I AM A MAGE BUT WITH MILF SYSTEM-Chapter 668: Soul control

Julian watched Kraven from the corner of his eye.

The man had not moved for some time. He stood motionless, almost unnaturally still, as though carved from stone.

Julian had witnessed countless peculiar things throughout his existence. Yet there was something particularly fascinating about watching a man like Kraven unravel in such a quiet, undignified way.

Kraven was a man born into extraordinary wealth and prestige, raised among the highest circles of power. And yet here he was—reduced to little more than a creature of appetite, ruled by something as crude and simple as desire.

There was a quiet irony in that transformation.

Still, Julian could not pretend he was entirely different. In truth, he and Kraven were far more alike than either of them would have cared to admit. Luck had simply placed them on opposite sides of the same divide.

Had fortune turned its face away from him, Julian might very well have become a man much like Kraven himself.

His gaze returned to the nobleman.

Kraven’s defenses were gone. Completely gone.

Julian noticed the subtle details that most people would have missed: the slight dilation of the pupils, the tension in the shoulders, the shallow rhythm of his breathing. The man was no longer thinking clearly. His reason had surrendered to instinct.

A small smile touched Julian’s lips.

The moment had finally arrived.

But just as he prepared to act, Kraven suddenly moved.

The nobleman straightened, adjusting the front of his coat with care before turning toward the passage door.

Mara hurried to intercept him before he could leave.

"My lord."

Her voice was smooth and practiced, the voice of a woman accustomed to maintaining control of delicate situations. Yet Julian could see the flicker of panic beneath the surface.

"Is something not to your liking?" she continued quickly. "If there is anything you would like changed—anything at all—I can arrange it immediately. The evening has only just begun, and—"

Kraven stopped.

He turned slowly to face her.

For a brief moment he simply looked at her, and Julian found the expression on his face difficult to interpret. It was not anger. Nor was it satisfaction.

It was something stranger.

"No, Mara," Kraven said at last.

His voice was quieter than usual.

"You have outdone yourself."

Mara blinked in surprise.

"My lord—"

"Genuinely."

He said the word plainly, without decorative details or explanation. Then he turned away once more.

"I’ll take my leave."

And with that, he walked through the passage door without waiting for a response. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The chamber seemed to freeze in the wake of his departure.

Mara remained where he had left her, staring at the closed door with visible confusion.

Near the edge of the pool, Thomas, Helena, and Sarah had stopped as well. The three of them exchanged uncertain glances, unsure whether they should continue or stop.

After a moment, Mara turned and walked toward Julian.

"Did something happen?" she asked, her voice lower now. "Did he say anything to you? Did something—"

"I don’t know," Julian replied calmly.

He shook his head slowly, his expression revealing nothing but mild confusion.

"He seemed perfectly fine. More than fine, in fact. If I’m being honest, he appeared to be enjoying himself more than most men in his position would dare admit."

He spread one hand slightly.

"And then he simply stood up and left."

Mara studied his face carefully.

"That’s all?"

"That’s all I saw," Julian said. "No complaints. No dissatisfaction. Nothing that would explain such a sudden departure."

He paused thoughtfully.

"If anything, I would have said he was more engaged than I have ever seen a man be."

Julian gestured lightly toward the door.

"And then—well. You saw the rest."

Mara pressed her lips together.

Her gaze flicked back toward the passage door, then toward the uncertain figures at the pool’s edge.

"I don’t—" she began.

The rest of the sentence never came.

Without warning, a violent spike of pain exploded inside Julian’s head.

It felt as though an invisible weight had suddenly descended upon his mind, pressing inward from every direction.

"I’m leaving as well," Julian said quickly as he rose to his feet. "There’s no need to see me out."

Mara’s expression shifted instantly—from confusion to something much closer to alarm.

She opened her mouth to speak—

—but Julian vanished.

A brief flash of displaced air marked the moment of his departure.

An instant later, he reappeared inside his room at the Silver Moon Inn.

He had barely taken three steps before his legs gave out beneath him. Julian collapsed onto the bed, landing sideways against the mattress.

For several long seconds he lay there in silence, staring at the ceiling while the pain throbbed behind his eyes.

Gradually, the pressure began to fade.

"Soul control," he murmured softly.

"It’s far more difficult than I expected."

The technique was new—his own creation.

In the Throne of Gods, developing such methods had been trivial. When one’s power towered that of others by an overwhelming margin, the technique could be carried out with minimal risk.

The principle behind soul control was simple enough.

Every living being possessed an inner world—a vast sea of consciousness shaped by their memories, desires, fears, and beliefs. Most people never sensed its existence, yet it governed every decision they made.

Soul control allowed its user to reach into that inner sea and manipulate the currents directly.

Corrupt the flow of mana.

Redirect it.

Adjust a single emotional impulse at precisely the right moment.

And the target would follow that altered current without ever realizing their thoughts had been guided.

In the Throne of Gods, the technique required almost no effort at all. The gap between Julian and anyone else had been so immense that influencing them felt no more difficult than breathing.

But he was not in the Throne of Gods anymore.

He was in the Ares Kingdom.

This world rejected any being whose power exceeded that of a Grand Mage. The laws of reality themselves forced such power into confinement.

As a result, Julian currently possessed only the strength of a Peak Grand Mage.

His true power remained sealed beneath layers of restriction.

That had been a miscalculation on his part.

Lost in thought, Julian almost didn’t notice the sound when it came.

A knock.