"Who the fuck are you?" Peika's cold voice resounded through the room, echoing amidst the rubble. Dust flew past, sliding off the layer of water on her, creating minor ripples in response as they collected on the ground, under her feet.
"Guess?" The Lan Clan Head let out a sheepish grin, leaping back swiftly to evade a flash of blue that parted the floor into two.
"Whoa there, calm your hairs, lady." He muttered, wobbling a little before regaining his balance. He didn't bring out his Invoked Spirit entirely, but only brought out their wings, attaching them onto his back.
This was a technique that the Lan Clan Head had spent more than three centuries to research and develop. And that was the best way for him to protect himself, the reason why it was his go-to form whenever he faced an opponent, whether a group of Invokers or even Ascenders.
Swish!
A flash of blue spanned past, aiming for the Lan Clan Head's chest when the wings on his back flapped once before leaning to one side, shifting his centre of gravity. This prompted his body into a rotatory state, turning his body rapidly as he now stood sideways, watching the flash of blue miss him by a hair's breath.
"Hoh, hooo, that was close." He stared at Peika to let out a grin, "You're a feisty one, my dear."
Currently, even though the Lan Clan Head's mind was taken over by Compass Carburettor, the thought process, the mindset, and the character were all the original Lan Clan Head's.
If he tried to move the Lan Clan Head through Compass Carburettor's mindset, it would take time, resulting in delays during his reaction. That was the worst way to kill himself, for his opponent was Peika.
Therefore, he was pretty much operating as the Lan Clan Head alone. But the advantage here was the fact that the trace amount of memories and information originating from Compass Carburettor taking over the mind was absorbed by the Lan Clan Head's character, influencing him subtly.
This was why he became more shameless than usual, playing around against Peika, someone he shouldn't have been able to fight against normally.
After all, a Human Ascender was stronger than an Eagle Ascender.
But, the Lan Clan Head never retaliated and only targeted Peika's mind, hurling insults that dug into her skin. And as he continued to dodge her fearsome attacks casually, it only served to further incite her.
"Dammit, stop running like a freaking coward!" Peika cursed in anger, irritated at his antics as her Invoked Spirit continued to attack nonstop.
But like a butterfly fluttering around without any pattern of sorts, the Lan Clan Head evaded all her attacks, throwing her flow into jeopardy.
After all, with Compass Carburettor taking control, part of him began to integrate the contents of the Forbidden Tale deeper into the Lan Clan Head's mind, causing the Main Character System to root deeper.
And with that came the processing power of his mind, one that could fully harness the human brain's potential.
That was why the Lan Clan Head's powers spiked, for his control improved drastically. Moreover, he was now able to freely alter the Mental Fragments in both his Dreamland and Invoked Spirit, changing the traits of the eagle as he pleased.
At one moment, the eagle Invoked Spirit was fast. At another, it was tricky. All of a sudden, its wings were tremendously tough, enough to actually tank Peika's water scythe.
The bizarre but consistent changes to the eagle Invoked Spirit confused her, preventing Peika from formulating a strategy to defeat him.
After all, any weakness that she perceived at one moment would vanish the next. And this happened every time she perceived a weakness, as if the opponent was reading her mind.
Which was indeed the truth as the Lan Clan Head was reading through the Mental Energy stream she was generating.
With that, he had a complete read on her actions. Adding onto his superior agility and processing power, he was expending her Mental Strength at least five times faster.
Basically, by the time he had expended a fifth of his Mental Strength, Peika would be running out of gas.
After all, unlike Mental Energy, Mental Strength wasn't a stable source of energy. Its consumption and efficiency were based on the user's mental state.
The Lan Clan Head's constant taunts and evasions were already beginning to gnaw on her mind, causing Peika to expend more Mental Strength than usual to unleash sub-par attacks.
'Shit, if this keeps up, I'll be at his mercy son enough.' Thinking as such, Peika began to retreat, "It seems my plans with the Lan Clan has to come to a halt now."
Before leaving though, Peika stared at the Forbidden Tale that was at a corner of the room, attacking it immediately, 'That must be the culprit behind the changes to the Lan Clan Head.'
But before the attack could land on it, the Lan Clan Head broke the sound barrier to arrive before the Forbidden Tale after which his wings transformed, becoming tough as they tanked her attack.
The Lan Clan Head grabbed the Forbidden Tale and took flight, staying thirty metres above ground as he stared at Peika.
"Damnit," Peika muttered in irritation as she began to retreat, feeling a sudden chill upon seeing starlight ooze out of the eyes of all the Elders of the Lan Clan for a moment.
One of them waved hands at her, "See you again, my dear."
"Fuck!" Cursing in response, Peika hurriedly vacated the premises of the main family, arriving at the branch family where she was born. Her family had already been informed of her existence.
And upon knowing that she was alive, they were glad, having been sad after Pilkan disappeared one fine day.
"Mom, Dad, sis, we must leave." She said, grabbing the trip and a couple of their important belonging using her Invoked Spirit before making a beeline to Hitlawn.
At least, it was still safer there, 'Thankfully, I hadn't made my subordinates come into contact with the Forbidden Tale.'
At the start, when she was about to look through the Forbidden Tale after helping the Lan Clan Head avoid the crisis, she was always met with emergencies, which caused her to put away comprehending it for a later date.
That was why she had yet to gaze at it to date. In truth, it was her fate and luck helping her. otherwise, considering her talents, she too would have been taken over by Compass Carburettor by now.
"Sister, where are we going now?" Pula, Peika's younger sister asked in concern, "Will we…never be able to return to the Lan Clan?"
"The Lan Clan has been compromised." Peika's stated in anger, gritting her teeth in vexation upon recalling the changes to both the Lan Clan Head and her younger brother, Pilkan. "So, we're returning to Hitlawn. It's safer there."
She didn't reveal Pilkan's fate to her family, lest they worry more. At least, making them think that he was dead was many times better than to let them know that an alien was inhabiting his body, using it as a mask to commit atrocities.
'Whoever the fuck you are, know one thing for sure.' Veins popped on her face, turning her eyes red as hatred oozed out of her very bearing, 'I'll find you and kill you.'
…
Yawn!
Compass Carburettor stared at the setting sun, letting out a cheerful smile upon seeing a group of eagles fly around each other, messing with each other for fun. His mood was happy, for her received a Mental Energy worthy of celebration.
The Lan Clan Head had successfully fallen under his control. This meant that the Lan Clan were basically his underlings, for their big boss was pretty much him.
And for them to coordinate their actions, it was simple. All Compass Carburettor needed to do was send a Mental Energy stream to the Lan Clan Head regarding what he wanted the other party to do, and that was it.
The Lan Clan Head would be able to easily achieve it. Anyone whose mind had been taken over by Compass Carburettor would be capable of using Mental Energy as an advanced communication tool.
An ancient philosopher from Earth once said, "A thought only takes a second to travel the universe."
And until now, Compass Carburettor was unable to refute that claim. Irrespective of the distance, information through Mental Energy only took an instant.
It was just like talking through the Secret Society's telepathy. Communication was in real-time.
Of course, Compass Carburettor couldn't achieve the same level of effect here, for he had to think of the other party for the Mental Energy stream to travel, which was only possible with one target at a time.
After all, even if he thought about a group, the Mental Energy flowed towards the target against whom he thought the most.
So with that, it was impossible to communicate with everyone like through a conference call that the members of Secret Society could enjoy.
It almost made Compass Carburettor consider, "Should I reclaim Domino Plottopia's power?"
If he wished to do so, he could forcibly absorb her into himself. The case would be like before they split up though, as they would at times be able to influence his actions according to their character or come out on their own.
There were of course disadvantages, but as someone built on the concept of secrecy, Domino Plottopia's actions wouldn't be aware to his enemies. So, it might be safer to take in at least her. "I should give it some more thought."
