Chapter 683: A new and curious skill
The sun had already begun to set behind the ruins of the tournant, casting an orange glow over the devastated field.
Strax walked in silence, his expression calm, almost bored, as he carried Lilith slung over his shoulder—as if she were a simple sack of potatoes.
The woman, still semi-conscious, struggled occasionally, making muffled sounds due to the energy chains that bound her.
Samira, at his side, watched everything with an arched eyebrow and a mixture of curiosity and boredom.
“Are you going to keep carrying her like this?” he asked, crossing his arms. “You know you look like a kidnapper at a fair, right?”
Strax didn’t answer imdiately. He simply adjusted the load on his shoulder and continued walking through the now-deserted streets of the arena.
“The tournant is over.” His voice was calm, but there was sothing dense in it, an absolute certainty. “That group of cultivators—the ones in the white and blue robes—will appear soon. They ca after her, not .” Then we’d better get back to Kaelthur before things get worse.
Samira sighed, kicking a rock.
“And we’re just going to walk away like nothing happened?”
“Exactly.” Strax gave her a quick glance. “No one alive to contest the victory. This counts as over.”
The silence between them was punctuated only by the sound of the wind and the sound of footsteps on dry earth.
Lilith continued to move, trying futilely to break the chains that bound her.
After a mont, Strax stopped walking.
He looked thoughtfully at the prisoner on his shoulders, then set her down with a simple, unaggressive—but firm—movent.
The energy chains dissolved, evaporating like golden mist.
Lilith knelt, breathing heavily, her eyes trembling between fear and anger.
She looked at Strax, her face dirty and lined with exertion, but still with that look of defiance.
Strax crossed his arms and watched her silently for a mont.
Then he tilted his head slightly and spoke in a neutral but firm tone—a voice that seed to reverberate more in the mind than in the ears.
“I’m giving you a chance to live. Don’t waste it.”
“How about cooperating with ?”
Lilith froze.
For a mont, her eyes lost focus.
Her pupils dilated, and her expression softened as if her soul had been ripped from her body.
Strax frowned in surprise.
Samira, noticing, took a step forward, her gaze intent.
“…What was that?” she asked, studying the woman’s face.
Lilith didn’t answer.
Instead, she straightened slowly and stood completely still, staring at Strax—her eyes blank, emotionless.
Strax took a step forward, testing.
“Stand up.”
She obeyed.
Without hesitation, expressionless, like a puppet.
Samira narrowed her eyes, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
“Strax…” Her tone lowered. “Is this mind control?”
“I didn’t use any magic,” he answered automatically, but his voice was different, more careful.
He looked back at Lilith, who was still watching him, motionless, her chest rising and falling slowly.
“Tell your na,” he commanded.
“Lilith,” she replied without pause, her voice hollow.
Strax narrowed his eyes.
“Tell … what you feel now.”
She hesitated for a split second.
“I feel… like obeying.”
Samira blinked.
“What?”
Strax crossed his arms, more intrigued than pleased.
“Hm. Interesting.”
He then said, just to test, “Return to normal.”
Imdiately, Lilith’s eyes flickered, returning to their previous brightness—the look of confusion and fear reappeared. She took a step back, gasping, looking around as if she’d woken from a dream.
“Wh… what… happened…?” she murmured, frightened. “I… couldn’t move…”
Samira looked at Strax suspiciously.
“You saw that, right?”
He nodded slowly.
“I did.” His voice was deep, almost a whisper. “But I didn’t feel any mana leaving .”
Lilith backed away further, her gaze flicking between them.
“What did you… do to ?!”
Strax simply raised his hand, calmly, and said,
“Stop.”
She stopped.
Imdiately.
As if she’d been frozen in ti.
Samira’s eyes widened.
“Okay… now it’s scary.”
Strax looked at the motionless prisoner, then at Samira.
“I swear I’m not using magic.”
“So what is this, Strax?” she asked, approaching slowly, scanning the energy around him. “There’s no mana flow, no seal, no rune… nothing.”
Strax frowned.
“I don’t know.”
He looked at Lilith again, thoughtful.
“Go back.”
She obeyed—she took two steps and stopped in front of him again, her eyes glazed.
Samira ran a hand through her hair, clearly uncomfortable.
“This is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I’d say… worrying,” Strax replied, crossing his arms. “Because if it’s sothing I can do unintentionally…”
Samira added, her gaze narrowed.
“…Then you can do it to anyone.”
He nodded seriously.
The silence between them stretched for a few seconds—just the wind blowing past, carrying dust and dry leaves.
Lilith still stood there, motionless, obeying without resistance.
Strax turned to her curiously.
“Can you rember what just happened?”
She blinked slowly.
“I… rember hearing your voice.” Her tone was confused, trembling. “And… I couldn’t think of anything else.”
Strax remained silent for a few monts, observing Lilith as if she were a living enigma.
The wind blew through the ruins, stirring up dust and dry leaves, as the sky began to darken completely.
Samira broke the silence, her tone lower and more cautious.
“So… she simply obeys you. That’s all.”
“That’s all,” Strax replied, still staring at the woman in front of him.
He took a step closer, his golden eyes fixed on her.
“Lilith,” he called, his tone firm but without raising his voice.
She imdiately straightened.
“Yes.”
Samira crossed her arms, suspicious.
“Okay… then ask her to do sothing simple.”
Strax thought for a mont.
“Walk to that rock and co back.”
Lilith turned without hesitation, walked to a fallen rock about twenty ters away, touched it with her fingertips, and returned, her gaze empty and serene, as if it were the most natural act in the world.
Samira watched in silence, her brow furrowed.
“No hesitation… no flow of energy…”
Strax tilted his head slightly, studying the way she moved.
“As if she’d lost her sense of will.”
Samira approached, stopping beside him.
“This is more than obedience. She doesn’t seem hypnotized—she seems… submissive.”
Strax kept his gaze fixed on the woman.
“Lilith, take a deep breath.”
She obeyed.
“Now, hold it.”
She obeyed.
“Let go.”
She let go.
“Now, tell your strongest desire.”
Lilith blinked slowly, and for a mont, a spark of awareness seed to return.
“I… want… to survive.”
Strax narrowed his eyes, intrigued.
“Even if it ans obeying ?”
She answered without hesitation:
“Yes.”
Samira sighed.
“I think we have confirmation.”
Strax ran his hand thoughtfully over his chin.
“It seems like so kind of instinctive compulsion. It’s not a spell, nor a magical bond. It’s sothing… deeper.”
“Sothing blood-related?” Samira suggested.
He nodded slowly.
“Possibly energy… it’s because of the negative energy.”
Silence fell over the trio again. Lilith remained motionless, as if awaiting his next command.
Samira shook her head in disbelief.
“This is wrong on so many levels…”
“I agree,” he replied. “But useful.”
She arched an eyebrow.
“Useful?”
Strax looked at her, a half-smile forming.
“If I can do this with just my voice, unintentionally, imagine if I understand why.”
Samira chuckled, crossing her arms.
“Are you really considering studying this?”
“Of course,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Power is power. But first…” he looked back at Lilith. “I need to confirm that it’s sothing that only works on her.”
Samira snorted.
“You’re not going to test this on just anyone, are you?”
“I intend to test it subtly,” he replied thoughtfully. “Maybe on soone who has no connection to magic.”
Samira stared at him for a mont, then looked away.
“You’re impossible.”
“And curious,” he added, smiling.
Lilith, still standing, murmured in a low, almost broken voice:
“What… are you going to do to now…?”
Strax approached her again, his hands behind his back.
“It’s up to you. If you cooperate, you’ll live. Maybe even better than before.”
She looked up at him, trembling.
“And if I… don’t cooperate?”
He tilted his head, his expression serene.
“Then you’ll discover the limits of my patience.”
The silence that followed was heavy. Samira watched from the corner of her eye, without intervening—she knew that tone. When Strax spoke like that, there was no room for jokes.
Lilith nodded slowly, her shoulders tense.
“I… understand.”
Strax nodded back, satisfied.
“Good.”
He turned to Samira.
“Let’s take you to Kaelthur. When we get there, I want to run so tests. See if this… effect works with other types of people.”
Samira followed him, still intrigued.
“You an, see if you can control more people?”
“I prefer to think of it as ‘commanding by instinct,'” he replied, his tone almost amused.
Samira rolled her eyes.
“That’s just a fancy way of saying ‘mind control,’ Strax.”
“I don’t control,” he said, pausing for a mont and looking up at the sky. “They just… recognize.”
Samira watched him for a mont, considering his words.
“Recognize what?”
He looked back at her, his golden eyes glinting in the evening light.
“What’s above them.”
Samira gave a half-smile, crossing her arms.
“Arrogant as always.”
“Realistic,” he replied. “And if it’s truly in my nature… I’ll need to understand the limits of that.”
Lilith watched him, unsure whether to feel fear or fascination.
She could sense, sowhere deep in her instinct, that what had happened wasn’t magic—it was mastery. Sothing primal, ancient, as if her soul had recognized Strax’s as a superior force.
Samira sighed and began walking.
“Then let’s go, before more madn co after this woman.”
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