Chapter 444: Holding Him Captive

<(x1) Human [Grade 5 Noble Class | Level 388] has been Threaded!>

Rael smiled at the fact that his skill worked even on someone as strong as Ignatiel, but he wasn’t going to question it.

Instead, he turned toward Melina and gave her a few instructions.

“I’m going to be right back. Remember what I said? He’s going to be vulnerable very soon, so try to kill him,” Rael said sternly.

Melina seemed confused at first, but since she knew Rael wouldn’t joke around, especially not in times like this, she nodded in understanding.

And with that, Rael focused on the skill and activated it.

<Ding!>

[DF -25 | 593/618 (x1 Synaptic Hijack)]

In an instant, Rael’s vision darkened, and he soon found himself standing on a shallow lake in the middle of nowhere.

A few banners were scattered around, and a luxurious castle stood in the distance, with a single brightly shining crimson moon in the sky.

Yet unlike the many other times he had entered the Mind Realms, this time there was no cocoon, which would normally represent Ignatiel himself.

This happened with Alcetas, Rael recalled. I guess it’s the difference in power, but I sure as shit know Ignatiel is somewhere in here.

And it seemed like he wouldn’t need to wonder for long as the castle in the distance shook, then suddenly collapsed.

Dust and debris were sent flying in all directions, yet Rael evaded everything with ease.

After the dust and debris settled, he saw a single white-haired man walk out, covered head to toe in blood, holding two giant greatswords in each hand.

Yet when his eyes locked onto Rael, a look of surprise appeared on his face, but it soon turned into wariness.

“This is my mind?” Ignatiel spoke, looking around. “Why is it so empty?”

“Who knows?” Rael shrugged. “Maybe it’s because you don’t have many aspirations or something. Though don’t feel too down, mine is empty as well.”

But that was purely because Rael had never bothered to set it up.

Though this encounter might just give him the perfect excuse to go past his laziness and set it up.

“Aspirations…” Ignatiel repeated. “I suppose you’re right. There’s not much of that going on. However, what makes you so sure you can invade my mind as you please and get away with it?”

“Well, you are on a timer right now,” Rael replied flatly, narrowing his eyes. “Time in here flows differently, so a year in here is a second out there.”

“Hmm… So you plan to drag this fight out for as long as possible so Malinali can slay me. How peculiar,” Ignatiel deduced as a smirk appeared on his face. “But do you realize that you are trapped in here with me?”

Rael rolled his eyes, and without batting an eye, he created a glass cage around Ignatiel, effectively trapping him inside.

He had used up quite a lot of his Mental Integrity, but he knew it was worth it as Ignatiel began pounding the glass with his greatswords, yet he wasn’t dealing any damage to them.

However, he soon paused and began imagining himself getting out of the glass cage, perhaps even shattering it.

But right away, Rael noticed something peculiar.

“That’s it…?” Rael tilted his head, approaching the glass cage. “Hey, is this your first time in the mind realm? No… Rather, have you never even tried to increase your Mental Integrity?”

Ignatiel frowned and continued trying to shatter the glass cage with everything he had.

Whether he used unique skills or mind-enhanced strikes, the glass cage remained unfazed.

And that was simply because Rael had made sure to reinforce the glass cage with every single type of anti-magic barrier, shock absorption, anti-teleportation, and even mana absorption where, if he were to use mana against the barrier, it would self-repair.

Obviously, he had added more resistances to the barrier, and under normal circumstances, breaking through it would require at least 1,000 Mental Integrity.

It was a fair trade-off, as Rael was sure manifesting the same glass cage a second time would reduce its effects, and it would only drain his own Mental Integrity.

So in the end, Ignatiel had no way of escaping the glass cage unless he figured out a way to increase his Mental Integrity to over 1,000.

But if he does that, I can just invade his body and just slit his throat, Rael thought, tapping on the glass cage a few times. If this guy had been Alcetas, then he would’ve broken out within a few seconds.

“Settle in because you might be in here for a while,” Rael said.

Ignatiel didn’t reply, and instead, he simply began smashing the glass cage relentlessly.

While it didn’t do any direct damage, Rael did feel a bit of fatigue building up with every hit.

So it seemed like while he did have an overpowered trump card against Ignatiel, there were also clearly side effects of trying to control a person more than 4 Grades higher than him.

But it’s fine, Rael thought with a faint smile and placed his hand over the glass cage.

To ensure his plan would go smoothly, he reinforced every aspect of the glass cage, increasing its strength by several dozen times.

Just like that, his Mental Integrity dipped below 1,000, but Rael didn’t even bat an eye as he shot one last glance at Ignatiel and walked away.

Now he would need a little over 2,000 Mental Integrity to break out. Seems solid enough for now.

Once he was roughly a few kilometers from Ignatiel, Rael summoned a single bed with his mind, and, at the same time, he formed another glass cage using the remainder of his Mental Integrity.

He reversed the effects of the previous glass cage, and now, instead of keeping the person inside, it focused on keeping others from entering, so even if Ignatiel were to somehow escape, he would not kill Rael as easily.

Rael made his way onto the bed and got comfortable, or that was the plan, when all of a sudden, another sharp headache assaulted him.

It felt as if someone was literally bashing his skull in, and Rael didn’t need to guess that Ignatiel was doing this through brute-force.

Yeah… if this keeps going then my mind’s going to break, Rael thought with a hum, and then glanced toward the one skill that would make his slightly reckless plan actually work.

Sloth (Runic) [Level 100 | MAX]

2. Sleepyhead: Gain a random amount of stats depending on the quality and length of your sleep. May select to sleep for extended periods of time without being easily awoken.

Easily awoken… I see.

Rael reached out and touched the barrier, then, with what little remained of his Mental Integrity, he added a loud alarm that would activate if someone were to touch his glass cage… or enter the Mind Realm.

And just like that, Rael was ready to set his plan into motion.

<1 year has been selected.>

Rael smiled and glanced toward the struggling Ignatiel in the distance.

Seeing that everything was fine, Rael didn’t hesitate to press “Yes.”

<Ding!>

<…>

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