly exclaimed with shining eyes, "Shall we try it next time?"
"Enough with the jokes, get to work," Aiden instructed with an unchanged expression, "Hypnotize her."
"I can’t handle this kind of mentally overexcited nutjob," Fille waved her hands in refusal, "It’s too draining."
"Presia," Aiden had to turn to someone more professional, "Inmate 3397, unseal her spellcasting privileges."
Presia stepped forward, chanting softly, "Close your eyes, let the night rise from within you."
The hypnosis spell took effect instantly, and Halo was struck by an overwhelming wave of drowsiness. Her body began to sway, but her mouth still muttered incoherently as if she was talking in her sleep.
Presia chanted another spell to enhance the effect.
"Sleep," she said to Halo.
Finally, Halo fell silent, her head drooped heavily under the restraint of the mercury golem, losing consciousness.
Presia breathed a sigh of relief. This type of non-hostile mental interference did not trigger Halo’s "vengeance" reaction. So far, most of what Halo could rebound was physical damage.
"How could she suddenly become like this?" Isabella was at a loss, "Warden, she... she really was quite well-behaved when we brought her out."
"I know, it has nothing to do with you," Aiden signaled for her not to be nervous.
He had noticed Halo’s abnormality for some time now, but with her current mental state, even if he spoke to her, she wouldn’t be able to give any useful response.
Not until Halo finally took action did Aiden realize that the lunatic had developed enmity towards him.
The enemy of my lord... A minion of the conspirator?
Halo was a Priestess of the "Vengeance Sanctuary," serving the goddess of vengeance.
The enemy of the vengeance goddess was the conspiracy goddess, Melifilia—to be precise, it was actually both Melifilia and Melissa. This was probably who she referred to as the conspirator.
A minion? Did this guy think he was a minion of the conspiracy goddess?
Could it be that there were some traces left by the dungeon goddess on him? Or was it the divinity that accumulated within him, or the influence of the divine words he commanded?
Or perhaps, was there some kind of change within Halo herself?
In any case, the root cause of Halo’s sudden enmity towards him probably laid with the conspiracy goddess.
Maybe he could have Presia look into it on the side...
"How long can she stay calm like this?" Aiden asked Presia.
"Sleeping till tomorrow morning won’t be a problem," Presia replied.
Aiden controlled the mercury alloy golem to release the restraints, supporting Halo as she slowly collapsed onto the ground.
Then Aiden turned to Isabella, "Get someone to bring a stretcher, and take her to the infirmary."
"Are you going to treat her?" Isabella blinked.
"Give her a mental checkup, find a bed to strap her to. Presia, could you do me a favor and work some overtime before tonight’s mission?" Aiden then turned to Presia.
"Didn’t I already probe this lunatic’s spirit before? It wasn’t something I could deal with effectively," Presia responded with a frown.
After the incidents with the Witch’s Gathering and the Harvest Mother Cult concluded, Presia began working for Aiden, along with Daili. At that time, Aiden had Presia attempt a certain degree of intervention treatment on some of the mentally troubled prisoners, among whom was Halo.
In a world where psychology was not very developed, Presia, who had mastered Mental Magic to an exceptional degree, was essentially an expert in the field. Even though the effects of Mental Magic were short-lived, regular hypnosis and suggestions could still have some corrective impact over the long term.
Many prisoners showed improvements under Presia’s treatment. Only two were beyond her help; one was Camilla, whom Aiden had hoped to alleviate her addiction to violence through mental treatments. However, she had a certain resistance to the hypnotic effects of Mental Magic, and she completely refused to cooperate, leading to failed attempts.
The other one was Halo. The issue with Halo was beyond Presia’s abilities. During the first mental examination of Halo, Presia reported that her spirit was "like several clumps of cotton torn into shreds," as if her brain had suffered severe damage or pathological changes, and mere mental intervention could not hope to repair it.
"I am not asking you to treat her, just to examine. Her mental condition may have changed a bit recently," Aiden told Presia.
