Griscent revealed her insecurities. She was ready to do anything to nurture Pillars of Eyes and try to fuse with them.
Slade comforted her and found a way to win her over.
“You’re stronger than other beholders, right?”
She flipped her wet hair. “Correct.”
“That’s right. You’re not a defect, and that’s exactly why the pillars won’t remove you.”
“What?”
“Social species have evolutionary reasons to have loners. Back in my world, a study on slime mold suggested that it’s in the interest of the collective species to leave behind a few individuals...”
“But why me? I’m not some slime mold!”
“Your abilities and ambitions are too useful for Beholders. Think about it, you help your species by planting new pillars. You’re so grumpy from life, you have no qualms about invading new lands to expand. Evil Eyes are purposely destructive to clear out any hindrance to the pillars’ safety.”
“I… I never realized.”
“Look, you’re so goal driven that you’re tunneling hard on fostering pillars. Your brain is entirely filled with your master plan to get accepted by one, no matter how many you’d have to plant.”
“T-that’s true.”
“You’ve gambled everything on that plan, so you fall into despair when it goes wrong, like when we invaded the mine. You desperately try to fix the plan to get back on track. That’s why you want to keep Violet under control.”
“Can you read my thoughts with the prison of illusion skill?... Wait, does that mean that I have no chance with the pillars?”
“I don’t think they will ever let you take your final rest.”
His words stabbed her heart. Her pupils shook as her neck grew limp. Deep inside, she already had that fear, but avoided it at all costs.
No wonder she didn’t want to bare her soul until Slade defeated her.
It was time to strike. The life-ring slime tightened around her waist like a trap. “You fear the unknown, but hope lies within that very place. To you, the unknown is a bloody sea. But to me, it is a sparkling treasure trove. That’s why you need me.”
She gasped. “I see!”
“You know, humans always chase after dreams and goals whispered by their instincts. But it never mattered whether their yearning led them straight into mirages, as long as it gave them hope and fulfillment. Realizing that they pursued the wrong goals is a normal occurrence to them. It’s a painful step for their growth.”
Griscent bit her lips, hearing that she was less mature than humans. But she reevaluated that species with a newfound respect.
“I believed emotions made humans inferior because they acted so irrationally… But we weren’t any better after all.”
Beholders were prideful. True, they were tools. But they saw their species as carefully crafted masterpieces too, and they would not lose to natural races such as humans. The sophisticated mechanical iris that hung on the ceiling and the broken arena where they fought were proof of their pride.
As it turned out, beholders weren’t so rational.
She shook her head, her self-esteem shattered. “What a fool I am… I can only act like I’m smart because I couldn’t take a look at myself.”
“Forget the pillars and join me in a journey to create new meanings for your life!”
She nodded with a blooming smile.
She might relapse into her Evil Eye instincts from time to time, seduced by the mirage of returning to the mother pillar.
But that was no issue, since she had someone to lean on; an ally to help her grow beyond that dead end.
His explanation could be wrong, but what mattered was the sense of closure provided for her struggles.
It went against the mind flayers’ program. But it was too late, now that she found her new pillar.
Meanwhile, Slade hid his expression from Griscent because he sucked at making poker faces.
Hehe boi! 
It was time to leave the illusions after a brief rest.
She sliced open a spatial rift with her nail. “This is... the exit.”
The red water poured inside the portal, carrying both Griscent and Slade together. A blinding light embraced them.
A shy whisper reached Slade. “Thank you...”
Everything faded, including Griscent’s presence and Slade’s own body.
He floated into nothingness, refreshed by the sense of freedom.
System windows appeared.
Slade sighed in relief. He managed to overcome the final hidden boss in a duel of wit (which was just about beating each other like brutes). Many lives were at stake, but he ended up with great rewards.
Worry lingered. He had sold Griscent a dream, and now, he better had to deliver.
Unbreakable loyalty meant that Griscent wouldn’t try to take over if Slade betrayed her trust. Instead, she would probably sulk in a corner and wait for death, having lost all hope.
That’s cool, but why is the window glitching?
That sounds ominous. Does the H.E.R.O. system refer to the status windows?
A metallic sound pulled Slade from his thoughts.
“What would be the sky without the stars?”
Tan’?
“Or the mind without the heart?”
Tannhauser? Hello?
“Alone they weep, but together, they shine.”
The knight didn’t show himself. Instead, he concluded his parting words.
“Even though I fade into the past, and you soar to the future, we will always shine together.”
Hey! Thank you for everything!
There was no response.
Still, it’s hard to believe that he’s my younger self. He went all philosophical on me.
Another system window appeared over the recovery window.
What the fuck? What?? I was an elemental spirit all along???
He recalled that his status was glitched. It didn’t show whether he was a rook or a pawn.
Wait, that’s right! My system glitched from the start!
Also, the system seemed too helpful to Slade. It conveniently provided help as he needed it.
Don’t tell me the system administrator is something buried in me too?
There was something really strange and creepy about discovering alien things like Tannhauser lurking beneath his conscious mind.
Ah… That’s right, I gave him my memories.
Everything was too strange.
Tannhauser seems to know a lot more than the surface “me”. I should probably ask him about why I’m here.
See? That’s oddly convenient!
After closing the quest update, the error window was replaced by a new one.
Jeez, this is all creepy.
While Slade was still trying to make sense of all the system windows, he woke up inside the damp cave of HollowEye.
The first face he saw was Milia’s.
“Hey you, you’re finally awake.”
The minotaur girl loomed over the slime. “Hey you, you’re finally awake.”
The clay soldiers, the palace, and the collapsed bridge were all here. No doubt about it, he was back at Holloweye, the new Dungeon town.
Thank god, I’m free! It felt like an eternity!
He wriggled in excitement. “Hiiii~ How long did I sleep?”
She picked him up. “What the?! You can speak now? Your voice is soooo cuuuute!”
“Not as much as your ears.”
“Heh? Huuh? What’s with you? You’re being creepy all of a sudden!” She held Slade as far as she could from her face.
WOAH top tier writing mate!! slade speach is so move to me man... I really need that..
edit: Also Griscent BEST GIRL!! her relationship with Slade felt so damn organic. Can not wait to see more!!
Thanks
I'm glad it resonated with the heart!
I agree she's best girl! She'll become his right hand/tentacle so they'll have occasional deep connections. (But most of the time she hides behind her sassy smug emotionless mastermind mask)
I'm eager for the moment when she can use female pawn bodies.
so when is ssethtzeentach going to make an apperance
Since I imagine him as a warlord of stronghold faction, It's not going to be in the current book at least.
The current setting already need to deal with Rampart, Tower, Castle and Dungeon. There are weak wandering heroes from other factions in their current zone so I could show him up in a random tavern, but I preferred to portray him as a chad sovereign at least.
If you could bring him up in the story, how would you do it?
@owotrucked have him using magic to basically be a youtuber.
Thanks for the chapter
I can only act like I’m smart because I couldn’t take a look at myself.”
that surprisingly often the case.
Right, I believe it's a feature and not a bug: some minds are designed to act no matter the uncertainties because foolhardy action sometimes trumps expertise with passivity.
Just like Griscent was supposed to act according to the pillar's design and not dig out her nature as a tool.
@owotrucked also once you start questioning yourself, cause your smartness has been proven an overestimation, it'll break your self-esteem and make you more careful but also actually go smarter about your problems.
God this illusion mini arc dragged for so long, I ended skimming over chapters. This should had ended eons ago IMO. I feel bad skipping but MC being a little bit*h was too much, so pathetic he needed support from his teenager self lole
Overall I think the arc could had been compressed to 3 or 4 chapters without missing character development, I know this is a smut novel but there way too much unnecessary sex, cliche talk and meme battles cluttering this already clusterf*ck.
Thanks for the feedback! I'm already planning to revise this section. I'll lengthen the respite after the victory by having Violet not collapse right away so that exposition and advices appear while Griscent tries to sow the seed of betrayal until it ramps up to a shorter confrontation. I should put a warning at chapter 27 to not read unrevised chapters.
MC is a little bit*h because I'm interested in the subject of the roots of the choice and identity. Let's consider a non-trivial choice (like risking your life for Violet). Its complexity can be increased infinitely by expanding the scope of the context:
There's a girl crossing the road, but a truck is speeding towards her. Do you risk your life to save her? What if she's a friend? or girlfriend? What if you're finally a MD heart surgeon? Your death means losing many potential lives that could be saved. What if she's actually a granny? Should you risk your life if the granny gave you cookies every time she saw you for the last decade? etc.
The key to reach consistent answers is Personality (or ego). It's the basis of decision making. It's an evolutionary solution to the problem of infinite computation power required to solve problems perfectly by limiting the scope (narrow mindedness) and sorting out important data from the negligible (bias). By training a human to suppress the expression of their personality, you can rob them from that ability to act through uncertainty. This is why Violet hides herself to do her researches. She was molded by other's will, and is disgusted by her own ego, too shameful to act on it in public. Thus, one of the main theme of the story is the journey for Slade and Violet to reclaim their lost freedom of will.
From the start of childhood, people move forward thanks to the foolishness and arrogance of their ego. The foolishness means that there is no awareness that a given choice can be answered in a different manner, and arrogance is the absolute trust in one's intellect and instincts that one is always choosing the optimal answer for oneself and others. A healthy freedom for this stage allows the individuals to accumulate experience until this arrogance erodes.
At some point, people can no longer ignore the realization that one's ego is flawed. This is where Violet and Slade start off the story. For instance, one keeps ramming themselves into the same type of problem countless times. Or it can be death by thousand cuts of little failures that slowly sow the belief that one is inadequate for Life. It's a state of vulnerability where people are tempted to surrender themselves to others.
Griscent's arrogance says: "Trust me, I know what's good for you better than you. The intellectual answer is to ignore every goals that aren't necessary for immediate survival like morals. Moral is wasted for a granny that'll die quick." Her Top-down approach to plan her moves will have better success than Slade's to reach his goals and she seduces him with pleasure.
Slade's teenager self is like a temporary reversion to arrogance, a last ditch effort from his lingering dead personality.
Later, arrogance can be reborn into true confidence after rediscovering the root of personality (its purpose and limitations). Humans aren't mean to reach the perfect ending, but to cut through uncertainty with their own color. Pleasure and suffering are an unavoidable constant of Life no matter what path taken. But the feeling of emptiness and worthlessness from not expressing personality and the happiness and self-acknowledgement make crucial difference between the two paths.
Slade's concern for moral has a wider scope than Griscent's plan. It's Bottom-up approach to interact with complex systems by codifying local interactions to create emergent properties (Like how ant and bee colony optimize their food collection through little rules). It has lesser chance to backfire when interacting with complex systems (like removing wolves from Yellowstone and f*cking the ecosystem with overgrazing deers). But that approach compromises goals for methods.
In the end, neither of those approaches is intrinsically better than another. In the end, they have to beat the sh*t out of each others: Griscent to impose her decision, and Slade to protect his belief.
It's a true change from arrogance to confidence, because acknowledging one's weaknesses allows to mediate more easily with others. And the warped lense of thinking of answers as "correct" and "incorrect" change to a healthier spectrum.
For the f*ckton of sex, it's because the chapters are short 1k words and slow to release. There were months separating smut sections.
Anyway, I caught covid so I'm taking a break and there won't be any new revised chapter before a long time. So you might as well drop this story anyway lol.
“Hey you, you’re finally awake.”
so...are they tied up in a wagon?
no, but hundreds of skyrim adult mods were loaded
"What would be the sky without the stars?
Or the mind without the heart?
Alone they weep, but together, they shine"
Why does a line in thjs hentai novel of all places go so f*cking hard man. I'm stealing this.