The girl's hateful gaze immediately brought Seven back to his senses.
'I remember this..'
He was back at the house of talents. This memory was from when he was thirteen, in the arena, he had battled against a boy like he always did and won by killing his opponent.
This boy had a sister, Seven also remembered her well. It was the very first time someone had looked at him with such immense hatred.
Later in life, the girl would train hard to get her brothers revenge. Although, only a few years later, due to bad luck she got matched with Shou and ended up dead in her hands.
Seven was clearly inside a mind attack!
'But.. am I supposed to be aware of this?'
Mind attacks were described as more sinister. You would not know you were infected until you were dying or if you had an unshakable will.
Seven did not doubt he had great will, but this was just too easy.
'Wait...'
Aspect: [Where is my mind?]
Aspect Description: [Your mind has no center.]
'What is a mind center? I have never been taught this word...'
Was it even a thing? Perhaps some ideology or a philosophic thing?
Seven did not know, but it was very clear that he was not affected by the mind attack on a full extent.
'An awakened terror can't keep a thousand smart minds under control. Especially if they have a strong will. If I somehow disturb its mind attack, can we attack it at once?'
He looked at the weeping girl, she was shouting curses at him making his focus sway.
'I will start with her then...'
Seven's current body was not on top condition, but if he took her by surprise, he could take her out easily. Even if his emotional state was not affected, he still felt the physical effects of the mind attack.
Without any warnings, he kicked the girl straight in the face. His boot slammed into her nose with a sickening crack and sent her falling backwards. Seven did not stop there, and lunged to her side.
His raised his foot and slammed it down. The girl cried and begged for mercy under, but he paid it no mind. All of this, was after all an illusion. After a few more slams, she died.
[You have slain an awakened soul! Soul Skinner's prisoner.]
[You have received a memory: Sharp Moon.]
Before he could cherish the fact that he had gained a memory, the illusion around him began to crack and and once again, the scenery changed.
Suddenly, a sharp sense of pain intruded his body, making him wince.
'Fuck..!'
This was also a memory he remembered vividly, to think that this insidious terror would use it!
Currently, Seven was sitting on the ground, his back hunched slightly as he stared at the woman that entered through the door.
"Jane..." he said through gritted teeth.
Seven was injured, there were some bandages covering his stomach, but the pain that came from there was very hard to resist. A few days earlier, he had been gutted in a match, making him unable to continue attending tournaments for almost a month!
The purple haired woman walked over and kneeled in front of him, grasping his chin within a rough grip.
"Pathetic... I trained you and taught you everything you could ever ask for, yet you still lost to her in such a sorry way!" Her palm slammed into his stomach, prompting him to cough up blood, which stained her shirt.
Seeing the disgust in her face, Seven smirked. Jane, naturally did not take the smirk lightly and slammed her fist into his stomach once again.
Jane continued to torture him for a while, until she decided that he would not be able to take much more. She did not want to kill him, because he made her a lot of money.
"Can you still smile now?" She asked in an annoyed tone, leaning closer to him to tighten the bandages that had come loose.
"Jane..." Seven suddenly spoke, putting his hand on her back.
Jane's eyes narrowed as he felt his hand on her back. "Wha-"
She suddenly coughed up blood.
"H-how..?"
Looking down, she saw a sharp steel penetrating through her chest. She looked up at Seven once again, her eyes full of shock and anger. But those eyes soon turned hollow.
[You have slain an awakened soul! Soul Skinner's prisoner.]
Her limp body fell to the ground. A crescent shaped sickle with a purple blade stabbed onto her back.
'A sickle huh...'
Memory: [Sharp Moon.]
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [Once upon a time, a child wept and wept so much that her heart could not handle it. Her unfortunate soul, fell victim to the Soul Skinner, a wretched abomination hailing from the heart god. In the end, the weeping girl was freed by the one who did not have a name.]
The illusion around him started to crack once again.
Seven traversed through the memory maze Soul Skinner was creating for him.
He had already realized that each memory was powered by one awakened soul, acting like a battery.
Already having gone through twenty or more memories, Seven's mental energy was getting exhausted.
And that bastard also seemed to be actively trying to get rid of him! The Soul skinner was now putting its attention on the parasite that was killing its prisoners like swatting flies. Canceling the mind attacks at the last moment, and changing the illusions at the least expected moment to exhaust him even more.
But the man never gave up! So neither would the Soul Skinner! It was although reluctant to let go the other thousand mortals it was currently infecting. So it could only do so much towards this parasite.
As the Soul Skinner searched through Seven's memories, it finally found a memory filled with intense emotions!
***
Seven's scenery changed once again.
Seven was on his knees.
He felt a familiar pain spread through his stomach. Hot blood flowing down his mid-section, polling at the ground beneath him.
Several emotions surged through his mind as he looked at the pair of boots standing in front of him, he saw the sharp blade adorned with his blood too.
Slowly, he raised his head and looked at the woman standing before him.
She was of the the same height as Seven, wearing a sleeveless compression shirt with a turtleneck. Her body was toned, but lean.
The woman had sharp facial features. Her skin was deathly pale, just like her hair that was tied into a half-up half-down with her bangs framing her face.
Her eyes were of the crimson color, cold and unforgiving.
It was Shou.
The woman who had held the first place for so many years. His rival.
The enigmatic woman who never looked anything other than blank, was looking down at him with soft eyes.
'Stop pitying me!'
He gritted his teeth roughly.
Seven could not control his emotions at the sight of her, anger rolled off of him like waves, distorting the illusion around him.
Such intense killing intent! The Soul Skinner thought, but it was not directed towards the illusion, but towards the terror itself!
The emotions that flowed out of the illusion were affecting the other thousand illusions too. This prompted the other illusions to have mistakes and eventually the other mortals started to be aware of the mind attack!
The Soul Skinner felt nervous! It was the first time the puny feelings of a mortal affected its perfect powers!
There was no other choice but to fuse with this soul! This was an extremely dangerous thing to do, as the Skinner's soul was currently extremely weak as it was trying hard to contain thousand mortals in the memory maze.
But even if it released the mortals from the maze, they would attack it from the outside and so it would receive both soul and physical damage! Hence it had to gamble!
The tall figure of the Soul skinner appeared in a vast white realm, Seven standing in front of it. The skinner still felt the emotions rolling of the mortal in waves, it was truly intense!
It did not dwell and lunged forward, driving its claws into Seven's chest. But the claws went past the flash and searched for something deeper, more meaningful.
Seven's soul!
At this moment the Soul Skinner tried to fuse with the living soul.
And the moment it tried, its already weak soul was put under strain. In the outside world, the Soul Skinner let out an ear bleeding shriek.
Its soul was dying! It had to act quickly! The gamble had failed, and the mortal was going to fuse and swallow the skinner soon!
The Soul Skinner immediately used its spawns to kill some of the dazed soldiers and plant souls inside them.
***
Back at the real world, everything was silent. The real war was going on in their minds.
Around Seven's original body.
Under the influence of the Soul Skinner, the soldiers at his back brandished their spears and drove them into his back, stabbing him with many spears and pinning him onto the ground.
The female knight raised her battle axe and swung it downwards. Beheading Seven.