Ella shifted her weight from one leg to the other, clearly a little uncomfortable, despite the determination shining in her eyes. 

"You…" Kane muttered, a little baffled. Then he turned to Mána with a questioning eyebrow raised, "Explain a little more." 

Mána sighed a little, "We don't have much time you know. The rift will appear in five minutes." Her words were underscored by an explosion coming from the nearby battle between Irene and Viljar. 

But despite her complaints, she answered his question, "There really isn't much more to say. The neuralizer needs a new soul that's loyal to you, not the bitch queen, and Ella has volunteered. In fact, it was the price she wanted for helping." 

Kane frowned and turned back to Ella, "So that's what you meant by saying you'd come with me… but why? Is it really just to have the tiniest chance of increasing the living quality of the people here?" 

Ella's eyes turned downcast as she kept shuffling nervously, "It wasn't so long ago that I treated the people of this world no better than my mother… I really believed I was better than them. Good people got hurt because of me!"  

She looked back up at Kane with a hard look, "Is it really so strange and unbelievable that I'm doing this out of guilt?" 

Kane looked at her strangely. He couldn't imagine ever doing what she was planning, and he couldn't decide if he considered her to be more stupid, or brave. She was definitely both, he just wasn't sure which one pulled ahead. Either way, he couldn't help but grow a begrudging respect for her. 

But he wouldn't let that influence his decisions. 

"Well, it's a moot point," he shook his head. "I'm not any more comfortable with having Ella control that thing. I'd rather find a way to remove it safely, or if that fails, rip it out and hope for best."  

His last words were grim, he refused to walk around with this neuralizer in his head. At least without the ability to control it himself. 

But Mána nodded, apparently having expected this. "Neither am I. That's why I told Ella that the only this was happening was if she allowed herself to be enslaved first." 

Once again, Kane blinked in surprise, before turning to Ella for confirmation. The elf nodded uncomfortably. Sighing, he turned back to Mána, "Alright, I know we're short on time, but you need to explain more." 

Groaning, Mána quickly began rattling of her explanation, "As I said before, your shard of lust falls under the domination category. Currently, you have only one domination shard, but if you get either pride or wrath as well, you can enslave someone so long as they're willing. When you took some of my energy earlier, I made sure a portion was saved so that we could use it now, with my help, to remove the requirement of having two domination shards just this once." 

Kane frowned thoughtfully, but was almost instantly interrupted by Mána, "Three minutes left, Master. No time to think." 

Kane scowled. He hated being rushed, but he knew she was right. He just needed to wrap his head around the fact he could apparently enslave people in the future. Assuming he found more shards. 

So, he conjured a hard look of his own and looked at Ella, "Even if you do this, I won't give any promises, you know? I'll be willing to listen, but that's all, and if I decide to crack down hard on all elves, being enslaved would force you to help me anyway. Are you prepared for that?" 

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Ella nodded seriously, "I know. I just have to not fail." 

For another moment Kane, frowned thoughtfully, despite the impatient Mána next to him. 'Ella said this neuralizer was supposed to aid me as well… and if she would actually be enslaved, then the issue with trust was removed, and maybe having that thing in my head wouldn't be so bad. Plus, Ella is a sixth stage Mystic, her knowledge could be useful in the future.' 

So, much to Mána's relief, he nodded, "Fine. What do I do?" 

"First you need to turn back to your human form," Mána said as she quickly sprang into action, and pressed a finger against Kane's chest. "Follow my energy, and you should instinctually figure out how to turn back." 

Kane quickly followed her instruction, eager to see his original body again. He felt her energy circulate through his body and followed her pattern. Soon, he felt something. Something instinctual. Closing his eyes, he followed that feeling, until he suddenly felt his body wriggling and cracking.  

Yet, despite the cracking bones and compressing muscles, it didn't hurt. 

After a few seconds, he opened his eyes again. Blinking, he looked down and smiled. His body was back. Also, he was entirely naked, but Kane didn't care about that. 

He turned to Luna with a grin, "Back to normal?" 

Before, the catling had just been standing to the side, unable to follow the conversation, but just enjoying the fact she was back with her master. Now seeing his original body again, she felt especially relieved and quickly nodded, "Looking good, Master! Even your eyes are amber again!" 

"Good," Kane nodded with a bit of relief, remembering that his eyes were a terrifying red when he was in his beast form. Then he turned back to Mána for the next steps. 

Meanwhile, Ella's sad, worried, and determined expression had softened a little, to be exchanged for blushing embarrassment as she tried desperately to keep her eyes of the thing between his legs. 

"We have only two minutes left, so let's do this fast," Mána exclaimed, before grabbing Kane's hand and putting it on Ella's forehead. "First conjure the rune," she instructed. 

Now familiar with the feeling, Kane called forth the lust and dominance he felt when that rune was active. In seconds, the now familiar tattoo had appeared on his hand again, and Mána continued, "Okay, now don't resist. Either of you." 

Ella trembled a little from a hint of fear, despite her determination, but she didn't move, and let Mána do whatever she needed. 

Suddenly, Kane felt a pocket of energy that he hadn't felt before unshackle in his soul and stream towards his hand. He could resist it, but he didn't feel anything wrong with this, so he let it happen. 

When the energy reached his hand, one of the empty circles of the tattoo became filled with a crimson moon, and Kane gasped a little when he felt a few feelings added to the lust filling his mind. 

It was pride. A pride that made him believe everything and anyone was beneath him. A pride that told him this lowly elf in front of him should serve like all the others, despite her far superior strength. 

For a brief moment he wanted to clamp down on these feelings since he hated being out of control. But then he remembered what he needed to do and frowned. So instead of resisting these feelings, he focused them on Ella. 

Suddenly, the elf gasped and opened her eyes wide. Kane felt some energy flow into Ella's body and encounter a blockage. 

"Don't resist, Ella! You wanted this! Remember why you're doing this!" Mána exclaimed with closed eyes and a focused frown.  

Ella shivered and gulped, but then closed her eyes, and Kane felt the blockage disappear. 

A connection was being established between the two of them, as the energy he sent into her body appeared to wind itself around her soul. The elf released a strange mix between a scream and a moan, before sinking to her knees and clutching her throat. 

Her eyes snapped open again, and she looked up at Kane. 

In her gaze, Kane noticed a strange mix of confusion, fear, pleasure, and devotion. He quickly realized that enslavement with the lust rune likely included pleasure, making him smirk a little, despite the situation. 

But before either of them could get used to the new connection between them, Mána moved on immediately. There was no time to waste. 

She put one hand on Ella's head, and one on Kane's, "Time for the next step."