In the hunter world, there’s a term called [Hunter Cell].
However, despite being called a cell, its essence is a microscale mana particle that has taken a physical form, appearing as tiny mana cubes.
These mana cubes, true to their name as Hunter Cells, are controllable, mana units roughly the size of a human egg. The problem is that even though they are small, the bonding strength between the mana is highly unstable, leading awakened individuals with this mana to be deemed as lacking real abilities.
For instance, the mana of Yeonhwa, an S-grade ice ability user, is at a level where it completely transforms into frost, ice, and cold. In contrast, when an A-grade fire ability user gathers mana, it swirls around them like a soccer ball.
Yet, those with Hunter Cells are treated as if they are nearly powerless, even after undergoing what is commonly referred to as awakening. Unless they somehow reach a C-grade Hunter level, they are deemed lucky.
However, among those with Hunter Cells, there are occasionally exceptional individuals. The Hunter Association categorizes these as “Cognitive Deterioration Inducers.”
They are commonly known as mind controllers and hypnotists.
Hypnotists typically have triggers like locking eyes or snapping fingers, but in reality, they curse someone, impairing their brain functions to manipulate them as desired. A broader classification would label them as curse users.
When regular mana takes on a physical substance, it naturally causes friction and impact upon colliding with a human’s body.
However, [Hunter Cell] is so tiny that it can bypass physical resistance and flow into the target’s body, momentarily paralyzing some of their brain cells. It drastically shortens the target’s cognitive ability and induces hallucinations, causing them to act strangely unaware of their actions being wrong.
“Hmm, I see. So, to trigger a curse, I can mix that Hunter Cell into food or water for the target to consume, and this strange symbol on my smartwatch acts as the curse trigger?”
“Y-Yes! So please let me go…”
Feeling uncomfortable with the man’s grasp at her feet, Lirisia twirled her finger.
Following the direction her finger turned, her tentacles twisted the man’s arm like a screwdriver.
Crack!
“Gg-AAAAAAAH!!”
“Shh, keep it down. We don’t want to disturb the kids.”
How do you expect someone to hold back a scream when their arm twists 200 degrees, you crazy woman?!
The man seemed half out of his mind, face smeared with agony.
“P-Please… let me go. I’m sorry…”
“We just did what we were told.”
“Please, let me go. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
The men realized.
This black-haired woman is an absolute powerhouse.
She’s a being far superior to the Awakened one who gave them their orders.
Whether she’s S-grade or A-grade isn’t even important.
That woman would wipe them out more easily than squashing bugs.
Receiving the men’s attention, Lirisia giggled, seemingly amused.
“Oh, please. I’m not a murderer; why would I bother killing you?”
She didn’t explicitly say she wouldn’t hurt them since she already tortured them, but the three men still trembled in fear.
“I swear upon the name of a witch, I will not kill you.”
“Then, what about torturing…?”
Miracle – Silence
“You’re speaking too much! I’m the one talking here, right?”
“Uhh, mmm!?”
Gasp…
“Uhh…Mmm…”
As the Flesh Saint, Lirisia couldn’t use powerful miracles like [Massive Rupture] anymore, but she was still able to perform basic miracles thanks to her holy powers.
“Let me reiterate, I’ll let you go unharmed.”
“Mmm…”
Lirisia’s caressing hand on the man’s cheek felt like a saint saving an orphan, full of grace.
Of course, if they looked behind her, her squirming tentacles and pitch-black eyes gave her a look more fitting for a witch than a saint.
“Now then… let me ask beforehand? Is there anyone who wants to confess?”
Hand?
Huh?
Um…
At that moment, the men realized.
Their arms had long been twisted in a direction that shouldn’t have been possible under the grip of that dark witch’s tentacles.
Can’t raise my hand?
They literally couldn’t lift it.
“No one? So there’s none, huh?”
“Uhh! Umm!”
“Uhh!!”
“Gggh…!”
Only then did the men realize.
That woman never intended to let them go in the first place.
Regardless, Lirisia, with a playful smile, put her eyes closed as if she had a bad timing.
“I brought you here, you know, and saw something interesting?”
Interesting…?
“I was originally a saint who embraced the hearts of others.”
“Now I’m a witch, though. Ha ha ha!”
As she laughed about meaningless things, her black hair swayed in the wind.
The men felt an inexplicable sensation, like their arms were twisted by that tentacle.
“What could I have seen?”
“Gggh…”
“How could we know…!”
The men glared at Lirisia in protest, but Lirisia seemed to enjoy the painful malice directed her way for the first time in ages, her smile growing wider.
“Your inner memories and memories.”
“….!”
D-Don’t tell me, family…!?
“And a few… personal preferences.”
“Uhh?”
“Uhh…”
At that statement, the men’s eyes shot up at Lirisia in unison.
What, what did she say? Personal preferences?
No way… she must be lying.
While the men were in denial of the reality, Lirisia’s tentacles roughly grabbed their heads.
Ghah!?
“Ggack…!”
“Waaah…!”
Normally, she’d devour their brains with her tentacles to steal those memories, but since she decided not to kill them, her intention was just to glance at their memories.
“Let’s see~ You have a preference for immature children… oh dear, and you, have a married woman who’s cheating while her husband is at work… Ugh. Preferences differ, I suppose…”
“……!”
“Uhh!?”
The faces of two of the men instantly turned pale in horror.
Finding out that a stranger had seen their sexual preferences was far scarier than having their arms broken.
“And you… I’m one of your preferences…? Whoa, what the hell…”
Ptoo!
“Gggh, mmm…!!”
Lirisia grimaced as if she was going to vomit while carefully crushing the last man’s hand.
The man felt his bones shattering as he internally screamed.
No, what’s it to you anyway, damn it…!
“Oh wow, fantastic. You all are certainly… furthermore, you tried it at least once in reality. Instead of construction material suppliers, you’re a collection of sexual offenders.”
Giving a short sigh, Lirisia continued.
“Anyway, since I swore not to kill you, I can’t break that promise, can I? But in return, what I’m holding onto are your personal preferences and the evidence to back them up.”
Evidence?
What do you mean by evidence…?
Wait, the smartwatch…?
Gasp….!
The men saw the smartwatch that should have been on their wrists now held in Lirisia’s hand.
But it didn’t matter.
Smartwatches required personal biometric verification.
You couldn’t just pick one up and use it carelessly.
Beep.
“Oh, it opened right away?”
!?
Wait, why the hell did it open!?
Could she, a physical metamorphis user?!
Now that they thought about it, there were cases in the news where metamorphis Awakened Ones had mimicked others’ fingerprints and irises to rob safes or siphon bank accounts.
If that black-haired witch could alter her fingerprints and irises at will, that biometric smartwatch wouldn’t be a barrier at all.
In reality, a slight transformation was easy for Lirisia, and she had long since mastered the method of using smartwatches and accessing personal clouds.
Perhaps Lirisia understood how to use smartwatches even better than the Saint of the Dead, Shia.
“Oh come on. Don’t be so surprised. Who told you to use an outdated biometric verification cloud in these modern times? Shouldn’t you have stored it differently? How could all three of you be the same and put everything in the cloud? Oh my…”
“Uhh…!”
“Gggh!”
What is she trying to do with that!?
The men’s faces showed their extreme agitation, even without needing to read their minds.
“Now then, here’s the deal! I’m going to ask you questions.”
“….!”
“I plan to send all of your preferences to everyone in this contact list if you don’t answer.”
“Y-You can say it! I’ll say anything!”
The three men nodded frantically, clearly more terrified of their disgrace being revealed to their families and the world than the pain of their broken arms.
But wait… we can’t even talk right now!
“…..!”
“!!!”
“….!”
“Oh dear, why that look? Didn’t I promise? I won’t kill you, right?”
But you’re not letting us speak, you crazy woman!
“You’re men in your prime; it’s natural to have such preferences. The only difference is that people around you will find out what you’re into.”
With a cheerful smile, Lirisia looked like she had never intended to ease their discomfort.
“That doesn’t mean you’ll die, right?”
“….Uhh…!”
“Anyway, I’m a kind witch, so I’ll ask one more time before we start. Is there anyone who wants to confess?”
You crazy woman!
You have to let us speak before we can confess!
“Raise your hand? Or you can just say it, too.”
“….!”
“….!!!”
“….!”
“Haah… seeing how you stubbornly refuse, even though I’ve kindly given you the chance… Your preferences are amazing, but your loyalty is genuine, huh?”
You crazy woman!
The faces of the men seemed to reflect that very thought.
Anyways, Lirisia began manipulating the holographic smartwatch, initiating the process to simultaneously send various saved records stored in the personal cloud to all the men’s contacts.
From videos to texts, drawings, comics, and even footage they recorded while out hunting.
“…!!!!”
“!!!!!”
Finally, the three men buried their heads and began to sob as if it was all over.
Of course, since the Silence Miracle was still in effect, the sound of their sobbing was blissfully silent.
Stepping back, Lirisia seemed refreshed.
“Right then, now your personal matters will be handled by those elves you covet so much.”
“!?”
“…!”
Step, step
“Hey, are you all okay?”
“Yes, we’re fine.”
“Thank you, Chief Lirisia.”
“Haah, the cruelty and greed of humans are utterly disgusting…”
At that moment, the men gasped as the elves from earlier appeared unharmed.
Why are those elves perfectly fine?
Could it be they weren’t hypnotized from the beginning?
In reality, however, time had passed, completely ending the elves’ cognitive deterioration.
“Be careful; there might be brainwashing symbols in their bodies.”
“Oh, I’ve checked everything already. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“…!!”
“!!?”
“Wait? What are you looking at me like that for? Oh, you’re probably hoping to share some information and get released, right?”
The men nodded desperately.
Before the cognitive deterioration could end, they were supposed to give the essential command to ‘forget about this incident.’ However, since they were dragged away by Lirisia during the hypnotic testing, the elves remembered everything they had experienced.
If the elves’ memories were intact, the men would not only face their intimate secrets revealed to the world, but they also had to worry for their lives.
“Ha, I didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to do this. But, then again… you must be foolish enough to think you could easily dominate an A-grade elf, right?”
Surely, whoever ordered that must be meeting their judgment soon.
Lirisia shrugged and withdrew her tentacles.
It was a sign that she wouldn’t touch them anymore.
After all, the elves would take care of it.
“I pulled you here and completely stripped your taste from your mind; did you really think I wouldn’t see what you wanted to know? Did you think I wouldn’t figure that out?”
“!?”
“!!”
“…!”
“Didn’t you look like you were wondering why I did all this? Of course, it’s because it’s fun. I just wanted to play a little prank.”
As Lirisia giggled and brushed her black hair back, the clear moonlight revealing her hair looked almost like a curtain trapping the darkness of dawn.
“Maybe if you’re lucky, you might end up receiving some judgment from the human side. There might be someone left who would defend you after seeing the text I sent.”
Ha ha ha!
“A slight alteration to your bodies? Might happen, but you won’t die. I kept my promise, right?”
After saying that, Lirisia vanished into the shadows, leaving the men staring blankly at the spot she had just occupied.
That damn woman…
Damn it…
We’re screwed…
Thus, the three men faced social death, and now they might face physical death as well.
By the way, Lirisia didn’t lift the Silence Miracle on them until the very end.
