The Broken Halo

Chapter 333: Hollow Gaze

On his way to the library, something happened which Simon did not expect.

Lilith spoke to him, and her words surprised him.

[You don’t need to look for a mental technique right now. The ocular technique I want to give you would be very helpful to you in this situation.]

Simon was sitting on a random bench in the academy as he heard these words from Lilith.

[What is the ocular technique you want to give me?] Simon asked with a suspicious tone and expression behind his mask.

[It’s called Hollow Gaze.]

Simon raised a brow when he heard this. He couldn’t deny that the name was not attractive to him.

[What does it do?]

Lilith explained.

[Basically, it’s an ocular technique that has the ability to place an individual under an illusion. But instead of just showing illusions, Hollow Gaze does something else in addition.]

[It overwrites the target’s perception by inserting a false layer between their mind and reality.]

Simon tilted his head slightly and was immediately confused.

[A false layer?] He asked curiously.

[Yeah. The victim is not just seeing things, they are interpreting and perceiving reality incorrectly.]

[When you make eye contact with the target, you can inject a false interpretation into their mind. Their brain would fill in the rest automatically.]

[The illusion would then feel natural because the victim believes it’s real.]

Simon’s eyes instantly flashed with a light of realization.

[I think I understand.]

[Hollow Gaze can create illusions, but if one is perceptive enough, they might notice the strangeness of the illusion and become wary.]

[But Hollow Gaze can give a suggestion or false interpretation to the target’s brain to make it more believable. For example, instead of making a wall appear through illusion, I can make the target to simply believe that the path is blocked.]

If Lilith were present, she would have nodded.

[Yes. That’s it.]

[You can make a target to suddenly feel like a safe path isn’t safe but dangerous. You can make the target to feel like a weak attack is actually lethal. You can make the target to feel nearly anything your mind can think of.]

[You can also stack multiple false perceptions.]

[You can make it that sound that doesn’t match sight. A distance feels longer/shorter, or that time feels slightly delayed.]

Simon’s eyes flashed with a bright light, and he was extremely interested in this technique.

[What about the energy requirements?]

[It’s high.]

Lilith replied without hesitation, and Simon raised a brow.

[How high?]

[I can’t say because I don’t know how vast your sea of consciousness is, but the only reason I’m giving you this ocular technique is because I know that your sea of consciousness is definitely not the size of an average sixteen year old demon.]

[You’ll need a lot of mental energy to engrave this ocular technique into your eyes, and the more complicated your illusion and the false reality you inject into the mind of the target, the more mental energy you’ll need to successfully create those illusions.]

Simon nodded slightly.

[Will it conflict with my Sky Eye?]

[No.]

[If that was going to be the case, I would not have suggested it to you.]

Simon nodded once again.

[And is this the best ocular technique you have? Why did you choose this technique for me?]

Lilith scoffed. [The other ocular techniques I have are not suited for you. This is the strongest one you can use. And if you don’t want it, you can go back to that library and start looking for a mediocre mental attack.]

Simon hummed softly, and he looked in the direction of the library.

At the moment, he had a lot of free time because he was not planning on attending the classes on Emotional Suppression and Cognitive Warfare and Deception.

Tactical Pattern Recognition class is the last class for the day, and it was a compulsory class, so he had no choice but to attend.

[Why exactly are you giving me this ocular technique, Lilith?]

[Because I promised to give you an ocular technique.] She replied indifferently.

Simon frowned at her response and tone.

[You don’t trust me and you’ve been angry at me ever since I left the library. It’s quite suspicious that you’ve suddenly decided to give me a powerful ocular technique.]

Lilith immediately released a tired sigh.

[Regardless of how I feel about you at the moment, the undeniable fact is that you are bound to the Chaos Wraps, Chaos Blade, and even the Chaos Plane itself.]

’I’m bound to the chaos plane?’ Simon raised a brow in surprise.

[Since you’ve not done anything for me to say that you’re not worthy of the Chaos Blade, I’ll let you be...for now.]

[And honestly...your ruthless and evil actions are... intriguing to watch.]

Simon raised a brow, then he mumbled softly out loud.

”I see.”

He looked down, and his eyes flashed with a calculating glint.

’I don’t trust her, but the allure of the Hollow Gaze is very powerful.’

’I’m fairly certain that my current wealth might not be enough to buy a powerful mental technique since mental techniques are rare.’

’With Hollow Gaze, I can get revenge for the Iron Fangs much more easily. It would even make it easier for me since I cannot kill one of them.’

He closes his eyes.

’Hollow Gaze might be a technique that gives Lilith a benefit she doesn’t want to tell me. An enslavement technique? A technique that would instead, make it possible for her to make me see illusions?’

’I don’t know. She’s an ancient being, so I have to be careful.’

’However...’

He released a deep sigh, then he spoke to Lilith.

[Alright... Give it to me. I’ll take the Hollow Gaze technique.]

’... There are times one has to take a risk to advance on the path of power. One cannot achieve anything if they are not a risk taker.’

[Alright.]

The moment Lilith said these words, the knowledge of the Hollow Gaze technique was transferred to Simon’s mind.