Chapter 329

Chapter 329: The First Psychic Battle

The instant the Heart-Seizing Demon Commander was slain, the central hub of the mind network linked to him suffered a devastating strike from psychic sniping. Waves of psychic energy surged through it, feeding back damage into the minds of the other Heart-Seizing Demons.

“The Chief is dead!”

The Heart-Seizing Demons turned deathly pale, their mental fortitude crumbling.

They couldn’t fathom how such a terrifying psychic user existed within the Star Ocean, a realm their sect had long controlled. Not only had this individual hidden his presence flawlessly, but he’d also obliterated a mid-to-high level psychic with a single strike!

How was this possible?

Who was this person?

“The attacker’s location is found,” a Heart-Seizing Demon panted, his message flooding the mind network.

Regrettably, this demon hadn’t detected Midi through telepathy. Instead, he’d spotted the human youth hovering above the battlefield through plain sight.

With the activation of "Sky Sword Dance," Midi’s flying form radiated golden-red sword lights, making him impossible to miss visually.

Not that Midi cared to hide. He’d merely wanted to experiment with mind-related abilities.

True to his nature, he’d chosen to test his powers openly against the toughest opponents. Only then could he gauge their true limits.

The first strike’s outcome pleased him.

Slaying a mid-to-high level Heart-Seizing Demon proved his psychic strength had reached at least high-tier levels—despite never formally training as a “psychic user.”

Now, he’d test the capabilities of a Thought Capturer.

Midi waited motionlessly.

As expected, once the demons spotted him physically, their collective consciousness swiftly followed.

The sprawling mind network abruptly morphed into countless chains of varying thickness, shackling Midi’s limbs and torso!

Mind-related ability: mind shackles!

Now fully detected and locked via telepathy, Midi became an unmissable target. Every attack from the demons would strike true until their psychic energy drained.

Their leader’s death had shown the demons Midi’s overwhelming power. The moment he was restrained, the seven remaining Heart-Seizing Demons unleashed their deadliest skills.

In Midi’s psychic vision, seven thin azure beams shot toward him from all directions.

Mind-related ability: psychic sniping!

The same swift, lethal skill Midi had used to kill their comrade now targeted him.

Yet even bound and facing imminent annihilation, Midi’s face stayed eerily calm—almost eager.

A deep blue glow flashed in his eyes.

A honeycomb-like barrier encased him instantly, each hexagonal segment gleaming like a mirror.

Thought Capturer skill: psychic refraction!

The seven psychic snipes collided with the shield. Instead of harming him, they veered off course, grazing past harmlessly.

One beam, however, caught Midi’s focus. His consciousness locked onto it, tracing its trajectory.

The next moment, the lenses on the refracting shield shifted at blinding speed, causing the psychic sniping beam to bounce repeatedly through reflections and refractions. After hundreds of trajectory changes, it shot straight back along its original path!

The psychic sniping struck its caster with perfect accuracy.

Thought Capturer skill: Psychic Reflection.

This advanced application of psychic refraction was a defensive technique Midi had studied within the Inheritance of the Sea Emperor during his travels. Now, it succeeded on the first attempt.

Unlike the first Heart-Seizing Demon whose head had exploded, the victim here suffered no violent damage. Since the psychic sniping’s energy wavelengths matched his own, it neutralized harmlessly upon contact.

Instead, the returning beam triggered a reaction with the remaining psychic energy inside the Heart-Seizing Demon. His reserves evaporated like boiling water, draining completely in moments.

“My psychic energy is gone!” the Heart-Seizing Demon rasped in shock.

Unable to access the mind network, he resorted to the “primitive” magical communications his kind disdained.

“Gone? How?”

“Did they use Psychic Reflection?”

“A top-tier Thought Capturer? Impossible!”

For the first time, these cunning Heart-Seizing Demons felt outmatched. How could a psychic sniper suddenly become a Thought Capturer capable of reflecting their attacks? Some suspected mind control or hacked communications.

Their confusion didn’t last. After testing his defenses, Midi immediately moved to his next experiment: mind control.

While less destructive than psychic sniping, perfect mind control could flip battles instantly. Controlling key crew across eight Poison Sting Destroyers would grant Midi warships and veteran crews overnight. Even subduing Heart-Seizing Demons might be possible—a terrifying prospect.

Reality proved harsher. Midi’s first target, a lowly crew member, resisted despite overwhelming psychic force. The failed attempt even lashed back at Midi.

Mind control demanded specific conditions: calm targets, singular focus. During Thought Capturer trials, hypnotic preparation was mandatory. On battlefields throbbing with tension, success rates plummeted. Against Heart-Seizing Demons, it’d fail entirely while amplifying backlash.

Worse, controlling others split Midi’s consciousness. For a Demon Swordman requiring mental unity to fuse with his blade, this weakened his core strength. The tradeoff wasn’t worth it.

Abandoning mind control, Midi launched his third test: overwhelming force.

Eyes shut, psychic vision flaring silver, he detonated chain psychic explosions across all eight destroyers. Crew members collapsed—minds shattered, ears bleeding. Weak-willed ones died instantly; survivors staggered brain-damaged. Only the steel-willed endured, though injured.

The Heart-Seizing Demons survived unharmed, but with crews incapacitated, the Poison Sting Destroyers ground to a halt. Emil’s forward base faced no further threat.

Three strikes had paralyzed the sect headquarters’ fleet without physical damage. Of eight Heart-Seizing Demons, one commander lay dead, another energy-drained, leaving six bewildered. The human’s psychic sniping, flawless reflection, and explosive barrage revealed an insurmountable gap. Their overreliance on psychic energy left them helpless against superior power.

“Send his data to headquarters. It’s our last duty,” a deputy leader ordered through the trembling mind network.

Before the message could reach the Star Ocean’s depths, Midi’s eyes flashed blue. A psychic blade hundreds of meters long materialized, slicing the mind network apart.

“Enough,” Midi’s icy voice echoed in every Heart-Seizing Demon’s mind.