[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 208: The Chaotic Mind

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From the moment she entered the cabin, Noelle started to have a very unpleasant feeling. Naturally, he understood the meaning. That feeling overlapped with his premonition of danger.

Of course, Noelle already knew what the cause was. It was clearly Noir who had previously appeared in the collective dreamland.

(Did he find my location? Nah! It's too fast! This illusory fog in the sea was supposed to exert a powerful limiting effect on perception! )

Various thoughts that imagined all the possibilities began to appear in Noelle's head. Previously, he had confirmed that he really could not see or activate his status system. Which means, the effect of Noir's 'theft' resulted in reality, making him lose all that 'system.

Noelle's mind started to mess up, and she had unknowingly been putting on a serious expression the entire time, making the people who saw her instantly feel something was wrong with her.

"Nohl … "

Of all the people, the most worried about Noelle's condition was Olivia. She really did not know Noelle's condition right now, as she could not find any problems other than her chaotic mind.

For a moment, Noelle had the urge to massage her own temples and let out a heavy sigh. However, faced with various expressions from those around her made Noelle undo the intention to do that.

He immediately smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine, I'm just a little dizzy from the effect of the fog on the castle."

His mind was so chaotic that he used a slightly different excuse than before. Even so, this reason was still acceptable to everyone, because Noelle had previously only said that she was involved with a romp with members of the organization, he said, and did not directly say where he was doing the chase.

At this moment, Noelle realized the mistake in her words. His expression froze for a moment, but immediately returned to his usual smile.

"Actually .. I'm a little tired, I also want to think of something for a moment. Let me know when we get to the island."

Without saying anything more, Noelle immediately turned around and returned to her room. Behind her, Olivia along with the few remaining people just stared at her in silence.

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"What should I do … "

After returning to her room, Noelle immediately closed the door and locked the window, then put up several layers of barriers that almost separated her from the outside world.

He sat on the edge of the bed, starting to think things over seriously.

Right on his lap, there was a notebook that was mostly the result of his writing in the past. However, the last few sheets of the book had been filled with various obscure rough scribbles.

The paper had been torn at some point, and the thick black ink scratches from the ballpen he was using started seeping into the other sheets behind him.

He barely wrote down any ideas there. Every time he thought of a solution and wrote it down on paper, the thought of rejecting the proposal would always emerge and dominate, making him only able to forcefully cross out all of the ideas.

It's not like he's being controlled to throw out all the dangerous ideas, but rather because he can't find any solutions. All the ideas he had made before always had a big gap, and Noelle was confident that Noir would definitely exploit all the mistakes.

"Ughh–"

After a few minutes of being immersed in the struggle for solutions, Noelle finally lowered her head and frustratedly grabbed her own hair.

Some strands of white hair landed on her black pants, while others fell right on top of the book. Seeing this all, Noelle could not say anything other than groaning resignedly.

If only she had not been deterred by her pride and awareness of the surroundings, Noelle would have already stood up and shouted cursing at Noir who was out of nowhere.

"It's free … "

Noelle could not think of any solution. All the solutions and predictions he thought of always had the same ending, which was destruction for himself and everyone around him.

Maybe he looks too exaggerated, but that's the truth. Noelle still did not know how powerful Noir was, and that made her even more anxious.

Not only does Noir have great power, but he also has an incredible intelligence and terrible cunning, so Noelle is sure that he will take advantage of all the gaps that exist if he sees the opportunity.

In terms of tactics, Noir may be the same or a step ahead of him. This was troublesome because Noelle had never fought someone who had intelligence above her.

After a few minutes of internal struggle, Noelle finally lifted her head. He breathed and leaned his own body against the wall. On this occasion, he tried to reorganize his thoughts. For him, there was nothing worse than making a decision in the midst of despair.

(I can't guess it. .. Every word of his always sounds random and full of contradictions. He can trick me and keep me from twitching for a while with just a few words. That is true .. His words have not been confirmed. Which means, he just lied and took advantage of all the gaps in my consciousness. When I enter the 'confused' condition, he will move .. )

After thinking that, Noir's image in Noelle's mind became even more sinister. From the looks of it, Noir had an excellent skill at manipulating human emotions, and creating a gap in his mind. That makes it easy to control the target without anyone realizing it.

But that doesn't mean there's no way to fight it.

This was a form of psychological attack, and Noelle had a lot of expertise in this field. So, if Noelle could find the trick that Noir was using, then Noelle could easily figure out a way to deal with it.

Of course, all of that is just a simple possibility and prediction. It's hard to know if the trick will work or not.

As he thought, the door of the room opened, and someone entered by breaking through all the layers of the barrier.

That was Olivia. He had finished doing all his duties outside, and went straight into the room to check on Noelle's state.

However, when he entered, all he saw was Noelle who had resignedly leaned her body against the wall, appearing dazed and not knowing what to do.

"Nohl … "

The expression of anxiety on Olivia's face became clearer, and she immediately approached Noelle to examine her directly.

Noelle said she was okay. He got up, rubbed his eyes and looked out the open window.

Olivia ignored all that, and immediately grabbed Noelle's body, hugging her tightly.

Then, a weak voice came out from him. So weak and spiritless as if it wasn't from him.

"I ... Really don't know what to do .. All the choices I make will always lead us down a deviant route ... I … "

She did not know how to continue her words, and in a slightly sobbing voice drowned her face in Olivia's chest.

Olivia, however, only gently stroked Noelle's head, while occasionally giving her a gentle, encouraging greeting. She may not know the problem Noelle was facing, but that doesn't mean she has no way to support it.

Naturally, she knew that Noelle was facing something troublesome, something beyond her reach. That's why Olivia didn't force herself to get involved. Because he knew that he would only interfere, and could not contribute anything directly.

At a time like this, there was a lot Olivia wanted to say, but somehow all of those words disappeared from her head. In the end, he could only stroke Noelle's head while encouraging her a little.

Noelle raised her face slightly, and looked at Olivia up close. Then, he again drowned his face like he was thinking of something.

(Right ... No matter how difficult or troublesome it is, I have to find a solution .. Even if I don't find the right answer, I should at least take Livia to a safe position … Whatever happens, Livia can't be involved.)

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After rearranging her thoughts, Noelle immediately regained her composure. He carefully began to rearrange all his plans, considering every possibility at hand.

As a result, he realized many things, one of which was his lack of connection and resources.

Now that Noelle thought about it, all this time her social connections had only been limited to the adventurer guild and everyone she controlled secretly, and all of them had one thing in common; none of them hold clear authority for an important group or organization.

There might be one, and that was the man he had forgotten his name. He was a Republican spy who was now hiding in the residence of Margrave Suiren.

Despite that, Noelle had already lost all connection with him, leaving him unable to contact her for now.

Noelle washes her own face, and gets out of the cabin.

For a moment, his gaze was fixed on the moon that was behind that thick cloud. At the same time, he also let the gust of wind that carried the great mental pollution essence pierce him.

After nearly two whole hours, no more fog appeared, and they could finally enjoy the time without having to deal with that collective dreamland.

This made Noelle relieved for a moment, it was because she could lose her temporary connection with Noir.

In the real world, it might be a little difficult for Noir to find him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to attack her in dreamland, and could directly break through entering the ship.

Noelle herself was barely aware of it, but the reason why she could become more calm and courageous in organizing her thoughts now was due to Olivia's influence.

Previously, Olivia secretly used the power of《Lust》 which she had long since sealed. One of the abilities of this type of power allows it to exert a powerful influence on one's mental and psychiatric condition, making it perfect for use in conditions like before.

Of course, the release of her seal《Lust》 has a negative effect that Olivia cannot avoid.

The negative effect will make the user fall in the condition as hinted at in the name of the skill, and make it have a more wild action.

In the end, she manages to appease Noelle, with her pay being a little 'wild', who then has to be 'calmed' back by Noelle herself.

After all that, Olivia re-sealed《Lust》 to prevent all her passive effects from rising, and interfering with her daily life. Now, Olivia was in the room, not in a condition that could move for quite some time.

After enjoying the gust of wind for a while, Noelle's mind stiffened again as various future forecasts began to appear in her view.

(This ... What is my own prediction? )

Noelle felt familiar with it all because she had predicted similar events. However, it was very strange because it appeared all of a sudden without him thinking about anything.

Naturally, Noelle was convinced that there was an approaching danger.

He vigilantly prepared his own weapon, and once again allowed a gust of wind to befall him, becoming his guide to search for the location of the 'enemy'.

Before long, a disgusting human laughter suddenly appeared and reverberated around.

Noelle cautiously looked around and analyzed the situation, then realized the origin of the voice.

It was a bright red-eyed crow. He was perched on the mast of the ship and looked coldly at Noelle.

The human laughter coming out of his mouth gradually weakened, and replaced the smile that faintly formed on the bird's face.

Noelle's vigilance and panic resonated with each other, the two simultaneously making the same decision, making Noelle's body only able to obediently obey her.

Without Noelle noticing, he had already thrown the black sword in his hand, allowing the black blade of the sword to pierce through the chest of the crow, then fell back onto the deck of the ship.

The pierced bird fell down, and the blood flowed all over the place as its corpse slowly cooled.

(Just my feelings? No, it's not possible. From my reflex action just now, I was very sure that I was facing something real. Also ... My intuition says that this is real .. )

This means that there is only one answer. The crow Noelle had just killed was not Noir, but a familiar type she used to monitor the surroundings.

Although Noelle had already discovered this truth, her expression became even more solemn.

He started to use wind magic and controlled the wind around to speed up the speed of the ship.

Noir's familiar appearance could only mean one thing; he had already discovered his existence.

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