"Dominic and Theodore have already drunk the wine laced with the covenant medium, you see..." At this moment, Wendy's voice snapped Elijah's thoughts back.
"Yeah, I've noticed. Bring them in now," Elijah replied.
Wendy glanced at the collapsed Matthew. "Shouldn't we tidy him up?"
"No need. I want to see their reactions," Elijah said calmly.
"Alright then, I'll bring them in," Wendy said as she walked out of the room.
Shortly after, footsteps approached outside the room, accompanied by Dominic's voice. "Wendy, what does the boss want with us? He's summoned us up here! Normally, only you come here. What's going on..."
"You'll find out when you go in," Wendy replied indifferently.
The door opened, and three figures entered the room.
As soon as Dominic and Theodore stepped inside, their attention was drawn to the vivid red on the floor.
Upon realizing it was Matthew, Dominic exclaimed in disbelief, "Boss? What's going on here?"
Theodore, expressionless, glanced at Wendy, then turned his gaze to the two strangers in the room.
No, one stranger!
Kylie had been treated by Matthew as a sex slave, usually not allowing outsiders to see her, but the management had seen her a few times.
"Is this your doing?"
Theodore stared at Elijah, while Dominic also noticed Elijah.
"Impossible. How could he defeat the boss?"
Dominic looked at Wendy, then at Elijah. Enjoy new adventures from m-v l'e|-novelhall.net
Despite his disbelief in words, he understood that Wendy didn't have the power to defeat the boss, even with a surprise attack. It could only be the unknown guy in front of him.
"Whatever tricks you're playing, I'll kill you first, then take care of the boss!"
Dominic realized Matthew wasn't dead. As long as Ian returned, Matthew would recover from Ian's self-healing ability.
"Theodore, you should guard the two women, I'll kill this man!"
Dominic gave a fierce smile and then stepped toward Elijah!
"Drink!"
On the other hand, Dominic showed no change whatsoever, as if Matthew hadn't hypnotized him at all, and he attacked Elijah directly.
Elijah kept his telepathic ability active, confirming that Dominic genuinely accepted Matthew and intended to save him.
Theodore's internal transformation, however, was much more intriguing.
He started with self-disgust, which later turned into intense hatred towards Matthew and the entire YLK group.
Elijah learned from his thoughts that Theodore's initial disgust stemmed from the fact that Matthew had fed him his own brother.
It was no wonder Theodore despised Matthew so deeply.
If Theodore's abilities were similar to Wendy's, involving mental manipulation, he would have likely broken free from Kylie's mental influence and Matthew's hypnotic suggestions long ago, driven purely by his hatred and enhanced mental strength.
Currently, Theodore's heart was set on destruction, particularly towards the group. Dominic was merely his first target in this destruction.
Being stabbed through the heart meant destruction for a power-user; Dominic soon fell lifeless to the ground, denied even the chance to reanimate, as Theodore promptly destroyed his brainstem.
Theodore's movements were fluid and practiced, indicating he had experience in such matters.
"Though I don't know who you are, your motives, or methods, I'm grateful for you awakening me and giving me the chance for revenge," Theodore thanked Elijah, then walked towards the collapsed Matthew, intent on killing him to vent his rage.
"You can't kill him yet; he's still useful to me," Elijah intervened.
"Oh..."
Narrowing his eyes dangerously, Theodore stared at Elijah. At this point, Elijah hadn't subjected him to any hypnotic suggestions, so Theodore posed a potential threat.
However, Elijah remained unfazed and continued, "Killing Matthew now might awaken others in the base who are also under hypnotic control. They might rampage like you, indiscriminately killing, allowing those who truly support Matthew to escape in the chaos. Your hatred for Matthew and the group, fundamentally, is hatred for those people, isn't it?
You wouldn't want them to escape so easily, would you?"
Theodore fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.
"What do you propose?" he finally asked.
Elijah snapped his fingers and addressed Theodore and Wendy, "I need your cooperation. Deceive the people downstairs in batches, bring them up. I'll lift the hypnotic suggestions, distinguish friend from foe, and together we'll eliminate the stubborn elements. Once we've dealt with everyone problematic, you can do as you wish with Matthew. How does that sound?"
Theodore quickly recalled a similar process involving himself and Dominic.
Although he didn't know Elijah's specific abilities, judging by his ability to overpower Matthew and match Dominic in strength without faltering, Elijah was undoubtedly formidable.
Thinking this through, Theodore nodded. "I agree."
"Good. Let's take action then. Start with... five people at a time. Make sure to include persuadable ones and stubborn ones. Wendy, can you handle this?"