Chapter 369: Truth Behind the Mind Hound

Seated in an auditorium, Jyorta looked at the ongoing lecture with attentiveness, scribbling notes in his notebook. He tapped the pen on his chin while in thought or lightly drummed it on the notebook when the lecturer took a break. It was his usual in a lecture.

Suddenly, blue radiance exited from his blue soul, taking a corporeal form, turning into the figure of the creepy-haired man. Jyorta didn't seem able to detect his existence, continuing with taking his notes.

When the lecturer took a break, after having taught for an hour without rest, Haesha leaned closer to his ear, whispering, "I heard some people on the back talk about Laila leaving the academy for the same reason as you today."

"Really?" Jyorta was surprised, unable to comprehend the reason before he thought of their identities, realising that Psychic Ancestor Marble might have something to do with it, "Did they say anything else?"

"No," Haesha shook her head, "What they said might very well be rumours. Still, they claimed a couple of staff had been conversing about it this morning. It does seem surprising since she's not from an Aristocratic Family. So, there doesn't seem any possibility of her undertaking a dangerous experiment that might have incited trouble in her body right at this time."

"No, the possibility is not slim," Jyorta shook his head, "Her father is a Transformer. And from what I know, he has a powerful administrative position in our 7th Ring."

"I see," Haesha nodded, "Still, it is surprising that this is the second time someone has left the military academy."

…

"Ancestor Marble, if you really cannot say, just say so. Please don't lie to me. I feel my intelligence as a Sky Controller is insulted every time you do so." Madam Mary frowned, gazing at a corner of the principal room where the marble figure had appeared.

"Fine," The marble figure sighed, "It is just to curb my worries. On the off chance, Jyorta goes ballistic, and none of us are around, we need someone to keep him in check. And, the only candidate perfect for this is the sole individual who had outperformed him every month in this military academy."

The marble figure folded its hands, "So, I am just implanting a method of Mind path in her body that would activate in times of necessity."

"Why a Mind path?" Madam Mary frowned, still expressing her doubt.

"It is to prevent anyone from finding it out," The magenta figure laughed, "Also, the Mind path is the only path that can significantly affect the Soul path. And, we have Deific Inference to achieve it."

"Fine," Madam Mary massaged her brows, sighing, "A Cadet leaving the military academy has been unprecedented ever since its establishment. But last year, Jyorta was the first to break it, and now Laila does it again."

"Unprecedented only means no one has done it before, not something no one could accomplish." The magenta figure said its final sentence before disappearing, "In the silicon era, superhumans were unprecedented."

…

The creepy-haired man glanced at Jyorta for a moment, heaving a sigh after sensing that he hadn't noticed his existence. He then gazed towards the north-east, frowning, 'You really have an endless appetite, Gajara. But, I hope you don't interfere with my plans any longer.'

He then looked at Jyorta, sighing, 'But, the moment I take action, it means I would have to expend most of the arrangements I placed in him, save for the final arrangement. Nonetheless, Gajara is targeting my final, most important arrangement. So, I have to take action or my plans would fall short.'

He inspected Jyorta's state, heaving a sigh of relief, 'Thankfully, Jyorta's development exceeds my expectation time and again. Even without my arrangements guiding him, he would still grow to surpass my expectations. Jyovic Bone, Mary Veera, Atika Light, Strongest, Marble, and even Light; with such individuals taking care of him, I don't need to fret. He'll definitely grow up to become a force that would stand against Parasite.'

'What else have I missed?' He tapped his chin, 'I already destroyed Gajara's arrangement in Heima, and Jyorta defeated Ehara Gobi in the Mental Realm. Alright, there doesn't seem to be anything else that needs my intervention.'

His figure broke down into specks of light, turning corporeal as they vanished, appearing in the same place but in the Mental Realm. It travelled at the speed of light, seeping into a giant that was walking through a corner of the Mental Realm, its destination being the humanoid-serpent.

The moment the radiance entered its form, the giant stopped moving, turning around as it headed towards one corner of the Mental Realm, away from being detected by any beings that would arrive during their breakthrough. It then lay around the edge, assimilating with the landscape to avoid showcasing its existence.

This giant was a condensation of all the creepy-haired man's experience fragments. Of course, Gajara Rahi would never forget about them. So, she had also sent a subsoul to collect it. Moreover, it was her first target.

After a century, all his experience fragments in the Mental Realm had been collected and condensed into the giant. The creepy-haired man came to know of her plans and used it to make an arrangement to help Jyorta.

Though, he didn't try to affect any of the other giants, only stopping his giant from facing off against the humanoid-serpent.

In the battlefield, the place in the Mental Realm next to Dawn City, the humanoid-serpent panted, having just finished devouring the experience fragments of the final giant—that belonged to an Ancestor.

It frowned, thinking, 'The tubed freak's form, and Strongest's form hasn't arrived. Or maybe something happened to their forms.'

It then looked at the smaller giants that looked no different from a Tier 5 Cogent Phrenics, frowning again, 'Atika Light's form is absent too. Just what is happening?'

It was worried, unable to obtain the experience fragments of three individuals it had looked forward to the most. It then slammed with its tail, flattening all the Tier 5 Cogent Phrenics that had arrived, destroying their Will before starting to absorb their experience fragments.

"Woof!" Followed by a dog's bark, the Mind Hound appeared at the scene. Even though it was far away, the humanoid-serpent panicked. Without any hesitation, it stopped absorbing the experience fragments of the Tier 5 Cogent Phrenics, only taking the ones she had obtained till now, not showing even a fragment of greed or pity.

Near its tail, there existed a tiny serpentine form, possessing a core in its centre. The tendrils constricting its form moved, destroying it completely. The tail moved a little and swallowed its experience fragments, including the core.

The moment the core touched its form, it disappeared from the Mental Realm, returning to reality. Before disappearing, the humanoid-serpent gazed at the Mind Hound, watching it teleport before its face from beyond the horizon.

Before its canine mouth could clamp on it, the humanoid-serpent disappeared, sporting a smile while hearing the resounding barks from the attacker.

Of the subsouls Gajara Rahi had released into the Mental Realm, targeting the experience fragments of the Ancestors, one of them was allotted to her own—the experience fragments she had lost in the Mental Realm during her five breakthroughs.

But, unlike the others, her experience fragments contained the essence of her—a Psychic Parasite—that subtly changed it. It didn't build up strength and bulk up in size like the others but slowly enriched its own existence, turning sentient over the decades.

It had become the first sentient creature of the Mental Realm. Moreover, the ego of the subsoul forming it had long been assimilated by the Mental Realm. And, when it gained sentience, it established a connection with the Mental Realm, inheriting its ego.

It was the Mental Realm's consciousness, a manifestation of the entire Realm. That was why the humanoid-serpent didn't hesitate to retreat, unwilling to encounter the Mind Hound. A battle would mean its defeat. After all, its opponent was the entire Mental Realm.

If Laila had the confidence to go against the Mental Realm, she would have attempted this process during her breakthrough to Tier 6. At that time, she would have developed to even greater heights. But, since she made use of the loophole in the Mental Realm laws, it showed she didn't have the confidence in going against them.

The Mind Hound barked a couple of times, turning around to see a large stream of experience fragments floating around, the Will in them having been extinguished. It was what Laila's humanoid-serpent form had left behind and escaped without absorbing.

It sniffed through the stream, uninterested in the Tier 5 experience fragments. It continued to sniff for a while, finally barking in joy as it dug through a pile, pulling out an experience fragment that it swallowed. It seemed to have originated from Laila's form.

Even though she tried to prevent losing any of her experience fragments, the battle was insanely tough where she almost lost her life numerous times. So, there were situations where some of her experience fragments flew away before she could pull them back.

The Mind Hound scoured through the pile and barked in joy every time it found one of Laila's experience fragments. Once it swallowed a certain quantity of them, a change enveloped, subtly affecting it.

The Mind Hound barked, causing the sound to be transmitted throughout the Mental Realm. It was the same technique the humanoid-serpent had used the moment it entered the Mental Realm. It was how it could summon all the giants towards it. It was a summoning call of sorts, one that would make the target approach it.

Now, after absorbing enough of Laila's experience fragments, it gained this ability. The Mind Hound barked in joy, wagging the serpentine tail attached to its head, in place of the neck. It then barked again, watching some Cogent Phrenics slowly move towards its location.

It meant some of Laila's, or to be precise, Gajara Rahi's experience fragments were in them, no matter how little. The Mind Hound barked once before jumping onto the nearest Cogent Phrenics, attacking it with its lick attacks. It corroded their Wills, destroyed their forms, sniffed out Gajara Rahi's experience fragments in them, and devoured them happily.