Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 176: Cure

Her hand hovered over a young man's head.

“Astrid, you can’t be thinking of–” Leena shouted in an attempt to stop Astrid.

Turning her head, Astrid replied with a smile. “Trust me.”

Leena took a step forward, before eventually stomping the ground in exasperation. “Fine.” Realising that Astrid was going to do what Astrid did, she crossed her arms, and stared daggers at the scientist.

Just like everyone else, their guards were up. They were under no false pretence that he wouldn't try something. Besides, no-one knew if there were any traps in the room for him to trigger.

Astrid was sure the people from the town would charge up to see what all the noise was, but it seemed that no-one wanted to cross the pirate king. It didn’t matter to Astrid, to here, it meant there was peace for now.

Taking a breath, she placed her hand on the man's head. The Spawn scales growing from his head pricked at her calloused hands, but she ignored it.

Of course she wasn’t crazy enough to absorb the disease into her own body, that would be irresponsible. No, she had another way to discover what the process was like. She just hoped she would be able to understand what she saw.

Astrid used Mind Domain. Her thoughts dissipated until only her and the young man remained within a world of white.

“Wh–where am I?” The young man with freckles looked from side-to-side in panic.

Astrid stilled for a moment as she entered the man’s mind. It was just a glance as she was afraid of damaging his mind, but it was as she thought. He was a survivor from a small island colony named Ronnie. Their entire island was pillaged by Umair’s despicable group of pirates, and now he was here–corrupted.

Astrid balled her hands into fists. The pirate king deserved death.

She decided not to fabricate anything. If she was in the same situation, she would want them to tell the truth.

“You were kidnapped from your home and taken to Mount Hullbeck. You were then experimented on, until–” Astrid stopped her words, and instead of describing it, she showed him.

To the side of him, his current form materialised in an instant. From the Spawn scales on his body, to the sharpened claws that emerged from his fingertips.

Lips quivering, Ronnie reached out to touch the illusion. There was no difference from the Mind Domain created version of him. His fingers brushed up against the disorderly scales of corruption. He flinched at the touch.

“This is me?” He glanced at Astrid as she nodded in response.

“I want to free you.” Astrid approached him. “But that would mean I need to sink into your thoughts and memories. Further than I did before, anyway.”

“And you need my acceptance?” He asked.

It seemed like he had a vague idea of how mind control worked.

Astrid replied. “That’s right.”

“Have you ever done this before?” Ronnie gave her a questioning look in worry.

Tilting her head, Astrid’s eyes widened. She was still wearing her mask, maybe that’s why? She nodded and removed her mask with a thought, but his gaze just became more intense.

“Are you a first year student? I hear they aren’t very strong.”

“I assure you, you won’t find many stronger than me.” Astrid said with pride radiating from her aura, however, Ronnie didn’t seem very perceptive of that aura.

Astrid tutted. “Fine.”

Connecting to the liquid mana within her eye, the entire surrounding area transformed into another world. Not only that, Astrid floated in the air as volcanoes erupted all around her. Still not happy at the sight, Astrid commanded her mana to surge outward like an apocalyptic tide.

Ronnie’s hair was blasted back in the intense storm.

Astrid was going to stop, but it felt good showing off. A purple swirling ball of chaotic energy formed within her hand, and a moment later, she threw it at the distant mountain.

It tore through the air, causing sonic booms to follow in its wake. In the blink of an eye, it sank into the mountain. Then, the entirety of the mountain collapsed as a black hole the size of a boat took its place. Each chunk of rock was ground into dust, then spat out in a blast of air.

The earth rumbled, and Ronnie looked back at Astrid with widened eyes. She was floating with all the eyeballs from her Dominating Sovereigns Eye–as if she was the centre of the universe.

“Is that enough to ease your mind?” Astrid asked.

“Who are you?” Ronnie stumbled, but Astrid caught him.

“My name is Astrid Sinwen, and I want to help you, and others in your situation.” Astrid lowered herself, and all her displays of might vanished. “There are hundreds of others like you right now, and the same is happening back on Rebirth. I need you to help me.”

“Sinwen–” Ronnie mumbled, then his eyes turned serious. “Alright, if I can help–I will.”

“Then, accept my mind as your own.” Astrid said, and connected to his mind just as she had done before. But this time, she penetrated further within. Not just to his thoughts, but right down to the feeling of air brushing against his flesh. And that also meant the pain he experienced when he was being experimented on.

It was a very delicate process, one that she didn’t dare try without him allowing her access into his mind.

It didn’t take long for Astrid to arrive just before the corruption process took place. Astrid blood boiled at the familiar face as he stuck a needle filled with a dense purple liquid into his arm. It was the scientist that they had forced to sit on the floor.

His face was unchanging, even with Ronnie screaming in confusion. The utter disregard of his suffering only angered her further, although it was strange. It wasn’t the usual wrath she felt, but something different. Something that evoked a sense of loneliness within her from the fact that another human could treat another of their own kind like he had done.

Your Loneliness has reached 95/100.

Putting the thoughts to the back of her mind, she focused on the task at hand. She connected to his arm, and sunk her vision within. As soon as the needle plunged into the arm, Astrid witnessed the liquid activate almost immediately.

The red cells warped into a wretched purple. They spread like a wildfire until they congealed into a strange glob. From the clump was where the corruption began. It spread through the blood, to the brain, from the mind to the flesh on top.

The cluster is the key. Astrid thought. If she could destroy the clumps within, then maybe she could abolish the virus.

Luckily, she had the perfect testing grounds. Now that she had experienced how it occurred, next up was creating a carbon copy of Ronnie lest she make a mistake in trying to find a cure.

She removed her connection from the original body, then created another to the side. It was the corrupted variation.

“Any luck?” Ronnie asked as he fiddled with his fingers.

“We’ll find out soon.” Astrid frowned.

“If you–If you can’t find a cure, then it’s okay.” Ronnie fought back tears. “Just the fact that you’ve tried is enough. Enough to realise the world isn’t all bad.”

Astrid nodded, but a look of apprehension flashed within her eyes. She recalled Haufman when she was within the void world. She had attempted to rid him of the void sickness, or whatever it was, but in the end she had failed.

Mustering up her courage, she connected to the clone, and repeated the process. However, this time his entire body was covered in the corruption from head-to-toe. The blobs of disease were in the thousands.

First, Astrid attempted her usual method. Destruction. Connecting to the cluster, she [Crashed] it–only for it to spread even further.

Ronnie jumped back at the sight of his body only getting worse. His nose melted away, replacing it with just nostrils much like a Spawn.

“It was just the first test,” Astrid said in an attempt to placate the young man.

Next up she covered the surrounding blob in a Mind Barrier. Creating one of such a small size was an incredibly difficult task. Sweat formed on her forehead, and the mana within her container whittled away, but she persisted. Then she [Crashed] the clump of corruption. It worked. The cluster vanished, but she used too much power within the attack, causing the surrounding blood vessels to rupture.

However, a smile formed on her face. Unlike with the void corruption where there was no visible way to destroy it, she had a way. A path–and that was all she needed.

She repeated the process until who knows how many minutes had passed. Astrid didn’t know, but at some point she had to sit down to focus. Either that or her legs gave out, but she was too invested within Ronnie’s corrupted body.

This time, she would succeed.

The thought burned within her mind as she continued. Sometimes Ronnie’s body would give out, so she would try again. While other times more corruption clusters spread as she was working on the others. It was an agonising time, but it wasn’t impossible. She could feel it.

Currently, she was on the eighth clone, and so far, it was faring up better than the others thanks to her increased speed, and control. The more she did it, the quicker she got. The corruption was entirely wiped out, from his toes, right up to his neck.

I’m doing it. Astrid could feel her limbs tremble in excitement. Ronnie’s fought back tears, and the look of acceptance on his face only made her try harder.

Just the thought of any of the children back on Rebirth undergoing the corruption made any notion of giving up an impossibility. She would destroy the disease once and for all.

All that was left was a long cluster within Ronnies mind. It was the sole survivor, and during her time battling the disease, she could feel a faint source of power coming from the mind.

Peering closer, it was as if it attempted to hide from her inspection. It moved, as if it was alive.

Astrid took a breath. Was that the reason it hadn’t been healed yet? Could the Sanctity healers really not discover a cure with all of their healing capabilities? She was becoming suspicious. They were the best healers in the world, and something she could do, naturally they could as well.

Astrid wasn’t sure, but once she returned, there would be questions that needed to be answered.

Realising the final hurdle, she pushed further within Ronnie’s mind. There was a strong resistance, but she simply relied on brute force, and smashed her way inside the deep recesses of the young man’s brain.

Once she had passed, a small, purple egg attempted to escape from her psychic energy. But she was in control. The corruption may have taken Ronnie as a prisoner, but the building now belonged to Astrid.

Her eyes glowed a frightening hue as they resemble stars in the pitch black night. She flared her mana and obliterated the fleeing purple egg.

Astrid stumbled back. Exhaustion wrecked her mind, but once she gazed at Ronnie’s new body, her mind buzzed with a feverish excitement.

The corruption was gone.