"What about... the third spell?" Makoto's gaze lingered on the staff in Ryen's hands, her lips pressed into a thin, tight line.
The weapon radiated an undeniable potency. The two spells revealed thus far possessed enough raw power to threaten even a god.
Yet the magic... it dripped with pure malice.
To the people of Teyvat, who had never encountered or even heard of the concept of necromancy, its very existence shattered their understanding of the world. It pushed the absolute limits of their comprehension.
Ryen paused, then continued.
"The third is a highly practical defensive magic. Advanced Necromancy, Shadow Shield."
"Simply put, it functions similarly to a Thorns enchantment, reflecting incoming damage. However, it surpasses Thorns in one crucial aspect."
"Shadow Shield forces a reflection of exactly half the damage received, completely ignoring any disparity in raw power."
"Meaning, if a simple Slime activates Shadow Shield and Zhongli strikes it with his full might..."
"The Slime will undoubtedly perish. But Zhongli will absolutely suffer half the damage of his own attack."
"In short, it is a spell of shared suffering. The effects are quite excellent."
The deep creases on the onlookers' foreheads smoothed out slightly.
While Shadow Shield sounded far more bizarre than standard defensive barriers, it fell within the realm of logical combat tactics. A forced fifty percent damage reflection presented a highly desirable advantage.
"So necromancy is just magic that looks inherently evil. The kind only villains use!" Lumine rolled her eyes, her cheeks puffing out slightly.
Ryen did not argue. In most worlds, magic that toyed with souls served as a synonym for evil, an exclusive tool for absolute villains.
But as he had stated before, power itself carried no alignment of right or wrong.
Some could wield necromancy to save a world, while others could use holy light to orchestrate an apocalyptic disaster. How could a mindless concept like power forcibly rewrite a person's will? If someone's convictions could be altered so easily, they lacked true willpower to begin with.
"Generally speaking..." Ryen smiled, his tone thick with implication. "If a borrowed power easily twists a person's stance and ideology, we call that person a puppet of power."
"I believe none of you here would allow a necromantic spell to break your will. It does not force you to sign a contract with demons or evil spirits. It is simply a different form of energy."
"At most, it is just slightly eccentric."
The group nodded, their eyes reflecting deep thought.
"Let us look at the fourth spell," Ryen said. "It is an Advanced, highly practical control magic."
"Mind Control."
The relatively calm atmosphere shattered instantly, replaced by a tense, heavy silence.
"Mind Control, is it..." Zhongli's brow furrowed.
Ryen chuckled, offering no verbal reply. He shifted his gaze to Endis standing nearby.
The Khaenri'ahn captain flinched, opening his mouth to suggest a different test subject. Before a single word could escape his lips, Ryen flicked his wrist. A sinister, twisting light shot from the staff and struck Endis directly in the chest.
In full view of the crowd, the clear light in Endis's eyes dissolved into a murky, purple-black void. His facial muscles slackened into a dead, wooden expression.
Ryen casually pointed a finger at Aether.
"Kill him."
Aether froze, his eyes widening in blank confusion. A sudden, vicious gust of wind snapped him out of his daze.
In the blink of an eye, Endis lunged forward. His face remained entirely blank, but his arms swung a drawn blade with lethal force, aiming straight for Aether's vitals.
"Endis! Insolent!"
The surrounding Khaenri'ahns surged forward, their faces twisting with rage. Several soldiers dove onto Endis, tackling him to the ground and pinning his limbs beneath their weight.
Yet Endis ignored the crushing force upon him. He thrashed wildly like a trapped beast, his purple-black eyes locked entirely on Aether. He glared as if looking at his greatest mortal enemy, desperate to land a single, fatal strike even if it cost him his own life.
The horrifying familiarity of the scene caused a violent shudder to rip through Xiao and the other Yakshas. Goosebumps erupted across their skin. Their bodies trembled, violently reacting to the resurfacing of deeply buried, nightmarish memories.
Zhongli placed a heavy, grounding hand on Xiao's shoulder, offering a silent, reassuring glance. Xiao took a ragged breath, forcing his racing heart to slow.
During the ancient Archon War...
Xiao and his kin had been enslaved by the God of Dreams, forced to commit unspeakable atrocities against their will. The once-prosperous Yaksha clan had dwindled to merely a handful of survivors as a direct result.
After Zhongli saved them, they willingly signed blood contracts, binding themselves eternally to cleanse Liyue of its demonic taint as penance for the sins they were forced to commit.
Their behavior under that ancient control mirrored Endis's current madness flawlessly.
Xiao pressed his lips together, exchanging a heavy look with Bosacius and the others. They instinctively stepped backward, seeking the protective shadow of Zhongli's broad back.
They knew logically that Ryen would never use them as test subjects. But deep in their marrow, they harbored an instinctual, paralyzing terror of mind control.
Seeing Endis still roaring and thrashing toward Aether, the Khaenri'ahn soldiers found their grips slipping against his unnatural, frantic strength.
Ryen waved the staff once more, severing the arcane connection.
The murky purple-black faded, leaving Endis's eyes clear. He ceased his violent struggling. The soldiers watched him warily for a moment before slowly releasing their hold.
Endis stood, his face flushing a deep crimson. He lowered his head deeply.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. My mind was taken..."
Aether gave a short nod, holding no blame. His gaze remained heavy, fixed entirely on the staff in Ryen's grip.
"That is Mind Control," Ryen explained with a smile, tossing a Totem of Undying to Endis as compensation for his involuntary service.
"Under the caster's influence, if I command you to butcher your own parents or children, you will drop the blade without a second thought."
"Once struck by my spell, I become your absolute will. I can even force you to take your own life."
Zhongli's eyebrows pulled together into a deep knot. His voice rumbled low.
"It brings back highly unpleasant memories. This magic is entirely too wicked."
"In ancient times, such mental domination was the exclusive domain of the God of Dreams. Through this power, that entity inflicted unprecedented devastation upon Liyue. This is absolutely a taboo-tier necromantic spell."
The Adepti gave stiff, solemn nods.
No one understood the sheer terror of mind control better than they did. One second, comrades fought side by side. The next, a trusted brother turned his weapon against his own. Such unpredictable, insurmountable subversion easily caused the most formidable factions to collapse completely from the inside out.
"This spell appears even more bizarre than the God of Dreams' abilities. That entity required time to brew its corruption. This magic takes hold instantly?" Zhongli asked, his tone grave.
Ryen spread his hands.
"It is not overly terrifying."
"It is a very straightforward clash of willpower. Against entities with indomitable minds, it holds no sway. If I cast it upon Zhongli, the spell would simply fail."
"But if I use it on someone whose willpower is vastly inferior to mine, it succeeds every single time."
"The true horror of this spell lies elsewhere. It is contagious."
Ryen paused, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a purple-gold band. It was the Ring of the Mind, an accessory dropped by a goblin that specifically amplified mind-control effects.
He looked at Endis again. The captain flinched, his face twisting into a grimace.
"Mr. Ryen, surely there is no need to use me as the subject again?"
Ryen chuckled. He flicked his wrist, hurling the spell at a different Khaenri'ahn soldier standing beside Endis.
In a fraction of a second, the man became Ryen's puppet.
"Attack everyone."
At Ryen's command, the blank-faced soldier threw a heavy punch at the closest person. Because they had gathered tightly to restrain Endis earlier, the sudden assault caught them entirely off guard. Several soldiers took solid hits to the jaw and chest.
Before anyone could move to suppress the attacker, the struck soldiers went completely rigid. Just like the first, their eyes glazed over. They pivoted and began hurling fists at their remaining, uninfected comrades.
In the span of a few brief breaths, Ryen had seized control of the entire Khaenri'ahn unit like a line of falling dominoes.
Watching them turn to charge the rest of the onlookers, Ryen quickly dispelled the magic.
Looking at the panting soldiers, their chests heaving as they exchanged fearful glances, Ryen offered a light laugh.
"Go to my villa later and take one Totem of Undying each. Consider it payment for your assistance in this demonstration."
The soldiers' expressions instantly shifted from terror to pure joy. For Khaenri'ah, which had not yet begun large-scale mining operations in this world, every Totem of Undying was an invaluable treasure capable of reversing death.
Ryen spread his hands again, his tone completely calm.
"You see? Equipped with the Ring of the Mind, the mind control spell transforms into a rapidly expanding plague."
"Anyone struck by an infected pawn will also succumb to the infection, provided their willpower is weak. They too join my ranks."
"In a sense, it is a tool capable of instantly converting an enemy force into your own personal army."
"A single person, armed with this power, can effortlessly hijack an entire military. A one-man army."
The crowd nodded, their faces pale with realization.
Faced with such a plague, conventional tactics were useless. You never knew who would be infected next. A split second of hesitation meant accidental infection. It would spread on an explosive, geometric curve, causing a complete internal collapse of all allied forces.
Worst of all, commanders could rarely muster the cruelty to execute their own controlled subordinates, even as those subordinates tried to kill them. That was the ultimate, heart-wrenching torture.
"Why does it feel like all these necromancy spells are heavily geared toward playing with people's minds and emotions?" Lumine muttered.
Ryen shrugged.
"That is precisely why it is called necromancy. Power has no alignment, but the nature of necromantic spells focuses heavily on torment."
"Mind control is incredibly powerful. Whether for disrupting enemy lines or clearing a battlefield, it is highly effective."
"However, I will not be giving you the Ring of the Mind. Paired with this spell, it rivals a walking natural disaster. A staff capable of single-target mind control will be more than enough for you."
Everyone nodded vigorously. They had no desire to touch the ring whatsoever.
If anyone acquired it, even staunch allies would immediately build walls of suspicion. A meticulously trained army could become the very blade that slit their own throats in seconds. The mental anguish was far too great to bear.
"As I said, this magic is highly subjective," Ryen concluded.
"In my hands, aside from gods like Zhongli whose wills are unbreakable, I can control anyone and force them to fight for me."
"In Cloud Retainer's hands, restricted by her own mental fortitude, this staff could at best control some weaker Allogenes."
"Of course, nothing is absolute. The core factor is mental resilience. But once the defense breaks, the victim has no hope of breaking free until the spell naturally expires or the caster manually releases it."
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