Chapter 108:
Mental Contamination
As the pendant slipped from his hand, the scene in Aiden's vision immediately twisted along with the surrounding mist, rapidly fading until it disappeared. His office reappeared before his eyes once again.
Abigail's voice, which had been pouring into his ears, abruptly ceased, but the words she had spoken continued to echo in Aiden's mind. They were like an inexplicable melody that suddenly emerged and couldn't be stopped, repeating over and over again.
Aiden couldn't comprehend the sound that came out of Abigail's mouth, yet he could clearly identify it as a languagea language that no human could possibly utter or understand.
However, this sentence carried a terrifying power, forcing his mind to comprehend it.
It was like an undecipherable garble forcefully inserted into smoothly running code, impossible to remove, making it difficult for him to think properly...
Incomprehensible... Incomprehensible... Error... All errors...
His head throbbed in waves, and a nauseating sensation surged up from the depths of his abdomen, relentlessly pushing upwards.
How could this feeling be described?
It was as if a thousand cockroaches were crawling densely on the surface of his brain...
It was as if a thousand needles were being slowly inserted into his head, penetrating deeper and deeper...
It was as if he was submerged in countless bloody limbs and body parts, with a basin-sized spider pouncing on his face, and an uncountable number of worm-like parasites being poured into his mouth, squirming their way down his throat and roaming through his bodythis mental contamination, which was comparable to such an experience, was piercing his consciousness like a barrage of bullets, leaving it riddled with wounds.
He involuntarily let out a scream, sweeping his hand to knock everything off the table onto the floor.
However, this release did not provide him any relief. His thoughts quickly became completely entangled in this painful whirlpool, torn apart into fragments.
Why is this happening... What has happened... What am I doing... I must put an end to this... What should I do... I need to figure something out... I need to find a way to break free... Yes, that's what I should do...
When he finally regained some sense, he found himself holding a gun, forcefully aiming it at his own chin.
A small fragment of his remaining sanity reconnected just in time, jolting him awake, and he quickly placed the gun back on the table.
What was I just about to do?
suicide!?
Aiden suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
This eerie voice was disturbing his consciousness and inducing him to commit suicide...
Stay calm, I must stay calm...
A strong desire sparked a thought in his chaotic mind, and Aiden grasped onto this lifeline and immediately putting it into action.
Once again, he utilized his ability of physical transformation to make his body age.
His hair rapidly turned gray, then pure white in the blink of an eye. Wrinkles deepened on his face, resembling the texture of dried tree bark.
He felt his body becoming dull and heavy, the vitality of life receding like an ebb tide.
Devoid of passion and energy, he suddenly entered a sage-like state of disinterest towards everything. The surging waves of emotions transformed into a calm lake surface, and his thinking became serene and mature.
This is one of the functions that can be utilized through physical transformation, sacrificing various aspects of the body's abilities to make the mind clearer to some extent.
Aiden collapsed onto his office chair, gasping for breath and try adjusting his breathing.
For now, it seemed to have some effect. His consciousness gradually adapted to this mental assault, allowing him to think somewhat normally.
However, this didn't mean he was completely fine. That eerie voice was still echoing in his mind.
If this state persisted, it would be impossible to close his eyes and sleep.
Sooner or later, he would reach his limiteither tortured to death or driven insane.
Aiden couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Abigail, with just a few words, had inflicted a strong mental contamination on him, almost driving him to the brink of suicide.
Based on his understanding, this was definitely not a spell of the psychic domain. Rather, it had completely surpassed the realm of black magic.
Black magic takes the form of spells or incantations, which are ultimately composed of human language and writing, no matter how obscure or difficult to understand.
But the "words" spoken by Abigail could never be human languageafter all, human throats cannot produce such sounds.
Moreover, this language seemed to carry a dimension that he could not comprehend. When compelled to contemplate the "dimension" contained within this sentence's power, his thoughts became trapped in a loop, like a system stuck in an endless cycle until it crashes.
How can he make it stop?
Besides Abigail, who else knows how to adapt to this language?
No, wait...
There is someone, isn't there!?
Aiden suddenly remembered.
During the recent gathering, when Abigail uttered this eerie "incantation," all the other witches present should have heard it too.
However, they didn't seem to be affected, which means the witches eligible to participate in that gathering know how to adapt to this language.
And Dailey was originally one of them.
With this realization, Aiden immediately stood up from his seat and feeling a sudden ache in his lower back.
It seems he went a bit too far with the physical transformation that made him old and weak.
Confirming that he has regained his composure, Aiden attempted to return his body to its original state.
Suppressing the discomfort, he straightened his attire, walked over to the office door, and called out to a passing prison guard.
"Take a few people and go to the core area to retrieve the prisoner..." Aiden paused for a moment because, while dividing his attention to resist mental contamination, he couldn't readily recall Dailey identification number. "Go... go and bring Dailey here, right away."
"Understood!" The person immediately saluted, then hesitated before speaking again, "Warden... you don't look well! Are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine, no need to worry," Aiden replied, forcing himself to answer, urging, "Go quickly."
After closing the door, Aiden sat back in his seat, anxiously waiting.
Time seemed to crawl by, and then the office door was knocked again.
"Come in!" Aiden called out urgently.
The door opened, and Dailey walked into the office under the surveillance of the prison guard and riot squad.
Upon seeing the chaotic scene in the office, Dailey hesitated for a moment, then noticed she had stepped on something hard and instinctively looked down.
The pendant, which served as proof of being a Grand Witch, lay at her feet. The mist that had been sealed within it had vanished, and a crack appeared on the surface of the black crystal. Aiden realized that in the midst of the chaos, he had forgotten to retrieve the pendant.
"So It has indeed come to this..." Dailey nodded suddenly, then turned her face to look into Aiden's eyes and said, "Warden, have you already heard Abigail's 'teachings'?"
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om