279. Psychotropics

279. Psychotropics

Chapter 279

Year 270 (Later half)

Multipus was defeated, after what felt like a prolonged campaign. Even if the final battle on Treehome was anticlimactic, I was relieved that it was finally, finally over.

There were still some remnant rocks to destroy, and the skies will continue to be filled with momentarily sparks of light from our magical attacks. Some will streak across the skies and burn in the atmosphere of Treehome, creating beautiful meteors.

Now, we could redirect our attention to the other issues.

Chung.

I watched him from afar, and through my vines and trees. His situation eroded.

What seemed like insanity, began to set in. Madness. Prabu and Colette seemed upset, they didnt want to be the one to kill him. Prabu and Colette did visit, and did try to talk to him. But it went nowhere.

Madness creeped his mind, as he seemed to hallucinate that everything around him had somehow transformed into demons.

Demons! He screamed, blasting trees the moment he saw them. Grass and trees seemed to be demons. Even people seemed to be demons. I summoned the rest of the sane heroes, and updated them on the situation.

I didnt know why.

I didnt hurt him.

Ive treated him fairly, as far as I could.

Even from this distance, my [Soul Forge] could feel an intense disquiet in his heart. The energies of a soul that struggled against the demands of his class. A gods curse. I wondered whether Hawa could remove his class.

Try not to kill him. Prabu said.

I would, if youd help me. I said. This madness is caused by the [hero] class.

Im not mad. Prabu countered. Adrian and Khefri listened quietly.

Not all heroes take the effects and chains of the [Hero] class equally. Madness is the outcome for some. I countered.

You dont know that.

Ive seen enough to conclude madness is likely the outcome of the [hero] class and his personality.

At this point, the only plausible solution, at least, the only non-lethal one, was to do something like what I did to Colette. Remove the [hero] class from Chung.

He would become mortal.

Or Id kill him in the process.

Or kill him, if he used his powers to hurt more than it is worth.

If youd help me knock him out, I will try to remove the hero class from his soul. I offered the heroes a way out. I know they dont want to kill their fellow hero.

Bloody hell. Prabu cursed. I dont even know how effective our powers are.

The alternative is death. I countered. My domain holders would assist. It was a valuable chance to deal with a hero thats not at full strength. Chung was mad. His magical powers and abilities are still insanely destructive, but with his mental state a wreck, he is likely unable to strategize and fight us properly.

Must it be now?

If not now, then when? Chungs mental state deteriorates, and he seems to be suffering from some kind of imbalance in his soul. I dont know the effects of long term internal struggles, and whether it can be fixed, if its too late.

I was being a little manipulative, but it was true. A soul, as I understood it, can get damaged. It happened with the first generation of heroes I encountered, Alexis and Meela. Their souls suffered damage. Ive seen soul damage in many ways or forms, and I expect Chungs situation to be similar.

There is a rot in Chungs soul, quite similar to Colettes feeling. While Colette understood it, Chung denies it.

Partly because he doesnt want anything to do with me anymore. Partly because he feels, and still feels I am responsible for Kens death. In his eyes, I am a murderer. I killed his friend.

Prabu and Colette looked at each other. Somehow, the burden of this decision was with them. They were the same generation, the same batch. If they decided to help, then it was possible.

If I have to step in, I cannot guarantee he will live. He is a hero, while we are not. We will have to go all out to take him out. I answered.

To be fair, I was excited at the thought of finally taking on a hero. Ive known, since the Sun-Rings, that I could take damage really well. Now I wanted to see how I stood against a hero like Chung, with his destructive piercing arrows.

Is Level 250 enough?

I think it is. At least, Patreeck puts the chance of me winning to be fairly high, though the level of destruction we will cause was catastrophic.

Prabu and Colette looked at each other. Khefri, Adrian, what do you two think?

Khefri shrugged. He needs some sense beaten into him, but as much as I hate to say it, I think hes higher level than me.

Adrian nodded as well. Ill help, but- yeah. We cant let him destroy and kill like this. I think he might get excommunicated, like-

It didnt need to be said.

It was kinda sad. Ive watched Chung over the years, and hes always been suspicious of me. But I did think we had some level of professional respect for each others abilities. He knew I could do certain things, and I respected his power.

But in a long enough time frame, even friends can be enemies.

Then I wondered whether this was how paranoia starts. Follow the latest novels at novelhall.com

Day by day, Chungs descent into madness worsened. He blasted more places, destroyed more mountains. He began seeing demons where there were none, and it felt like some kind of suppressed rage.

You cant postpone this decision forever. I spoke to both Colette and Prabu. Colette accepted the decision was necessary. Prabu struggled a little harder, but ultimately, the [hero] class did not oppose such matters. There were no restrictions on heroes fighting each other. They fought each other in the past. We had records that heroes went to war with other over petty things.

Colette agreed. Lets do it.

The plan was the heroes engaged first. They would take the lead, since it is their friend. Lumoof and myself would only emerge in the final minutes, to use our disabling abilities on Chung. Edna and the rest would only step in, if any of the heroes were in trouble.

But otherwise, as Colette puts it, Chung is our friend, and well, let us do it.

Honestly, I think the chance of my domain holders dying was quite high, especially for my softer members like Roon, Johann, Stella, Ezar and Kafa. We exempted Stella from the battle, since she wasnt really a combatant, and we highly needed her, even if we had other void mages.

Think hell kill us? Adrian asked.

Prabu added. Chung, we didnt want to do this. But we cant let you go mad.

Lumoof then appeared, and in my avatar form, we entered the trap.

Chung struggled in madness, as Lumoofs magical vines quickly grabbed hold of the archer hero. Let go!

Lumoof didnt reply, but continued to focus on disabling him. My energies began to flood his body, and we began to forcefully drain his mana. His soul attempted to fight mine, but this was a sensation familiar to me.

I remember Alvin struggling in the same manner. Chung was quickly immobilized and paralysed, as my own energies took hold of the heros body.

He struggled. Let go!

But eventually, my spiritual energies overwhelmed him, and he was knocked out. I teleported Chung into the depths of the valley, and we would begin the accursed process of stripping a hero of his class.

***

Chungs soul spring was encased in the same type of shining marble stone. But, on closer inspection, the shape of the rocks had turned into large, thorny structures that surrounded the sparkling, star-filled waters.

Get out. I felt Chungs thoughts here. GET OUT.

It was the souls resistance, trying to force me out. It was like a wave, pushing back at my presence.

But this wouldnt kick me out. Not now. My presence was like a tree, and my energies, like roots, grabbed the soul spring, and pierced the soil of his spirit.

I would rip the hero class out of his soul, and I would do so in the way a tree would.

My roots pierced the gaps of the marble stones, and forced my way in.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Chung roared.

Stripping you of your powers. I answered plainly, as my spiritual roots drew power from the worlds.

NO!

The rocks cracked, as I pushed. It was harder, because Chung wasnt cooperating. But I am now Level 250, and the hero class wasnt going to stop me.

EVIL! YOU WORK FOR THE DEMONS!

I dont.

YOU WILL BE THE NEXT DEMON. Chung accused.

My roots pierced the foundations of his soul spring, and slowly, I lifted. The rocks felt heavy. They always were. I felt his soul spring try its best to hold on to the rocks. But I pushed. My roots grew, and his soul spring buckled like a road with roots growing underneath it.

Maybe. I answered, as I kept working. But I posit life is better than death. So better alive than dead.

I RATHER DIE WITH PRIDE AND DIGNITY THAN TO SERVE.

I didnt bother answering that. His soul buckled.

***

The entire valley trembled with the turbulent powers of a heros energies. The four heroes were nearby, near my main tree, and they could feel it.

Everything alright? Colette asked Lumoof.

Lumoof shrugged. Its going well. The hero class is loose.

Khefri had a mischievous grin. Zhaanpus going to have a good time once he knows you can do this.

Lumoof looked at Khefri, and shrugged. Hes been having a good time for a while now. We still owe him an apology. Aeon promised hed get an audience with a god.

Khefri then looked at Lumoof. Wait. I wasnt briefed on that.

Ah. Yes. Priorities. Lumoof laughed. We did intend to inform him about Hawa and the things that were discussed, but, things happened.

Khefri squinted. Fill me in.

Later, later. Aeons getting there.

The valley swirled with turbulent magic. Lightning and bursts of magic seemed to manifest out of nowhere, and briefly, everyone felt divine magic.

Huh. Lumoof said. That was unexpected-

They were instantly hit with notification that their domain had blocked attempted scrying. For the heroes, they were all instantly hit with a headache, except Colette, who felt as if something attempted to touch her.

Lumoof looked at the heroes, and immediately encased them in a barrier of roots and vines. Somethings trying to look through your souls.

Adrian, Khefri and Prabu struggled for a little, before the sensation vanished. Whats that?

Lumoof frowned. A gods trying to spy on us.

***

Chungs spirit was in turmoil, as my roots and vines separated the marble rocks that made up the hero class from the soul spring.

The hero was in intense pain, the act of ripping out ones class is quite like removing a central pillar of his identity. I spent quite a bit of my energies trying to hold him, as the rest of my energies pushed the hero class out of the way, further, and further.

My spiritual vines grabbed the stones of his hero class, and bit by bit, I pulled it further and further away from his soul spring.

A full day later, the hero class was finally out of the reach of his soul spring, and then-

[Youve removed the [Archer Hero] class]

[Youve gained the [Archer Hero] Class Seed]

[Warning : This Class Seed is highly unstable and may cause death during attempted merger]

Chung was alive, but suddenly, the young man strapped into the soul forge began to age rapidly.

Uh. Shit