One-Eyed Monster

Kadi was quite excited; he couldn’t help it, as he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Igor’s voice, although faint, was like the brightest lamp in the dark night, guiding him down the path. Igor’s voice sounded so weak, Kadi thought, like someone who hadn’t slept in a very long time.

Igor’s voice was filled with fatigue; it seemed he truly hadn’t slept for a long time. However, despite everything, he had finally made contact with Kadi. He had been groping in this darkness for so, so long...

He had never encountered the opponent’s methods before. He only felt all his emotions being drained, leaving no time to think, his mind completely empty. Initially, he could even sense the emotional changes in those around him, but later, all sensations grew numb, everything became dull. Everyone seemed like a blank sheet of paper, swaying when the wind blew. Back then, Igor had keenly sensed that this Dark Force probably aimed to turn everyone into a blank sheet of paper. What surprised him even more was that the elders around him had all fallen for it, unable to offer any effective resistance.

It was truly a difficult thing to describe. He didn’t understand the principles behind it. He tried to discuss it with the other elders, but in the end, he found that even his ability to express himself had vanished. He had absolutely no way to communicate with them. But a sliver of rebellious consciousness remained, allowing him to preserve his self, to avoid being Devoured. Igor didn’t know exactly what had happened to the elders. Outwardly, everyone looked the same, and in the dim environment, he couldn’t fully discern their facial expressions. Still, the shred of consciousness remaining in Igor told him that the elders wouldn’t be so easily defeated.

He could hear the Dark Force chattering incessantly outside, boasting about its assimilation abilities, threatening them, and putting pressure on everyone. Everyone had their own interpretation, and his might not necessarily be correct. But this understanding supported him, making him determined to find a way to defeat the adversary. The first thing, he felt, was to establish contact with others... This severing of connections was perhaps one of the opponent’s tactics. They intended to pick them off one by one and then turn everyone into their Puppets.

The crucial problem was that he couldn’t confirm his viewpoint. He could barely observe now, but he could already feel the opponent’s intrusion accelerating. It seemed a will was being instilled into his mind, battling his own. His own will was at a disadvantage, quickly and utterly defeated by the opponent. It was only then that Igor realized he was no match for the opponent in a direct confrontation of wills. He could only evade. The opponent’s will seemed to be a free-floating entity, able to infiltrate anywhere, while his own could only operate within his body.

Fortunately, Igor knew himself relatively well. He understood how to avoid the brunt of an attack and focus on the less critical points. This wasn’t the time for a head-on confrontation. His Scale of Faith was the Sanctuary for his consciousness. He quickly sought the elderly lady’s help.

The kind and gentle-looking elderly lady hid Igor in the courtyard. When the Dark Force’s consciousness surged aggressively, the elderly lady within Igor’s Scale of Faith, seated in her rocking chair, resumed her storytelling.

A meeting between two lovers of storytelling—what kind of scene this would create was anyone’s guess.

The Dark Force was respectful towards the elderly lady. ”Has the old lady seen a shifty-eyed, rat-faced man?”

The old lady said, ”No, but I’ve seen more than my share of shifty-eyed, rat-faced people. Each comes with their own long, long story.”

The Dark Force shook its head. ”I don’t listen to stories; I only tell them.”

The elderly lady said, ”Then why don’t you tell a story? We’ll see whose story is more interesting, yours or mine.”

The Dark Force responded, ”My stories are naturally more interesting. They are beyond your imagination.”

The old lady said, ”At my age, is there anything I haven’t imagined? Come, come, let’s have some afternoon tea and chat properly.”

Thus began the storytelling competition between the Dark Force and the elderly lady, offering Igor, who was in hiding, a much-needed breather.

During this interval, Igor began to search for a new approach. The opponent’s will was powerful and widespread; direct confrontation offered no chance of victory. Their only hope lay in uniting. But he currently had no way to contact anyone else. Relying solely on himself, he had no way to counter all of this. This was what pained Igor the most.

However, at this pivotal moment, something unexpected happened: Kadi appeared.

Previously, Igor had heard Kadi conversing with the Dark Force. At that time, he had been unable to express his thoughts and could only watch Kadi manage the situation. Later, as his consciousness grew weaker, he lost track of what was happening. Apart from the residual consciousness roaming within his body, he could not sense any information from the outside world. This remaining consciousness told him that the Dark Force was crushing them; they had no power to fight back. So, when Kadi’s consciousness appeared here, he was utterly shocked.

But he discovered Kadi’s consciousness was different from that of the Dark Force. It seemed Kadi was in another space, while the Dark Force had directly invaded his. After thinking for a moment, Igor understood the subtlety of it. Attacks of consciousness were, to put it plainly, on the spiritual level, requiring a combination of imagination and Spirit Power. This was like an infusion of Spirit Power within the Inner World. Although Kadi’s imagination was quite good, he couldn’t enter the Inner World, so his consciousness couldn’t invade another person’s mental space. Kadi could only create another space and meet his consciousness there... In other words, at this moment, it wasn’t Kadi’s consciousness entering his space, but rather his own residual consciousness being guided by Kadi into another space.

At this moment, Igor could also guess what method Kadi had used. The Ant Connection Spell. This method could not only allow Spirit Vision to be shared but also consciousness. This discovery had also been made through Kadi back then, during the time he had taken Kadi into the Inner World and caused trouble. It was just that time was too pressing. Not long after this incident, the opponent’s new attack method had appeared. So Igor hadn’t had time to ponder what all this meant before he had to consider new problems. Fortunately, he could now think clearly.

Although this time was bought for him by his Scale of Faith, it was somewhat ironic, speaking of which. They had time, but this possession of time was tinged with helplessness, as they had no way to contend with the adversary. This time was the calm before complete failure descended, a period of waiting. It was both helpless and tragic.