After bidding farewell to the Dragon of Imagination, Aske returned to his own tent with Medea and summoned Marquina using a special candle.
"So, what have you two discovered?" Marquina lazily inquired as she appeared, her gaze shifting towards Medea. "Oh, so you..."
"Older sister," Medea said.
"Hmm, your memories have been restored, have they?" Marquina squinted her eyes and smiled. "Then ask away, what do you want to know?"
"How did the Queen come to know about Emperor Otto’s mind being influenced?" Aske asked.
"That’s a long story," Marquina said leisurely.
"Please make it brief," Aske interjected.
"Ahem," Marquina shot him an annoyed glance and cleared her throat, "Well, the clue to this matter was initially discovered by Medea."
"Me?" Medea asked with surprise.
"Yes," Marquina responded, "When you were a child... after that incident where you lost control, His Majesty examined your mind and unexpectedly found traces of a Mind Plague. This plague is similar to ’Thought Implant’, but it’s a high-rank application at the Law Level, able to linger within the Mind Body for an extended period and can also spread to surrounding Mind Bodies."
"So, a more powerful Thought Implant ability?" Medea furrowed her brows. "What specifically was that thought?"
"There was nothing," Marquina replied.
Both were somewhat stunned, but Marquina swiftly explained:
"It’s just a blank plague. It exists long-term, it spreads, but it contains no content."
"No content?" Medea showed a puzzled expression.
"Camellia, let me ask you," Marquina continued without further explanation, suddenly asking her, "If my first action is to implant a thought in you, specifically ’whenever you hear me clap, you must immediately start screaming.’"
"My second action is to clap in front of you."
"Then, which action consumes Spirituality?"
"Of course, the first step, when the thought is being implanted..." Medea answered without hesitation, then promptly realized something, "So..."
"That’s right," Marquina frowned, "the plague implanted in you is a similar product."
"It in itself contains no content, but it is designed to receive designated signals from the outside, so that upon receiving a signal, it can secretly infuse specific thoughts."
"Simply put, it’s like installing a backdoor in your head."
"Why do I feel like the mastermind behind this is like a computer hacker?" Aske wondered, "Bypassing Fire Wall to set up a backdoor, creating bots, transmitting viruses, these are classic hacker moves."
Medea: ...... (Are you calling me a bot?)
"You do have a point," Marquina pondered, "Anyway, after we cleared the Mind Plague from Medea, about last year, a Demigod attacked our city and was subsequently executed by His Majesty."
"Was it the Demigod who was looking for the Shadow Blade?" Aske asked.
"That’s right," Marquina responded, "In his mind, we also found similar traces of the Mind Plague, aimed at attacking His Majesty."
"So, we began investigating this matter, using various methods, and confirmed that this Demigod came from the Imperial Saxon Family," she casually mentioned. "We also discovered that the Emperor likely faces a similar issue. Considering our inconvenience in operating on the Main Plane, we decided to entrust you with this."
"So you’re saying, during the previous Magic Tide, the mastermind created some kind of Mind Plague, the effect of which was to implant a backdoor into the minds of those infected," Aske summarized, "After the Magic Tide subsided, because of the limitations in Spirituality, he couldn’t use this high-rank ability to implant the plague anymore."
Medea suddenly realized, "But he can use an already existing backdoor to secretly manipulate the infected without needing Spirituality, such as making them perform certain actions, or letting the Mind Plague spread to others."
Her thought process suddenly cleared, and the long-standing suspense and confusion that had occupied her mind instantly dissipated, with all the scattered clues instantly connected, followed by a fierce tremor in her Spirituality:
Manipulation Law - Ritual:
Manipulation is a cunning art that allows the manipulated to act in the spotlight while the manipulator safely and secretly hides behind the scenes.
A transcendent with a unique talent for manipulation can perfectly use timing, location, misdirection, and fake puppets to thoroughly conceal their traces.
To find the manipulator spreading the Mind Plague, understand his manipulation methods, thus forming your own Manipulation Law.
"Hmm, do I sense a Ritual Task?" Medea thought to tell Aske, but suddenly held back.
Her dark psychology, derived from Medusa, told her that being completely honest with Aske might not be the best choice. Whether as a woman or as a Transcendent who needs to understand the "Manipulation Law," keeping secrets was the most basic self-requirement.
"So, that’s it then." Marquina waved her hand and then vanished into the candlelight.
After putting away the extinguished candle, Aske glanced at Medea and asked curiously, "Why, you seem like you have something to say?"
"Um, I wanted to ask you, do you think my sister is pretty?" Medea asked with a smile, her tone seemingly a bit dangerous.
"She’s okay. Not really my type," Aske replied smartly.
"Then why were you staring at her?" Medea feigned jealousy, "Also, what’s up with the creamy smell on that bottle of Magic Potion?"
"Cough, how would I know?" Aske looked skyward, "Perhaps the bottle was used for milk before being used for Magic Potion."
"So you like big breasts?" Medea’s eyes widened.
"That has nothing to do with breasts," Aske argued forcefully, "It’s the soul that matters."
"Hypocrite," Medea scoffed.
"This is the truth," Aske said, "if you don’t believe me, read my mind."
How do you remember that I can read minds clearer than I do?
She was about to continue bickering with Aske, when suddenly a delightful and sweet sensation surged into the depths of her soul, making her almost want to cry out loud.
What... is this Desire Interference? No, this is, this is...
Massive amounts of emotional pain, along the pathway of feedback from Purgatory, transformed into a sweet gift of power, flowed into her body.
This was from Medusa’s connection in Purgatory, which she had fully inherited after the merging of their two personalities.
Wait, if that’s the case, then these massive painful emotions mean...
Medea’s expression changed drastically, just as Mia rushed in from outside in a panic.
"It’s bad, Aske!" she exclaimed in a flustered manner, "He’s dead!"
"Who’s dead?" Aske asked.
"Eleanor..." Mia panted heavily.
"Eleanor is dead?!!" Both Aske and Medea were shocked.
"Eleanor’s... brother!" Mia finally finished her sentence.