Chapter 333: Special mission
'Having just mentioned my ability to control people, I'm guessing Elaina is wanting me to use this ability against Freja.' Personally, I didn't mind doing such a task, but at the same time, I would hate to force Freja under my control if it turns out she isn't a traitor.
We still didn't know Freja's intentions or what her relationship was with the Pope. He had put Himeko on a leash, so it's very likely that Freja is also on one.
"If you end up fighting Freja in this next battle to free Shaman's parents, I want you to use your ability to take control of her. You will have to weaken her until she is almost dead as that woman basically has an unbreakable will, so there is no chance you could control her right away." Elaina explained the mission and it was exactly as I expected.
"Hmm, I see. Since Shaman is almost Tier 10, it might be doable." I was only just reaching Tier 9, so I won't be of much use in the fight itself, but doing something like this sounded reasonable.
"Hang on, how do I even use this ability?" However, it occurred to me that I don't even know how to activate it.
"I'm getting there. As for fighting Freja, like I said before, I doubt you, Elanor and Silver will be able to do anything. Elysia is a mystery, as we don't know her progress, but regardless, Shaman will be the one fighting Freja."
"As for what you can do to help, there is no doubt she will have some high tier minions same as I do, so make sure you defeat them as quickly as possible." At the mention of minions, it reminded me of Kiruya, who had helped us in the Elfhiem. I hope we don't have to fight her, but she is Freja's second in command.
"Alright… Sounds good." Part of me hopes that we don't end up fighting Freja, but we are preparing for the worst case scenario after all. Especially if we end up confronting her about the Pope. That would definitely cause some tension, or maybe even make her go 'mask off'.
"Moving on... to use your ability, all you have to do is redirect mana into your eyes and think about controlling that person. Hence, you won't have to worry about accidentally putting someone under your spell unless you will it." With all the mission details laid out, Elaina moved on to explain my ability, and it was a relief to hear that it was really that simple.
Its manual activation also means I'm safe from any accidental takeovers, but I can see myself getting angry and activating it on instinct.
"Can I try it now?" There wasn't anyone nearby and I doubted Elaina would let me use it on her.
"Sure, now that we are done here, we will use one of my maids as a test subject." Elaina shot up from her chair and grabbed me by the shoulder, teleporting us back to the throne room.
Letting go of me, she then clapped her hands a couple times and one of the demon maids entered the throne room. As she walked up, I saw her eyes widen at me, probably recognising my form as that of a dragon.
"Yes, your highness?" Kneeling in front of Elaina, the maid awaited her orders.
"Stand up and look Clara in the eyes for a moment, we are testing something." Without hesitation, the maid stood in front of me, but I could tell by her eyes that she was afraid.
"It's alright, I won't hurt you." I felt bad, so I reassured her before I tried activating my ability. Relief washed over the maid and I could see that she was letting down her guard now.
'I wonder if the system has registered it as a skill.' I wanted to check, but I didn't want to waste time scrolling through my profile to see if I had it.
"Go when you're ready." Elaina gave me the go ahead, so I focused my mana into my eyes. For a moment, nothing happened, but then my eyes suddenly began to glow a bright purple.
The maid in front of me stared directly into them, the light in her eyes slowly dimming as she was left standing there blankly.
I retracted the mana from my eyes yet the maid still stood there with no signs of moving.
"It looks like it worked, now give her some simple orders." Elaina looked completely invested in this experiment as she watched the maid intently.
"Alright, get on all fours." I wanted to try something that a maid would never do, especially in front of their ruler and, to my surprise, the maid followed my orders fully.
She dropped to her hands and knees and looked up at me as if she were waiting for more orders.
"Interesting choice, but it certainly proves that she is under your control now." Elaina got closer to the maid and began examining her body. My guess was that Elaina was trying to figure out how my ability works, as complete control over someone else was a rarely seen ability.
"It doesn't seem to be mana controlling her, as I am unable to sense any… must be something to do with the soul." Elaina was thinking out loud as she continued to scan the maid's body.
'Hmm, I wonder if this would work against Shaman since she has two souls fused into one.' It would be an interesting test, but it also made me think about what interesting uses this could have when we decide to have a little fun.
'Now isn't the time for those kinds of thoughts!' I shook my head, trying to shake off all the lewd thoughts I was having and focused back on what Elaina and I were doing.
"Command her to speak." Elaina finished examining her body and took a step back to observe.
"Say hello." Moving on to the next test, it was time to see if I could make them speak, which will be a good indication on whether I can extract information from people.
"Hello." In a blank, monotone voice, the maid spoke without any form of hesitation or resistance.
"Hmm, try to get her to say something about me." Elaian didn't look quite satisfied, so she wanted to try something more complicated.
"What do you think of Queen Elaina?" I was curious of my sister's reputation, although that may have just cost this demon her job as a maid.
"Queen Elaina is our almighty ruler and I love her. I will do anything I can to serve her! She can even use my body however she sees fit." Nevermind, she just confessed her inner feelings to the queen herself.
"Oho~, that's good to hear. Maybe I should give this maid a little taste of what succubus love is like." Elaina was clearly happy with the response and even considered rewarding the maid. It made me a little concerned for the maid—that is, if she remembers any of this.
"Ahem anyway, try to break the control now, I want to see if she remembers everything." Elaina stepped away and ordered me to break the connection.
As I focused on wanting to free this maid from my control, the light in her eyes returned.
"What the hell!?" The maid freaked out for a moment and quickly stood back up, looking quite embarrassed.
"Tell me, how did it feel? were you fully conscious the entire time?" Elaina sat down on her throne, waiting for an answer, but the maid still looked freaked out and confused.
"U-uhh well, it's hard to put into words how I felt. It was like my entire body became paralysed, and before I knew it, I was stuck inside my own head. I could see, hear and feel everything around me, but I couldn't do anything… S-so, did you mean what you said before?" The maid's face was completely red, clearly remembering what Elaina said.
"Do I ever lie?" Elaina licked her lips and gave the maid a smile. Steam was visibly coming out of the maid's head, as this was probably a dream come true for her.
I stood there completely silent, wondering if I should just leave, as it was getting more awkward by the second.
"N-no ma'am." The maid was now fidgeting and unable to stay still, completely losing her composure.
"Good, now you can wait by my quarters, I still have a few things to discuss with my sister." Elaina glanced over and, seeing how awkward it was getting, quickly sent the maid on her way. The maid nodded and quickly rushed out of the throne room while holding her face.
"Did you find out everything you wanted?" I knew Elaina was going to use me, especially since it would allow us to interrogate anyone without resistance.
'As long as it doesn't turn out she is a traitor as well, I don't mind helping.' We are family, so there is no reason not to help.
"Yes I did. Go relay the plan to the others. I'll come see you again after you've had some rest to do a bit more testing on your new powers." Elaina dismissed me, which was a relief as I found my mana was quickly depleting the longer I stayed in this dragon form.
"Alright, I'll see you soon."