Chapter 176- Huge Trouble (Part 2)
Something behind Rin moved slowly. The motion wasn't that far and could even be considered a small gush of air pushing something slightly. However, Rin knew better not to believe in coincidences when dealing with a very dangerous situation. His senses were alarming him.
"Get back!" alerting Elise, he pushed her along with him before he created a distance between himself and the dead corpse of Cid.
Looking at it, his eyes squinted tightly and focused on the decapitated head. At the moment, the head was motionless, just like how he left it. But, Rin was certain that it did move now. Its position was slightly different from before.
"What?" Elise asked, clearly not noticing anything abnormal.
"I have sensed the head moving, that demon is still alive," Rin said as he stood in front of Elise instinctively as in his subconscious mind, she was his highest priority at the moment even if he didn't really think it through at all.
At this point, Rin considered Elise as someone way more important to him than his own safety. He would rather risk himself for her than see her get harmed. Whether it was love or not is possible but not certain, but the certain thing is, Elise is someone that Rin cherished greatly, even more than a mere friend or a companion.
Hearing that, Elise walked back without any hesitation. She wasn't going to question whether Rin was sure or not as she trusted his senses.
Evelyn, on the other hand, channeled her mana as she got ready to stop Cid in case he was actually still alive. There were cases of demons that don't die after they get their heads severed. But, that only happened on very rare occasions during the war.
As they were like that, deep silence permeated the place and filled the room with invisible tension. The three of them stared daggers at the decapitated head, waiting for it to move again.
Rin was hoping it was merely his senses playing a small prank on him. However, that didn't turn out to be the case.
The head suddenly started fidgeting without being touched by anything. Not even the air coming inside from the windows can actually make it move like that.
Seconds passed as the three of them watched the head move back and forth before suddenly starting to lift up slowly from the ground and floating in the air. Under the pure, surprised looks of the group, the head slowly floated toward the body that was still attached to the shadow bind.
Then, when it reached the severed neck, it slowly descended and linked with it again. The palace of the dagger cut vanished as if it was never there in the first place.
The blood also was sucked inside the crack before it was completely closed. A second later, the unfocused, dead eyes of Cid regained their focus and their vigorous life.
The moment that happened, a wide, ominous grin cracked through his lips, unsettling the trio even more.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" A hearty laugh then echoed in the whole room.
"This is funny… truly funny! I'm really impressed, Rin! You have done something that no one had done to me before. I'm a master of deceit. I can trick but never get tricked. However, you have truly outplayed me. However, sadly… You were too late." The boy's voice was turning deeper and deeper as time went on.
"Did you not realize it already? This city is my domain. It's where I can be the supreme ruler, the one that controls everything that happens. So, what could happen when you step inside my domain?"
Those words shook Rin to the core as he clenched his dagger. How did he not think that was possible? Assuming that Cid had individually hypnotized each and every citizen sounded way too hard and tedious of a task as each one of them will have to go through a gradual change as time passed. If he had to repeat that process manually on every person, it would take him tens or even hundreds of years to pull off what he did in a year.
But, when his thoughts reached that point, he realized something. Something that made his heart stop for a second.
'If he didn't need to manually control someone to make them his underling. Then, when he tried to touch Evelyn… He… He tricked me.' Rin thought in disbelief as he stared at Cid, wide-eyed.
"Hmm, have you finally realized it? Well, It was indeed quite risky to do that. I almost had a heart attack thinking that you realized what actually happened. Well, I guess there is a limit to even the smartest of minds, am I right? Hahahaha!"
'He did all of that…' Feeling despair in his heart, Rin took a deep breath and tried to keep his calm.
"I see, so this was all a trick. But, why was it targeted toward me?"
"Hm, now that you mention that, I have no idea why. You just seemed like a good target." Cid replied as he shrugged his shoulders effortlessly.
'What does that even mean? Wait, why are we even having a casual conversation right now?' Shaking his head, Rin tightened the grip on his dagger.
"Evelyn, Elise, get ready! We are…" He called for his two companions. But, weirdly enough, no reply came.
"Hm?" Noticing the silence, Rin looked at Elise. She was still standing behind him normally. However, when he looked into her eyes, his thoughts halted.
The same dead, emotionless eyes that he saw on the citizens were on her now. She just stared ahead, not focusing on anything.
"E-Elise…" He called for her again, hoping that what he is thinking of didn't actually happen.
But, that was not the case… Elise had been indeed hypnotized.
Shifting his gaze to Evelyn, it was the same case. The two people he was with had been caught in Cid's trap.
'Fuck! Fuck! This is bad! This is really bad!'
Seeing panic set in Rin's eyes, Cid smiled and said in a nonchalant tone.
"It's already done the moment you stepped inside the city, Rin. Why are you surprised?"
"..."
"Hm, are you already giving up? Well, that's sad. I expected some resistance." Lifting his hand with a sigh, Cid ordered Evelyn and Elise to grab Rin and restrain him. The two grabbed his arms tightly and pushed him down. The movement was swift and strong, making Rin groan slightly.
However, even when he is completely controlled now. Rin didn't lose his composure. If he lost it now, he was as good as dead. There was definitely still a chance to save Elise and Evelyn.
"Hm? Aren't you going to hypnotize me, Cid?" Rin suddenly asked with a light chuckle.
"Of course not, how can I hypnotize you when you picked my interest like this? That would only spoil the fun, no?"
"Hmm, why don't you give it a try?" Rin asked again.
'What am I even saying at this point?'
The situation was really bad. Not only would Rin have to fight two very strong people, but he would also have to escape while making sure he doesn't harm either of them. Not to mention that Cid could easily summon hundreds of humans that could stop him from escaping.
"Hahaha! Is this your desperate attempt to try and escape? It won't work, you know?"
"Why would I? Besides, you know that I can escape if I want to, right?"
"Well, I would love to see you try to harm your dear women. Do you have the ability to do that?"
"Harm them… Who said something about that?" Rin asked.
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