Rise of the Lustful Evil Monarch (Re)-Chapter 317: Breaking the first memory bubble

Third Person's POV

Ethan's mind reeled under the pressure and nearly cracked under the foreign storm of recollections.

But his will was not weak, and soon his honed but sharp mind lashed back.

He fought against the tide and anchored himself with everything he was—his pain, his vows, the warmth of his mother's gaze, the love of his Master and girls, and many more.

With effort that left his spirit shaking, he reclaimed his sense of self.

Even without a mouth, his desperate gasps echoed from his soul as he steadied himself from that soul-erasing deluge of memories he had endured.

Shock pulsed through him as he realized that he had severely underestimated the danger of diving into another person's memories.

This was no simple mental projection, but it was a soul-level possession of recollection, and it had nearly consumed him.

What Ethan didn't know was that if he had been just an ordinarily talented person, this reckless plunge into someone else's soul would have shattered his soul in an instant.

His consciousness would have crumbled and been swallowed by chaos while leaving behind only a hollow, broken shell that would have been insane and forever lost till his natural death.

After all, if delving into the innermost memories of another being was as simple and safe as slipping through shadows, then every street thug and second-rate mind reader would have been exploiting this trick.

Even a minor power would have obtained secret information and advanced techniques through many sinister schemes and acts on the younger generation members of influential powers, but reality wasn't so generous as a fantasy.

In the real world, such mind invasions were rare and taboo while being categorised in the dangerous arts and techniques group that bordered on forbidden even in the most lawless circles.

He tightened his grip on his jellyfish form with his long, shimmering feelers and tried to center himself as the waves of that memory onslaught finally began to settle.

Ethan took a deep virtual breath and began sifting through the chaotic swirl of images and sounds he had just gone through.

As he had anticipated, this unguarded memory orb held nothing significant, at least not in the way he had hoped.

What unfolded in it was a parade of vulgar indulgences ranging from a trail of debauchery like this young master enjoying those high-class prostitutes in the city's luxurious brothels, boasting in dim-lit gambling dens, reveling in the suffering of trafficked young girls, and savoring his influence in the vile shadowy deals his family speaclised in.

It was a sordid slideshow of a life steeped in arrogance and unchecked power.

Witnessing this, he had finally realized that the Vord family's main occupation was the domain of the trade of sex slaves.

Though it was a secret to the common populace, Ethan calmed down fast, as it clearly justified the behavior and actions of the top man of this family.

Ethan watched with narrowed eyes and clenched his ethereal feelers, but the disgust and abhorrence he had expected to come deep from his heart towards this perverted family didn't come.

Instead, a sense of indifference mixed with a forbidden excitement coursed through him, and he suddenly found himself dreaming of being the one who controlled something like this.

His expression changed, and he swiftly tried to neutralise such thoughts, but they got even stronger and soon his darkest desires started clashing with his reason.

But it didn't help, and he finally sighed as at least he couldn't lie to himself and his desires.

Knowing that he couldn't reach a conclusion about this mental conflict he was suddenly distracted by, he threw this matter to the back of his mind and came back to the present.

Scouring through the memory bubble, Ethan acutely realized that things that would have earned a prison sentence or worse in his past life were a daily routine for someone like Aram, who was a privileged scion of a corrupt elite.

He shook the memory bubble surrounding his oval head and turned his focus back to the pressing matter, that is, his dwindling energy.

And the conclusion he reached was that at this moment, only three-fifths of his original soul reserves remained as of now, and the rest of it had dispersed in the varieties of problems and issues he had encountered.

Doing the calculations quickly, he estimated that he had enough left for two or maybe three more attempts at breaching memory bubbles that had a degree of simple to medium complexity of barrier protecting them.

Any more than that, and he would risk permanent damage or worse, being stranded here with no way back.

Not to mention, the demon knight outside was still waiting, and Ethan didn't trust him, not in the slightest.

Their alliance was temporary and was a convenience born of overlapping goals and obviously not loyalty.

He knew that further hourly delays would only raise even more suspicions in his mind.

Keeping that in mind, his glowing body swam deeper while he focused fully on his goal.

That's when he saw it, it was a particularly small and unassuming orb that was tucked away in the most distant corner of the memory sea.

It looked unimportant, old and almost forgotten, but the closer he floated, the more complex and intricate the protective spellwork around it became.

The patterns, though smaller in scale, bore an uncanny resemblance to the masterful web that made up the main firewall, which was a creation Ethan was certain had come from the hands of Duke Vord himself.

Ethan started inspecting it from every angle while circling around it slowly.

Looking at it, a deep and unshakable hunch and a gut feeling gripped his soul.

Something critical was hidden here, and he concluded that it might be the very thing he had been seeking behind this unassuming veil.

Steeling himself, Ethan extended his feelers and channeled his icy soul energy through them like a master surgeon guiding delicate blades.