Silas stood on the floor, feeling the surging of the illusory tide within his mind, his heart filled with astonishment.
The tide that had always protected him from various mental injuries suddenly changed its attitude when he prayed to the Fool, producing a violent reaction toward that existence.
This made it impossible for him to complete his prayer to [The Fool], much less establish a connection with Him.
Not only that, when Silas tried not to actively summon the tide and prayed directly to the Fool, the tide would immediately respond, surging up on its own to block his prayer process.
Just what kind of existence is this so-called [Fool]?
Silas wondered to himself.
After that, he tried several more times in succession, but the tide kept blocking him.
He had no way to complete his prayer to the Fool. Left with no choice, he could only temporarily give up. He raised the silver dagger and pierced the spiritual wall.
"Whoosh!"
Spirituality wrapped around the air and scattered in all directions, creating a howling wind in the center of the living room.
"Brother."
The girl beside him stepped forward and supported his arm. "Did something go wrong with the prayer?"
"Yeah, I can't connect with that [Fool]. Not sure what's going on."
Silas answered.
He didn't tell his sister that the real reason was that his cheat ability had come into conflict with [The Fool].
Because this peculiar thing was related to his transmigration, telling his sister would be equivalent to laying bare his deepest secret, telling her that he wasn't her original brother.
Toward Cecilia, Silas felt somewhat guilty.
Not only because he had taken over her brother's body, but also because he had caused her to be controlled by Ma'am M, forced to drop out of school again, leave her homeland, come to Backlund, and take care of him for a long time during his episodes.
I should digest the potion as soon as possible and stabilize my mental state.
He thought to himself.
That way, his sister could also be freed from the burden of caring for him. As for matters like seeking revenge on Ince Zangwill, he would handle that himself.
"Cecilia, after my mental illness is cured, what are your plans?"
Feeling the warmth of his sister's palm on his arm, he couldn't help but ask.
The black-haired girl glanced at him, looking somewhat confused.
"...Plans?"
"Yeah, right now it's because of me that you don't have much free time. After my illness is cured, what do you want to do?"
Silas asked. "Do you want to continue going to school?"
He saw her frown, as if seriously contemplating.
"I don't know."
She answered.
"Right now I'm only thinking about taking care of you. I haven't considered anything else."
"Then start thinking about it."
Silas said. "As long as it's something I can do, I'll definitely prepare it for you."
As he said this, his heart suddenly stirred, remembering something.
How about buying Cecilia a kitten?
He still remembered that his sister had loved cats since childhood, but because their family was very poor, she never had the chance to raise one.
When he was in Tingen, he had also thought about getting one for his sister, but then he immediately encountered Ma'am M, and the matter was left unresolved.
How about this: I'll ask around first, see if anyone has cats at home, or find a pet store. I won't tell my sister for now and give her a surprise.
Silas thought to himself.
He chatted with his sister for a few more sentences, then used the excuse that consuming spirituality had given him a bit of a headache, and went alone to rest in his second-floor room.
"Come out."
After returning to the bedroom, he turned his head and spoke to the empty air.
As if responding to his summons, a phantom figure gradually took shape.
White robes, red hair, golden eyes, it was none other than the phantom of Ma'am M. She still existed as always and hadn't disappeared with the improvement of Silas's mental state.
"Tell me, what exactly is the tide in my brain, and what is that sea?"
With disgust in his eyes, Silas stepped forward and questioned Ma'am M.
Not just the Fool, he was also puzzled by the sound of the tide in his mind.
Since his transmigration, he had taken the existence of this thing for granted and hadn't delved deeper to understand it, hadn't figured out what its essence and principle were.
Recalling now what had happened that day in Tingen, Ma'am M had faked her death and abandoned everything, all to seize his body and gain control of that sea and tide.
Then she must have an in-depth understanding of this sea and the sound of this tide.
"..."
Ma'am M looked at Silas with a calm expression, revealing a gentle smile. She still didn't speak.
The only time she had spoken was in Keping's mansion, using words to bewitch Silas, nearly driving him to the edge of madness.
Silas guessed that it wasn't that she couldn't speak, but that she harbored ill intentions and wanted to speak at a critical moment to guide Silas toward losing control!
The familiar fragrance lingered at his nose, warm and beautiful, but Silas only felt a surge of anger.
"Not talking yet? Fine — but don't pretend I don't have ways to make you."
He sneered and raised his hand.
"Whip!"
Silas drove Katie's soul to use the "Whip of Pain." Thus, an invisible whip formed in the air, raised high and fell viciously.
The whip carried mental damage and had an extremely strong effect on spiritual bodies.
"Crack!"
A crisp and loud sound followed as the whip struck Ma'am M's body. Her face immediately showed a pained expression, and her figure became even more illusory.
"Still not ready to talk?"
Silas said coldly, using the "Lash of Pain" repeatedly, whipping Ma'am M's figure. After several lashes, Ma'am M's figure completely disappeared.
"Hiding?"
Normally, Silas would be eager for her to disappear quickly. But now, he didn't want to let her off so easily.
"You think I don't know where you're hiding?"
He muttered to himself, then closed his eyes slightly.
Within his body, in his flesh and blood, there were seven peculiar spaces.
These were temporary resting places for the souls he shepherded. Silas's flesh surrounded them, controlled them, keeping them in torment at all times.
Silas sensed that these souls were beginning to wear thin and fade because they had been driven.
Among them, the Pyromaniac's soul was the most faint.
Among the seven slots, the earliest soul came from Ma'am M's Beyonder item.
That bright red rose ring was made from a Shepherd's Beyonder characteristic, and was also the source of the Shepherd potion in Silas's body.
Because of this, he had directly obtained multiple "lambs" contained within it.
However, because he had fallen into near-death from Ince Zangwill's betrayal, most of those lambs had been expelled.
By the time he regained consciousness, only this Pyromaniac and an unknown, uncontactable soul remained.
Silas had speculated about this uncontactable soul.
Initially, he guessed it might be a demigod-level soul of a higher sequence than his own, which was why he couldn't contact it.
But now, he was more inclined to believe that this soul was very likely Ma'am M hiding within his body.
"Come out."
He said to that soul.