Chapter 351: How About Living in My Body? (1)
“You’ve come to your senses now.”
Ghislain withdrew his fist and smiled. Now that Edwin’s mind had fully returned, it was time to resolve matters through conversation.
Indeed, Edwin’s appearance was noticeably different from before. The malevolent energy had vanished, and his eyes had returned to their original color.
“W-Who are you?! You devil! Let me go this instant!”
Edwin trembled violently, his expression filled with fear. The comfort he had known until now had instantly transformed into a living hell.
Since merging with the malevolent spirit, Edwin had never felt physical pain. Even being chained for a year had not fazed him.
But now, after just a few punches, he was experiencing unbearable agony. This person must be a devil, no doubt.
Clicking his tongue, Ghislain approached Edwin and spoke.
“Do you plan on continuing to live with that thing? Or should we extend this for a few more days?”
Edwin vigorously shook his head in terror.
No matter how much he screamed, no one would come to help. He couldn’t go on like this.
Faced with such torment, he thought it might be better to listen to his father’s advice, study hard, and live a quiet life.
Satisfied, Ghislain nodded with a smile.
“Hey, you’re listening, right? How about coming out of that body now? Or do you need a few more days?”
At that, Edwin’s eyes turned black once more. It seemed clear that the two were sharing control over the body.
Regardless, both were equally terrified. The malevolent spirit spoke with trembling eyes.
“Grrr… I-I can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
“If I leave this body… I’ll die. I’ve been… surviving by feeding off this body’s life force. If I don’t enter another body, I’ll gradually fade away.”
“Oh, so leaving means death?”
“Y-Yes. Just let me stay in this body. I’ll live quietly from now on. The body’s owner… his anger has subsided significantly.”
The spirit pleaded its case and offered a compromise, trying to appeal to Ghislain’s sense of compassion.
Ghislain nodded thoughtfully.
“Hmm, I see. As expected.”
“E-Expected?”
“That’s the way it works. Then let me make you an offer.”
“An… offer?”
“Yes. You can’t stay in that body forever. So, instead, I’ll provide you with a place to stay.”
“A… place?”
Ghislain grinned slyly and stared directly into the spirit’s eyes.
“How about living in my body?”
The spirit froze, and Arel, who had been observing nearby, was also startled.
It was incomprehensible why Ghislain would allow such a spirit to enter his body. If the spirit overtook him, the entire estate would be doomed.
Arel tried to intervene, but Ghislain waved him off and continued.
“I’ll make room for you to live in my body. After all, you need mana or life force to survive, right? I’ll even supply you with mana.”
“How… is that possible…?”
The spirit stared at Ghislain in shock.
Nothing he had said was wrong. To sustain itself, the spirit needed to parasitize a host and feed on their mana.
Everyone, no matter how weak, possessed a small amount of mana. It accumulated in the body as they lived, breathed, ate, and drank.
For most people, their mana was insignificant and unusable. Even those trained in using it couldn’t accumulate much in everyday life.
However, Edwin, as a count’s heir, had learned mana cultivation techniques. Although they were rudimentary, they were still far superior to the bodies of commoners the spirit had previously inhabited.
With his own abilities combined with Edwin’s mana, the spirit had even been able to manifest dark energy.
‘This guy seems far stronger than Edwin. If I could take over his body…’
This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Finding a suitable host was never easy. Only those with extremely weak or exhausted mental fortitude could be possessed.
However, if the host willingly surrendered their body, possession became much simpler.
Once inside, the spirit could easily manipulate emotions and memories to seize control.
“Do you think I’ll just go along with this, knowing you’re up to something?” the spirit growled.
“Trust me and give it a try. If anything seems off, you can just return to Edwin’s body, right?”
“……”
The spirit hesitated, lost in thought. The risk was unsettling, but the reward could be immense. A powerful body like Ghislain’s was the chance of a lifetime.
‘Is he really trying to save this kid? Or does he think he can destroy me once I move?’
Whatever Ghislain’s intentions, the spirit decided it was a gamble worth taking. Once inside, it would ensure no one could control it.
After all, the stronger the opponent, the greater the spirit’s potential to thrive.
“Fine… I’ll transfer to your body…”
Dark energy writhed and seeped from Edwin’s body, surging toward Ghislain’s. A strong will directly pierced into Ghislain’s mind.
“Do you accept me?”
“I accept.”
Ghislain did not resist the energy invading him. He opened himself not only physically but also mentally, not rejecting the malevolent spirit.
The spirit cautiously seeped into Ghislain, wary of any potential deception. It had to be prepared to flee back into Edwin’s body at the first sign of betrayal.
But there was no resistance. Once more than half had entered, the spirit surged forward, overtaking Ghislain in an instant.
Fwoosh!
All of the dark energy was absorbed into Ghislain. His eyes turned pitch black, and a torrent of malevolent energy burst from his body.
Arel, who had been watching nervously nearby, instinctively stepped back.
“Th-This is…”
The energy emanating from Ghislain was on an entirely different level compared to what Edwin had released. The sheer intensity overwhelmed the surroundings, making it difficult to breathe.
Arel struggled to endure, gathering the pitifully small amount of mana he had accumulated over the years. Meanwhile, Edwin began gasping for air, unable to breathe properly.
Inside Ghislain’s mind, the spirit’s laughter rang out.
“Hehehe! Hahaha! Incredible! What an amazing body! Such immense energy! This is a vessel on a completely different level from ordinary humans!”
The spirit had always drifted between the minds of those at society’s bottom rung. It had never once possessed a body like this.
This was no surprise. A human’s psyche rarely allowed itself to be dominated. No matter how despairing or sorrowful, most people’s minds resisted possession. Only the weak or those at the brink of suicide could be overtaken.
Such individuals were rare, usually found among impoverished commoners. Knights were out of the question. Even someone like Edwin had been a rare catch.
But now, this magnificent body one that far surpassed any knight was in its grasp! The sheer mana coursing through Ghislain’s veins gave the spirit absolute confidence.
“Heh heh heh. I’ll evolve this body even further. With my powers combined with this vessel, it will become unstoppable.”
The spirit prided itself on amplifying its host’s abilities manifold. Edwin’s weak mana had been magnified into a force capable of unleashing dark energy, all thanks to the spirit.
“Now, show me the memories and emotions you’ve experienced. They are the source of my power. Even if you’ve forgotten, I will bring them to the surface.”
The spirit’s unique ability was to convert emotions into power. And it wasn’t limited to present feelings.
Everyone harbored intense emotions at some point in their lives. Be it anger, fear, sorrow, joy, misfortune, or happiness everyone had felt something.
Even those who achieved peace in their later years had once been overwhelmed by emotions. Though time buried those memories, the spirit could unearth them, turning them into raw energy.
However, to channel this power, the host needed to be a capable vessel. No matter how trivial the source, people’s emotions could be intensely passionate.
Edwin, for example, was filled with despair but lacked the capacity to fully harness it. His mind was not large enough as a vessel.
Ironically, the deeper and broader a person’s mind, the more they could endure and the stronger the spirit’s powers became.
“Surely, you’ve experienced pain and joy in your life. Show me everything your past.”
The spirit eagerly dove into Ghislain’s subconscious, delving beyond his consciousness to steal his memories.
As it explored, the environment began to shift, shaped by those memories.
“Let’s see just how interesting your life has been… Hmm?”
Grrrrrrrr…
The spirit froze, startled, and scanned its surroundings.
Everything was red.
A barren, desolate land stretched endlessly, painted in vivid crimson. A single figure stood in the middle of the scorched earth.
It was a man, his body covered in scars from head to toe. His blond hair was streaked with patches of white, and his eyes stared emptily at the sky.
Although the man’s face was not visible, as this was the realm of the mind, the spirit could instantly perceive everything.
“Who… is this?”
The malevolent spirit muttered in confusion. This was the subconscious realm, a place where no one but the host could exist.
The moment it entered the body, it had already recognized the host’s true identity, including the disguise and assumed name. Yet the man standing alone in the desolate wasteland, gazing at the sky, bore only a resemblance to the current host. His appearance was older, more worn, as though the host had been wounded and aged considerably.
“What… what is this?”
As the spirit wavered, the world around it began to turn crimson. Then, the scenery distorted and shifted again.
It was now the host’s childhood.
“Finally, proper memories. What a pitiful little wretch.”
The emotions from his youth were nothing but inferiority and immature rage.
He wasn’t much different from Edwin. No perhaps worse. A boy riddled with insecurities and consumed by a crushing sense of defeat.
The spirit greedily absorbed these emotions, murmuring to itself.
“Hmm, so his younger sibling died. That must have been a heavy blow. He left home after that?”
The memories shifted to a period of rigorous training and mercenary work. Through countless brushes with death and diverse experiences, his emotions began to change.
Though there was hardship and frustration, most of what followed were feelings of anticipation, positivity, hope, and longing.
“Seems like he grew into a proper man after some suffering.”
The spirit chuckled as it absorbed these newfound emotions as well. Pain seemed to mold people, a fact evidenced by both this host and Edwin. Suffering, it seemed, brought enlightenment.
Then, the environment warped again, and the spirit’s brow furrowed as it watched the next memory unfold.
“This…”
Heads were strung up on poles before a scaffold. The host knelt before the gruesome sight, sobbing uncontrollably.
When soldiers approached, he staggered to his feet and fled.
The emotions that followed were raw and overwhelming:
Regret, despair, depression, sorrow, fear.
And then…
Rage.
“His family and friends were all killed. Such intense emotions. These are the kinds of feelings that make my power even stronger.”
The spirit absorbed the volatile emotions eagerly. The more intense the feelings, the greater its satisfaction.
Again, the scenery shifted. The world distorted further.
Rage, regret. Rage, regret. Rage, regret.
These emotions repeated endlessly, overshadowing all else. Though hints of depression and sorrow occasionally surfaced, they were always drowned by the tidal wave of anger. Even fleeting moments of happiness were quickly consumed by the relentless fury.
What the spirit saw was a man driving himself to the edge over and over.
He adopted aliases and concealed his identity. He fought ceaselessly, against monsters and men alike.
He set clear, unwavering goals and pursued them with singular focus, eschewing sleep for the endless cycle of combat.
[Become stronger. Seek vengeance at all costs.]
This became the sole purpose of his life.
“Wait… what?”
Something felt off. The spirit, as it delved deeper into his memories, began to sense a profound unease.
The host’s face and body were now marred by countless scars. His hair had started turning white in places.
It made sense, of course. Carrying such emotions and pushing himself to the limit would inevitably take a toll on both body and mind.
But still, something was amiss.
“Wait… has he aged past his current self?”
The spirit grew disoriented.
In these memories, the host had surpassed the age of his physical body. With every brush with death, he seemed to grow stronger, evolving through pain and realization.
He killed, trained, killed, and trained again, relentlessly advancing toward his goal.
Suddenly, the world twisted and skipped forward in time, reshaping itself. The spirit tried to control the chaotic memories, but was swept away, powerless to stop the shift.
“What is this world?”
At some point, the man had become incomparably powerful. This, at least, was understandable. Fighting and training so much it would have been strange if he remained weak.
But the world around him had changed. It was a world unknown to the spirit a world filled with incomprehensible beasts and monsters, where despair consumed humanity.
The spirit had never seen or heard of such a world.
Though it was supposedly delving into past memories, this new environment made no sense. How could it show a world unlike any it had ever known? And how had the host aged so far beyond his current self?
Even as the spirit reeled, the host moved tirelessly within this memory. The spirit had never seen anyone fight so much in their lifetime.
Through endless battles, he honed himself, slaying monsters and beasts, growing his power, and gathering a loyal following. Many revered him, chanting his name.
At some point, he earned a glorious title. The world celebrated and worshiped him.
[One of the Seven Strongest on the Continent, King of Mercenaries.]
This occurred when he had far surpassed his current age.
The spirit realized with certainty that something was fundamentally wrong with this body’s memories.