"Mr. Nolan, I know it's you. We already paid compensation to Sumeru back then, didn't we? Acting like this is hardly in the spirit of the contract."
The Doctor spoke into the void.
Hearing this, the Balladeer quickly caught on, his face twisting in fury.
"You mean—it's that meddling bastard of an adventurer again!"
Inside the unobservable barrier, Nilou immediately guessed who they were talking about.
She glanced at the young adventurer at her side and whispered:
"Eh, Mr. Adventurer, I think they've figured you out."
"Haha, doesn't matter. They've already been dragged into my Domain. Getting out won't be that easy."
Nolan chuckled, then added:
"Nilou, stay in the barrier for now. I'll go greet them."
"Mm."
Nilou knew her strength couldn't help here—better to remain inside and not add to the trouble.
Since the unobservable barrier was fused with the Mindscape Domain, Nolan didn't even need to step out.
He simply let the Doctor and Balladeer see him.
Amid the endless starry void, a figure slowly appeared before the two Fatui Harbingers.
It was Nolan.
"Long time no see, gentlemen."
He greeted the Doctor and Balladeer lightly.
"It really is you!"
If not for knowing he couldn't win, the Balladeer would've rushed over already to "teach Nolan how to behave." And because of this damned Mindscape, he couldn't even link up with the God of Pure Mechanization.
That made things even worse.
"Mr. Nolan, isn't this a bit inappropriate?" the masked Doctor said calmly, his expression unreadable.
"Too bad. If you weren't secretly stirring up trouble here, I'd have almost forgotten about you. Why would I bother otherwise?
"But since you're threatening Sumeru again, I've no choice but to strangle the crisis in its cradle."
Nolan spread his hands and shook his head.
"You should know—the collection of the Gnosis is a mission entrusted to us by the Tsaritsa."
The Doctor folded one arm, resting his chin on his hand.
Nolan could see him trying to invoke the Tsaritsa's name to intimidate him. Calmly, he replied:
"If you'd said that a while ago, maybe it would've worked. But now? Too late.
"I'm already clinging to the Raiden Shogun's thigh. If your Empress dares trouble me, hmph, my dear Shogun certainly won't sit by idly!"
In truth, even without Ei's help, he didn't fear the Tsaritsa—but that was something best kept to himself. Outwardly, modesty was better.
"Baal… Zebul!"
Hearing that most detested name, the Balladeer erupted with rage, fists clenched, nearly striking out.
But the Doctor restrained him with sheer spiritual force.
Fighting on someone else's home turf was unwise. The oppressive weight of this Mindscape was all too clear.
"And besides," Nolan smiled, "you brought the Electro Gnosis to Sumeru for your god-making experiments—without your Empress' permission, didn't you?
"Back then, once La Signora obtained a Gnosis, she immediately hurried back to Snezhnaya. But you two? Your actions may already have angered your Tsaritsa.
"She might not cover for you at all."
As he spoke, his hands never ceased moving—summoning forth the golden Sword God of Lumine. Then, activating his affinity skill Twin Shadows, he called forth phantom projections of Ei and the Raiden Shogun as well.
The Doctor raised his brows. From the two phantom Shoguns, he could faintly sense an aura akin to the Tsaritsa herself—terrifying and oppressive.
Even for him, there was only one choice: flee.
"Strike the front with your spirit power—now."
The Doctor's voice was calm, brooking no refusal.
"Tch!"
Though the Balladeer seemed reluctant, he didn't hesitate—he hurled all his spiritual strength forward in a furious blast.
The Doctor swiftly added his own spiritual might, weaving it together with the Balladeer's, trying to shake the fabric of this Mindscape.
As long as they could escape, he had a hundred ways to vanish—no god could track him down.
Their invisible mental force battered at the Mindscape.
To Nolan, it felt like weightlifters trapped under his palm, straining to push it up.
There was some resistance—their combined spiritual power was not to be underestimated.
But breaking his Mindscape? They were far from it. He simply reinforced it with ease.
Then the golden Sword God of Lumine moved. She summoned her radiant blade, stepped forward—and vanished.
When she reappeared, she was already before the Doctor.
The pupils behind his black mask shrank sharply. With a shove, he hurled the Balladeer backward, his own body flickering transparent like a fading phantom—yet even so, the sword cleaved through him, scattering him like smoke at noon.
"Oh? An illusion?"
Nolan directed the Sword God to shift dozens of meters left, unleashing another flurry of sword strikes.
In his own Mindscape, there was no such thing as hiding.
At the same time, he sent the Shogun's phantom surging toward the Doctor's position.
Seeing the battle erupt, the Balladeer cloaked himself in lightning, his whole figure bursting forward like an aurora.
Thunder surged endlessly as his palm slammed straight toward Nolan.
Impulsive he might be, but he wasn't stupid—cut off the king, and the soldiers collapse. Capture Nolan, and the phantoms would vanish.
A fine plan.
But executing it? Far beyond his reach.
The Balladeer's strike was just about to land—when suddenly a choking pressure seized his throat. He was lifted straight into the air.
Forcing his eyes open, he saw the phantom of Ei.
"Baal… Zebul…"
His whole body was locked down. The Balladeer felt no stronger than a mere mortal, only able to weakly flail his limbs.
Then, a surge of overwhelming spiritual power slammed into his mind.
Instinct told him to resist, but he was only level ninety-nine—not yet even a god. The gap was far too great. He couldn't hold out for even a second.
His consciousness shattered; his eyes rolled back, limbs slack, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy. Obtained 110,315 Adventure EXP.]
Nolan glanced at the system prompt without surprise. The Balladeer was far stronger than those frail fragments of dead gods—earning over a hundred thousand EXP points was normal.
Meanwhile, the Sword God of Lumine and the Raiden Shogun's phantom pressed the attack on the Doctor. One moment he evaded with illusions, the next he dissolved into elemental mist.
Quite slippery indeed.
If not for the Mindscape, taking him down would've been troublesome.
But for now, Nolan ignored him. Taking advantage of the Balladeer's fainting, he quickly engraved a Command Seal.
This way, like La Signora before him, the Balladeer would be forced to obey—and the Tsaritsa would be none the wiser.
The Balladeer and the Doctor had committed their share of atrocities as Fatui Harbingers, but rather than killing them, secretly controlling them was far more useful. It would slow the Tsaritsa's collection of the Gnoses and keep her off guard.
Three of the Eleven under his covert control once the Doctor was taken—how could the Fatui still function?
A perfect plan. Perhaps, in time, he could control them all—hollowing out the Tsaritsa's power entirely.
Satisfied with his scheme, Nolan finished the Command Seal's setup. Through Ei's phantom, he casually tossed the Balladeer aside.
Then, locking onto the Doctor's position with spiritual sense, he directed Ei's phantom to strike—wielding a violet blade identical to Musou Isshin.
One strike of Musou no Hitotachi cleaved through space itself, thunderous power manifesting before the Doctor instantly, ignoring all distance.
He tried to dodge, but the strike's intent had locked him in place. He couldn't even twitch.
Elemental energy surged within him, instantly forming a thick shield to block the oncoming blade.
Boom!
The shield took the brunt, and the Doctor slipped free of the Musou's lock, fading into shadow once more.
When he reappeared, a bell was in his hand. He gave it a gentle shake, and invisible ripples spread through the Mindscape.
At once, Nolan's head spun slightly, a faint vertigo clouding his senses.
"So—not soul or mind attack, but sound waves tricking the brain into vertigo. Physiological disruption, not spiritual. Hah, truly a researcher—your knowledge runs wide."
He shook his head and pushed out his spiritual field, isolating the sound completely. The dizziness faded.
That trick would floor anyone below level eighty instantly. Nasty.
The Doctor wasn't surprised it didn't work. Still, he kept the bell ringing while vanishing again, splitting into several identical phantoms.
"Oh?"
Nolan realized even his spiritual senses couldn't tell the illusions apart. They were perfect copies.
But he knew—the Doctor was still in this Domain. Without his permission, there was no escape.
So what if he couldn't tell which was real? He had plenty of hands.
The Sword God of Lumine, Ei's phantom, and the Shogun's phantom each rushed a target.
Nolan himself summoned spiritual threads, hammering the remaining phantoms.
One by one, they burst like smoke, scattering into nothing.
The next instant, dozens more Doctors appeared overhead, circling him, all sneering with raised palms.
"Humph."
In unison, they exhaled great clouds of pitch-black smoke—poison, by the look of it.
Nolan had faith in his body—even poison that could slay gods wouldn't touch him.
But confidence wasn't arrogance. Why endure it when better options existed?
Instead of raising elemental or spiritual shields, he simply slipped into the unobservable barrier.
The poison clouds struck empty air.
The Doctor frowned. Sweeping his spiritual power everywhere, he found no trace of Nolan.
Nolan smirked from Nilou's side. If I'm not even here, how will you hit me?
Still, he noticed the poison was dangerous—the Sword God, Ei, and the Shogun's phantoms were already corroded by it.
A toxin that could erode spirit itself. Strange, insidious stuff.
"Mr. Adventurer, you're not hurt, are you?" Nilou asked anxiously, her emerald eyes scanning him up and down.
"Of course not. Watch how I deal with him."
Smiling, Nolan increased the Mindscape's suppressive force. His phantoms unleashed sweeping strikes—razor-edged sword auras, Musou no Hitotachi, and more—hammering the Doctors from all sides.
Each shattered on contact.
Yet above, a fresh host of Doctors appeared again.
"So slippery, aren't you?"
This time, no bells or poison. Instead, they conjured a massive emerald elemental circle.
From it reached a gigantic white claw… then a body, wings, and at last a head.
"A dragon?" Nolan muttered, surprised.
The Doctor could summon elemental dragons? Hopefully not a Dragon King…
His golden Eye of Judgment focused on the icy-white dragon. Above its head, a glowing marker appeared:
[Level: 101]
Only level 101. Just a common elemental dragon—not a Dragon King.
Nolan exhaled in relief.
If something like Azhdaha had appeared, this Mindscape might not have held.
Whether the dragon had leveled naturally past 100 or was boosted by the Doctor didn't matter. It wasn't a threat.
He willed the Mindscape to shift.
The void beneath cracked open with glowing fissures, magma surging upward. Flames rained from the skies.
Even the flanks erupted in fire, the whole battlefield sealed in blazing heat like a furnace.
The ice-white dragon roared, unleashing torrents of frost breath to counter the inferno—struggling desperately against the oppressive environment.
(End of Chapter)
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