Robert cast as he spoke, "Greetings. You can call me Mind Blackout. You can call me Mind Blackout too."

He came here to raid the souls of the cult leaders for a unique spirit. He'd save Amanda even if he had to wipe the cult. His only concern was how Mickey would react to that. In his desperation, he failed to consider what the mouse would think about that.

iRobert quickly made copies of their mental patterns while Robert made them aware that he was the second coming of the Pail Priestess. Once they were adequately indoctrinated with no chance of betrayal, Robert released his hold. Meanwhile, iRobert started to compile a who's who list of cult members.

While he processed the information, his guilt rose to a new level. No. He couldn't move forward without checking in with Mikey. Robert had the two guards resume their duties while he flew back to the surface and out of this Void-sealed area.

There, he used his main talent. "Mickey!" Robert called. He was sure the spirit had a way to locate and hear him. The number of times Mickey appeared out of the blue exactly when he was needed was too many to be a coincidence.

Robert wasn't mistaken. Soon, he could see the two anthropomorphic mice approach.

"Hey, Robert! What are you doing around here?" Mickey asked as he waved.

Robert explained his conundrum. Mickey listened without reacting to it.

"Mickey, we can…" Minnie started.

Mickey looked conflicted. "I see. Yes, we can do that. Robert, if you help us release all of our friends today, we will grant Amanda the Void affinity."

That's what he hoped for. Robert knew from his interaction with Cerebelon that powerful spirits and Eidola could grant affinities. He assumed it came at a great cost in energy and advancement for the entity.

"I will," Robert promised.

"Hot dog!" Mickey cheered. "We will be close by but won't reveal ourselves until the fight is engaged. It's too dangerous to do it before that because the cultists will immediately recognize us."

"No problem. I'm glad to have you guys with me," Robert said with a bittersweet smile. He still felt guilty for not asking the mouse before setting himself on this path.

He returned to reality and descended the shaft again.

"You two, escort me to your leaders."

They led him deeper into the tunnel complex. The tunnels were more than ten feet tall, making the underground complex feel less claustrophobic. Robert noticed some glowing boxes on the roof. The air was cleaner near them.

"It must be oxygenation enchantments. They consume charged crystals to transmute oxygen," Pappardelle informed.

The other cultists didn't bother Robert as he was escorted by two of their guards. iRobert started matching memories to faces. The imprint also found something interesting. The cult mythos spoke of the "day of reckoning" when the Pail Priestess would return to pass judgment on the cultists. Robert filed it for later use.

They soon reached the living area. It was a set of large rooms with frescoes on the ceiling. Modern-looking furniture and appliances decorated the place and the cultists seemed to live and commune with each other in peace here. Some of them displayed curiosity toward Robert but left him alone. All of them were one or two-star Archs. It was quite the fighting force. One he was sure he could defeat if they didn't have the support of the higher-ups. His only two choices were to either proselytize and convert them to his cause or use mind domination.

He didn't see the leaders. The memories he stole told him that they wore distinctive robes and were probably locked in secluded meditation at the holy sanctum deeper into the complex.

"Gather around, brothers and sisters!" He called. Taking Gwen's Grimoire from his ring, he climbed on a table. "Today is a joyous day for this organization. For we will finally return to our roots. I see that some of you recognize this book. It was given to me by Timothy Masterson himself after I finished the trial of inheritance."

He gave them a moment to let the information sink but not enough they could think of questions.

"Almost two hundred years ago, my previous incarnation created this place as a sanctuary for the beloved creations she worked with. But after she departed, the cult leadership, overtaken by greed, enslaved those they were tasked with protecting. The fabled day of reckoning is upon us, now. The Void Beckons."

"The Void Beckons!" The crowd exulted with fervor.

Not all of them. A quick scan of surface thoughts showed him who were the dissidents. Those who were too deep in bed with those who subverted the cult. He whispered, "Mind Blackout", and took over each of them, changing their allegiance and making sure they couldn't switch back. He did that without making deeper changes. He just showed them the truth.

"The day of reckoning is among us," Robert continued. He found two more that needed a... readjustment and fixed their behavior. "The worthy shall be elevated, the iniquitous, punished.

After making sure the crowd of cultists would stick with him should any confrontation arise, Robert used their gathering chamber to replenish the spent essence. Half an hour later, the two guards he dominated were leading him to the cult's inner sanctum.

"Here, exalted ascendant," the female guard said. "Our leaders are in this section of the complex."

Robert felt something brush against his spatial senses. It was a burst of Space essence displaying a level of control greater than Robert but weaker than Emmerson.

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"Robert Blaze," Cultist Marcus' twin brother, Timothy Masterson.

"The day of reckoning has come, Masterson, Robert said.

The cultist winced. "I thought I explicitly said we shouldn't meet again."

Robert kept bullshitting.

"You suggested. But the prophecy could not be denied. I am here now and you know what I am. Don't try to hide the truth anymore. Surrender and you shall find redemption."

A squeaky voice surprised everyone. "Yes, Timmy! Surrender and face the consequences of your greed!"

Mickey and Minnie manifested behind Robert, drawing gasps of surprise and shouts of adoration from the cultists.

"Release our friends!" Minnie harrumphed. "Or else!"

"You cannot win this time, Timothy! Because we have dozens of friends today!" Mickey taunted.

Timothy's eyes shone with greed. "So you decide to show yourselves. So be—"

"Mind Blackout!" Robert shouted, using his two stars to make sure he'd puncture through Timothy's defenses in one go.

An amulet shattered, sending shards in all directions. Those coming in Robert's way bounced off of his Mage Armor, while the remainder went everywhere.

Timothy tried to teleport away; Robert held him with his Space essence. Hasted, Robert drove forward as he slashed at Timothy's stomach with his sword. His lips changed again. "Mind Blackout."

"Total Submission!" Timothy shouted back before Robert's sword could connect. A wave of black Void essence roiled toward Robert, while Timothy's features became feral and cat-like. The Void Domination slammed into Robert and forced him to his knees. It also made him lose concentration on his Mind Blackout spell.

iRobert had little time to pilfer Timothy's secrets but he found the limitations of the Unique spell he had. Timothy had the Spirit of Pete the peg-leg Cat. The unique Void affinity Pete granted caused all of his Void spells to have this overbearing suppression. The unique spell he had just used forced the subject to submit, at the cost of transforming the caster into Pete little by little. The transformation was permanent and irreversible.

Robert put the weight of his Mind Palace against the domination. The metaphorical chains that held him down broke. Darts of Void energy slammed into his Mage Armor, eating away at the essence. But each of these darts forced Robert into submission for a few seconds more.

With shock, Timothy shouted. "Capture these spirits!"

"No!" A cultist shouted. "The Pail Priestess is among us! You dare attack her advent? Get him!"

A deluge of spells slammed into Timothy. With a roar, he raised a sheet of Void essence and blocked the cultists' spells.

A mass of bodies streamed around Robert's kneeling figure. Only his spatial senses kept him from getting completely blinded. He fought to remove the submission effect.

"Traitors! Total Submission!" He used his unique spell again, this time aimed at the cultists. Robert saw black fur grow on the exposed parts of his body as his sash snapped and he developed a rotund belly. His right leg shriveled and became a wooden peg.

Other elder cultists emerged from the sanctum. Mickey and Minnie moved to stop them.

Robert got back on his feet. "The Void beckons!" He shouted a war cry. The cultists, sent to a fanatical fervor, turned on their leaders. They rushed past Robert, and some even shielded him from harm, blocking the Void darts Timothy shot his way.

Timothy tried to escape via teleportation again but Robert had plenty of essence to burn keeping him locked down. With a hiss, Timothy engaged his fellow cultists as he donned another mind-shielding pendant.

"Mind Blackout!" He cast the spell once on each of the other cult leaders, forcing them to withdraw from the battle as iRobert changed their allegiance.

"Don't attack those who submit to the glory of the Pail Priestess!" Robert commanded.

The fight raged on. Mickey, embodying the concept of Freedom, kept the cultists fighting on Robert's side from being dominated by Timothy. The cult leader apparently didn't care anymore whether he was going to succumb to the spirit trapped in his soul or not.

As for Minnie, she was the concept of Peace. Her task was to nullify the attacks from the cult leaders, just the way weapons blunted when they attacked Cultist Marcus, back when the cult attacked the Imperial Academy.

But there were only two of them. Cultists on both sides fall down, dead or incapacitated. The corridor, though wide enough for five people to walk side-by-side, was a crowded mess of bodies. Melee combat was impossible unless one was wielding small daggers or using their fists and elbows. Spells had to be thrown overhead or blown in the caster's face.

A rain of spilled blood, the acrid smell of urine, and viscera, and the wails of the wounded being trampled underfoot were only less overwhelming than the insane fervor of the crowd.

Though outnumbered, the sanctum cultists had an advantage in the quality of their members.

An advantage that was quickly vanishing as Robert brainwashed the strongest members with the most unprotected minds.

Timothy tried to teleport again, using three stars to improve the spell's potency and break free of Robert's spatial prohibition. Annoyed at how much essence he was wasting, the cult leader locked eyes with Robert for a moment. "Total Domination!"

Robert went back on his knees, unable to act. Unique spells often required little to no essence, instead imposing some heavy conditions to use. Loss of progress or entire stars were the most common among them, followed by physical deformation, and grievous injuries.

Timothy's face grew a snout and whiskers. His eyes became yellow and his pupils turned to vertical slits.

Shaking off the effects of the spell again, Robert checked his reserves as he wiped the blood off of his face. He still had four stars worth of essence while Timothy should be running almost empty.

He also checked the Mouse couple; they were okay. But what Robert saw was childhood-shattering. Mickey had his hands inside a man's open thorax. The mouse was ripping spell shells out of some inner circle cult leaders' souls and releasing the cartoon spirits trapped within, with no regard for the humans' body integrity. And the rebel cultists were cheering and rejoicing with each prisoner released.

"Leave Timothy to me," Robert shouted as he blocked those Void Oppression Darts with a wall of Force.

Timothy's stars were dim. The cultist was running on fumes. Robert used his two stars to cast Dirge on the man. The fairy spell invited feelings of despair and grief, slipping underneath the conventional amulet of mind shielding.

With the negative feelings amplified by the spell and low on essence, Timothy's only recourse was to use his unique spell. Total Domination brought Robert back on his knees for a third time. Timothy's hands became cartoonish, bloated, and covered in white gloves.

Not bothering to stand up, Robert used Id Insinuation. The psionic attack was designed to slip under mental shields and cause minor damage but its biggest effect was to sap the enemy's willpower and their fighting drive. Coupled with Dirge, it made the bloodthirsty cult leader pause.

Timothy roared, most of it a desperate attempt to raise his own morale. He fired another volley of Void Darts at Robert but two cultists jumped in the way.

"Defend the Pail Priestess!" They shouted.

"Total Domination!" Timothy shouted again as Robert was about to stand up.

"I knew I'd get ya!" Pete said as he adjusted his jacket. "Free at last. Now, where is the pipsqueak who made a mess outta me steamboat?"

As the final transformation finished and Timothy ceased to exist, the robes and everything worn by the cult leader fell to the ground.

Robert blinked. Timothy's stars had vanished from the body.

"Pete! Your reign of terror ends today!" Mickey boasted. "Now that I have my brothers with me, we are invincible!"

"Leave this to me!" A black rabbit had his fists up in a pugilist stand.

A mute cat had its detached tail spinning in its hand like a whip or a lasso. Next to the cat was a small lady wearing a vintage dress.

Pete guffawed. "It doesn't matter how many third-grade toons you gather by your side, Mickey!"

Robert stood up.

"You can take this big oaf, Robert. So long Amanda doesn't use his unique spell…"

He didn't need to be told twice. "Mind Blackout!" He dominated the Spirit of Somination's mind.