Ch.204204. Time of Distortion (2)

“Renias, magic behind you!”

Tiing-!

“Here too!”

Ting!

Renias counters each spell from the brainwashed students as soon as she hears the signal.

She was currently under concentrated fire, which created a sense of unease among those watching.

“Doesn’t it seem like Renias is being targeted more than anyone else?”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“It’s fine. Thanks to everyone providing briefings, I can handle it.”

Everyone found it strange, but the atmosphere suggested no one had figured out why this was happening.

The silver-haired girl who claimed to be fine was both an idol and an object of admiration at the Academy. Because she wielded such influence, she was receiving the brunt of the attacks.

“And for some reason, while they’re attacking me, they don’t seem to show any hostility toward the rest of you. Perhaps you should move more aggressively?”

Indeed. Her extensive battlefield experience couldn’t be ignored—it became clear why she was rightfully called the Goddess of Victory.

‘Even so, she shouldn’t have been able to notice.’

To ensure she drew the attention of the brainwashed students, Renias deliberately positioned herself in the center of their field of vision.

She had noticed the anomaly.

The countermeasure to Pimpert’s power.

“Is it because I’m a complete stranger to them…? They don’t even acknowledge my existence.”

“Let’s quickly knock them unconscious while we have the chance. We need to minimize their burden!”

They likely wouldn’t be a burden anyway. From the moment she noticed that anomaly, the battlefield fell into Renias’s hands.

‘Besides, if their attention is focused on Renias, they’re unlikely to change their target.’

Her name alone was enough to draw aggro.

No. Considering her brilliantly shining reputation, the same scene would have played out even if the scope expanded from Academy students to the entire empire.

The recognition of Renias embedded in the minds of countless people would take top priority unless there were deep relationships like blood ties, family, or lovers involved.

With this, Pimpert’s interference wave was being easily neutralized.

The principle behind his power was simple.

Brainwashing or enchantment based on subtly twisting human emotions.

Mental manipulation that instantly distorts existing relationships, exaggerating or misinterpreting someone’s words to inflate misunderstandings.

Using this as a pretext to incite conflict, the closer the relationship with the target, the more the misunderstanding grows, rapidly generating negative emotions like betrayal, hatred, contempt, or condemnation.

He then pieces these together in a devilish fabrication to create a single memory. Afterward, he causes continuous memory distortion, spreading it through a chain reaction that affects those nearby.

That’s all there is to it—just repeating this process over and over.

Simple, but devastatingly effective against humans, social animals who have maintained large collective societies. Persistent discord continues, and amid it all, emotions related to crime frequently become dulled.

However, there was a flaw.

No matter how fatal the cycle of mental interference magic might be, it becomes useless once its weakness is exposed.

What if there’s someone so strong that they can’t be broken—someone everyone in the empire admires?

A difficult condition, but one person who satisfies it.

Renias Posterior von Lantana, a girl who nullified this weakness simply by breathing.

And here, as a boy who had tried to reduce damage through orthodox methods began to move, the Levrant Academy area gradually calmed down.

“Over here. They’re all unconscious. I’ve tied them up, so let everyone know.”

“Huh? Junon, when did you… oh, why am I even asking? Let’s go, Noel!”

“Flashing from east to west like some phantom thief.”

Another weakness: the reactive effect doesn’t appear for those already perceived as villains or objects of hatred.

The only one who could meet the unique condition of moving freely without receiving any attacks in this situation.

Junon’s discovery of this loophole also served as a blind spot, steadily reducing the number of victims throughout the Academy.

‘Things are working out quite well.’

No matter how distorted memories might become, humans possess bonds that are difficult to sever.

“Here, I’ve tied them up. Please knock them unconscious.”

“Okay!”

Moreover, humans are creatures who band together more tightly than ever in the face of disaster.

Despite attempts to amplify negative emotions and incite infighting, not everyone was swept away by distorted memories, wandering through a broken mirror.

Thanks to Renias drawing attention so effectively, students and faculty suffered almost no damage, and professors had now emerged to deal with the situation.

As a result, the knockout team and transport team increased their recovery speed and moved even more freely.

Of course, that wasn’t the end.

-Awoooooo!!

“Damn, lycans are attacking here?”

“Impossible! We’ve divided into ambush and transport teams, so we don’t have anyone ready for combat…!”

A man steps forward.

The hooded figure faces the approaching wolf pack alone.

“Isn’t that Junon…?”

“What’s he doing? Is he trying to block them by himself?”

“Hey! Don’t get yourself killed—form up with us here!”

But Junon remains steadfast. He stands firmly in place, facing the charging lycans without taking any defensive stance.

Everyone must have thought he was crazy.

Until they saw what happened next.

“Now!”

“Let’s gooooo!!”

Another group charges from the side, pushing past the steep palisade. They are creatures with forms quite different from the humans at the Academy.

Just by the thick fur covering their bodies, there’s no mistaking what they are.

“They’re… lycans, right?”

“Y-yes. Definitely werewolves.”

These beings, whose bodies become covered in fur when they use mana to enhance their physical abilities, had been a nuisance to humans for years.

As werewolves, they were considered mere beasts after harming humans, just like lycans.

But the humans began to wonder.

Why are they fighting so fiercely among their own kind?

It almost seemed questionable whether they were truly the same species.

Moreover, didn’t it appear as if they were trying to help the humans? If it wasn’t just imagination, they were buying time against the charging lycans.

Thanks to that brief moment, the humans gathered at Levrant completed their preparations.

Though questions remained about why these creatures were helping them.

“Ugh…! There are too many. We’re going to be pushed back!”

“We can’t hold out much longer like this!”

Anyone could see at a glance that the Levrant-side lycans were being overwhelmed.

Yet no one stepped forward to help. They couldn’t decide whether it was right to aid these creatures.

The lycan forces seemingly split into two factions, while the human side remained silent.

The reactions were starkly different despite being separated by just a few steps.

In this situation, the boy steps forward once again.

“Hup!”

A lycan trying to climb over the palisade is bound by chains and falls to the ground.

He helped the lycans positioned on the Levrant side, distinguishing between those attacking from outside the palisade and those seemingly defending from inside.

Shortly after, a beam of light fired by someone’s magic cleanly snipes an approaching lycan, sending it flying.

Everyone knew who the white beam belonged to.

“Are you all just going to stand and watch?”

The silver-haired girl followed Junon’s lead and stepped forward.

“Renias…”

“But they might suddenly attack us…”

“If they were enemies, they would have attacked already. But they didn’t. They’ve been buying us time to regroup, haven’t they?”

Then two boys grab spears and rush to join those fighting at the collapsed palisade.

Shouting vigorous battle cries, the two childhood friends, like Junon, swung their spears at lycans trying to climb over the palisade.

“We need to properly distinguish between allies and enemies!!”

“Only an idiot wouldn’t be able to tell the difference?!”

Jon and Noel join the battle. And then…

“Junon was giving orders to these people earlier! That makes them one hundred percent allies, doesn’t it?”

“Hey, don’t go alone—tell us what to do too!”

“The boundary is that palisade. Let’s block them from there.”

Those following Junon join the battle.

And riding this momentum, more people surge forward, clearly drawing the line between enemy and ally.

In the distant past of the Returner.

In those memories, Levrant would have fallen with the return of the Tembris Party, following Pimpert’s interference magic and this lycan attack.

But this time, it will not fall.

***

Around the same time.

The information created by the Returner’s past had an impact here as well.

The great disturbance caused by the distorted Pimpert was exposed to someone who was one step ahead, seamlessly preventing the Tembris Party from losing strength.

However, the Tembris Party wasn’t the only group that had arrived here.

Clang! Clang-clang, clang!

“Damn it. I have no idea what’s going on!”

The imperial troops gathered to subjugate the former Holy Emperor, Defornice III, had no resistance to mental interference magic.

While appropriate countermeasures and brilliant exploitation of weaknesses occurred at Levrant, there was no one here who could identify those weaknesses or act on them.

In other words, the imperial troops were currently brainwashed by Pimpert and fighting among themselves.

“Ugh…!”

“Cain!”

“I’m fine. Just got pushed back a little…!”

The Tembris Party, which had recently gained attention, had become the biggest target for the imperial troops.

Even as they tried to recover their strength with those who had shaken off the brainwashing on their own, the situation remained extremely difficult.

While battlefield visibility is generally limited, the three of them had already noticed the situation.

‘Damn. We’re not brainwashed like those imperial troops because we did what Junon told us to…’

‘But we can’t use wide-area magic recklessly because of how densely packed the imperial troops are.’

‘We’ll have to slowly help them regain their senses one by one.’

Senia, Aris, and Charlotte.

They had suspected something would happen from the start, but they hadn’t expected it to unfold like this.

If Junon hadn’t given them a heads-up, they too would have been casting spells and swinging swords at their party members. It was fortunate they had avoided that damage.

By now, the recovery of imperial troops who had suffered mental attacks was complete.

Even at a glance, they looked exhausted, and in this state, subjugation seemed impossible.

“The imperial troops have suffered too much damage. We should retreat once and resume the subjugation later!”

Party leader Goden declares a retreat. No one in their right mind would object.

While no one would reasonably object, whether they would be allowed to retreat remained uncertain.

“Erika!”

“Kyaaa!!”

Senia quickly sensed the presence and pushed Erika away, but her shoulder was already scratched by a lycan.

-Awoooooo!!

“…Shit.”

Senia curses at the wolf’s howl. After mercilessly slicing the throat of the charging lycan, she checks on the injured.

“Ugh… Nngh…”

Erika kneels, groaning in pain and trembling.

As a healing buffer or a holy healing mage, she occasionally takes a forward position as a sub-position. However, currently she was unprotected by any magic.

Without drawing on mana or holy power, she was just a schoolgirl.

Fortunately, since she could handle holy power, one might think she could heal herself without issue, but…

Erika currently couldn’t perform self-healing.

The mental interference immunity buff. With it cast on all six Tembris Party members, for Erika to heal, at least one person would need to release their magic.

“Release the immunity on me, Erika.”

“…”

“Don’t be stubborn! The wound on your shoulder is deep—recovery needs to be the priority!”

Senia grabbed Erika by both shoulders and shook her, thinking she was being obstinate even in this situation.

“Erika? Why suddenly…!”

But her groaning had stopped. Erika, who collapsed limply when shaken by the shoulders, was already in a state where she could barely make a sound.

It was understandable.

In a situation where she had cast a buff requiring intense concentration on seven people including herself, that concentration was broken, and she was in pain as well.

With Erika now incapacitated, the biggest problem was how to resolve what came next.

Could they break through those lycans and subdue their target, Defornice III, within the duration of the buff she had cast before fainting?

To that question… even Senia couldn’t readily find an answer.

“The duration is at most 5 minutes from here…”

The time limit was already approaching.

***

“Haa, this is endless.”

They had no choice but to fight the lycans with every ounce of strength they could muster.

Half of the soldiers had to be knocked unconscious because they couldn’t withstand the mental attack, and the 40% who had barely escaped were difficult to include as combat strength. Their limit was supporting and moving their comrades’ bodies.

In other words, only 10% of the soldiers, including the Tembris Party, could actually fight the lycans.

Facing lycans that appeared to outnumber them several times with these few soldiers was like hitting a rock with an egg.

Nevertheless, if they didn’t continue fighting, everyone present would die.

That fact remained unchanged.

“If only I could use my power properly… Tch, after seeing something like that, I have no choice but to hold back!”

Aris bit her lip as she used magic several levels weaker than normal.

In a typical battle, the Tembris Party’s strengths would have emerged one after another, easily subduing the lycans, but currently that wasn’t possible.

They had received an incredible buff that repelled any kind of mental interference, but powerful buffs come with penalties.

If they didn’t control their mana usage, the buff would tear away like paper.

In other words, overwhelming with firepower was impossible. If they ignored this rule, they too would become madmen attacking their allies.

“How’s Erika? Still the same?”

“She shows no signs of waking up. I’ve stopped the bleeding as best I could, but that doesn’t reconnect severed blood vessels or muscles…”

While Tembris had shown strength in sustained combat, without the incapacitated Erika, that advantage was negated.

A complete dilemma.

Someone had to create a solution.

“Senior Goden. If we just subjugate the Holy Emperor, will the mental attacks be lifted too?”

“I think so, but… Charlotte, why?”

Realizing the buff’s duration had expired, Charlotte steps to the front, filled with fear.

And then she walks forward.

Forward and further forward, to the point where it wouldn’t be strange if lycans swarmed in and tore apart the young girl’s skin.

“The duration of the buff on me isn’t that long anyway. If that’s the case, rather…”

Sssssss-

From the body of the girl who appeared physically weaker than anyone else, murky mana begins to seep out.

“Wait, Charlotte!!”

“Stop! If you do that…!”

All the Tembris Party members clearly remember. The youngest member’s unique constitution.

There’s only one case when such murky mana seeps out.

When she goes berserk.

“Promise me one thing. That you’ll all return alive.”

Though she had been so afraid of hurting people that she controlled her inner self and suppressed her demonic energy, this time she released the limiter herself.

She called upon it voluntarily, knowing she would be swept away by the demonic energy.

“Charlotte!!!”

As the members shouted, instead of clear, pure mana, a murky dark blue mana enveloped the fragile child’s body.

The mana dwelling in her weak body invoked abnormal power, and the rationality she had firmly held melted away in this moment, returning Charlotte to that time.

“HYAAAAAAAA!!”

Chi-chi-chi-ching-!

With a monstrous cry, pillars of ice walls rise up, mercilessly piercing and impaling the lycans.

The frail body, barely reaching the waist of an adult man, emits savage mana and indiscriminately knocks down lycans.

Charlotte, who had grown up receiving abundant attention from members due to her cute appearance and small stature, was no longer present.