Chapter 221: He’s Everywhere (3)
Ash finally understood the source of the unease that had been gnawing at him since the moment he entered the Land of Forge. The mind demon was somehow attempting to control him, but failing. That lingering attempt, that constant invisible pressure, was the reason the discomfort never went away.
He was certain that both he and Snow were unaffected by whatever method the demon was using to control the crowd. The various effects of his runes must have been shielding them.
That explained why his instincts had been blaring warning sirens in his head from the start, why there had been a constant weight on his chest, and why he felt far more at ease within his own soul space.
Does that mean he is watching me right now? Didn’t the old man say ’He’s everywhere’ before dying? Was this what he meant?
Ash didn’t know what to do. His knowledge of the world—and of the novel’s events—was failing him. Never had he read about any Demonic Heart appearing in the Elven Continent, nor had there been any mention of a mind-controlling demon in dwarven territory.
Yes, there was a mind-controlling demon he knew of—one of the Seven Overlord Demons, Lilith, who always stayed close to the Demon Prince. She was terrifying indeed, but she was not as omnipresent as whatever he was feeling now.
But what are the chances...? Maybe it is that enchantress. She could just be trying to play mind games with me, to make me feel despair and force me to give up...
Isn’t she quite skilled at that?
There was also a chance that this was not Lilith at all, but someone else entirely. If that was the case, then he had no idea how to deal with them. Still, after his earlier interaction with the dwarf soldier, he was at least sixty percent certain that...
Not all of them are under control...
Because if Ash were the demon, and a person immune to his mind control walked into his territory, the very first thing he would do is eliminate that person. Even in the novel, Lilith had gone after Ray the moment she realized he was free from her charm.
There was another reason for his conclusion. If everyone was under control, then there was no reason to throw him into a prison cell. The demon could have simply commanded the entire city to attack him at once, and Ash would have been killed—at least, according to the demon’s logic.