It wasn't just his expression.
Fu Hua, having landed a heavy punch on the enemy, could even feel the tactile feedback from her fist.
Although the Key of Domination was inferior in performance to other Divine Keys, it was still far stronger than ordinary Soulium weapons.
But Fu Hua, having thrown a strike using the Key of Domination combined with the Inch Force technique, felt from the impact that...
Her punch didn't seem to have dealt much damage to the opponent at all.
Under the Revive Hourglass's [Defense Enhancement], the damage Fu Hua's strike could cause had already dropped to a value too low to look at directly.
And after that value was forcibly suppressed to 25% by Iron Wall...
"To be honest, there is pain. But, that's about it."
Aaron, who had anticipated Fu Hua's thoughts from the start, was ready the moment his buffs were stacked.
Shadow Knight in Eclipse Mode was indeed too fast.
Switching to Steel Mode, Aaron naturally couldn't compare to Fu Hua, who was still in Eclipse Mode, in terms of pure speed.
But the issue was, he already knew the opponent's move. Knowing the move, capturing the opponent wasn't difficult, no matter how fast they were.
No matter how fast Fu Hua was, she had to touch Aaron's body with her fist to complete the strike.
And the moment Fu Hua touched him, it wasn't hard for Aaron to seize her fist in the flow of the movement.
Although they were in a consciousness space, if Fu Hua were ruthless enough, severing her own arm right now might allow her to escape his grasp, and it might not even affect her arm in the real world.
But the problem was, Aaron wouldn't give her that chance.
Relying on the characteristics of the Power of Dominance, Aaron successfully turned the tables on Fu Hua.
However, no one could guarantee whether the power of the [Key of Sentience], Fenghuang Down, could break through the Dominance blockade in the subsequent battle and allow Fu Hua to control Aaron's consciousness.
So, since he had caught the enemy, Aaron felt he shouldn't drag this out any longer.
It would be awkward if he got too cocky and ended up getting counter-killed.
[Spirit Command: Valor, Activate!]
Magnetic Field Rotation: 245,000 Horsepower—
"Whale-Slaying Tyrant Fist!"
The moment the power condensed, Aaron smashed his fist toward the woman's face.
Fu Hua, unable to break free, could only raise her hand in an attempt to block the punch.
Unfortunately, with the disparity in strength, her power was insufficient to complete the defense.
As Fu Hua's arm broke within the consciousness space, the remaining force of Aaron's punch smashed directly into her facial armor. Shattering the mask, the residual force sent her flying.
With the victor decided, both parties returned from the consciousness space to reality simultaneously.
Dr. Magi, having just seen Aaron conjure a vampiric aura, saw the Valkyrie before him spit out a mouthful of blood the very next second, collapsing face-down on the ground, unconscious.
On the other side, the young man who had gathered the aura ended his Honkai Beast transformation, reverting to his ordinary human form.
Fu Hua, her consciousness heavily damaged, indeed suffered severe trauma due to the mental injury.
This damage naturally reflected upon her battered physical body.
However, this damage certainly wasn't enough to keep Fu Hua down for good.
Fu Hua lay motionless on the ground simply because she judged—if she moved now, the situation would get worse.
Often, giving up resistance is equivalent to handing one's life over to the other party.
But knowing she was absolutely no match for the opponent, fighting head-on while injured would be idiotic.
Fu Hua wasn't a total idiot. Rather than going hard against the opponent again, she felt it was better to play dead and observe the situation.
And even if he intended to attack... now that she was in bad shape, delaying for even a second to let her Fusion Warrior physique recover was a good thing.
"Alright, battle over."
Having dealt with the enemy, Aaron glanced at Fu Hua lying on the ground, then reached his hand toward her nose and mouth.
*...This guy!*
Sensing his approach, Fu Hua helplessly held her breath.
"Ah, no breathing... crap, did I kill her?"
"Hmm, no, I need to listen if her heart is still beating."
*???*
*Is there something wrong with this person? It was a stomp, why is he being so cautious—*
*Shlick.*
While speaking, Aaron pulled Jizo Mitama from his storage space and stabbed it right into Fu Hua's prone body.
Although Shadow Knight, as a Godsbane Battlesuit, theoretically possessed formidable defensive capabilities, it wasn't enough to stop a Divine Key like Jizo Mitama from breaking its defense.
As the blade pierced Fu Hua's body, she felt a long-lost power eroding her form.
*This guy...!*
*This sensation, it's the Authority I felt back at the base...*
*This is the power of the Key of Corruption that Dr. MEI failed to complete! Aaaaaah!*
Fu Hua, her flesh eroded by Jizo Mitama, unexpectedly felt another force eroding her.
The Key of Corruption eroded her body.
And this force was eroding her soul.
The Power of Dominance, as a power that rules over souls, inherently held the ability to dominate the souls of those defeated by its wielder.
In the duel within the consciousness space, Fu Hua had clearly lost, and lost thoroughly.
With the battle over, as long as Aaron had the intent, he could naturally complete the domination of Fu Hua's soul.
At this moment, Fu Hua felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.
When her hometown was destroyed years ago, she felt for the first time how powerless she was.
But now, with her body eroded and soul dominated, she discovered she was seemingly worse off than before.
Who could have imagined that after losing to the man before her, she would be completely stripped of her freedom as a human, from body to soul?
"Alright, domination complete."
Having completed the domination of Fu Hua's soul, Aaron watched the sigil flash briefly on Fu Hua's forehead, then began using healing magecraft to treat her wounds.
Aaron held no ill will toward Fu Hua.
Rather, for an ordinary girl, what she had accomplished so far was actually quite good.
But not disliking Fu Hua was one thing; not disliking didn't mean he wouldn't guard against her.
The power of Fenghuang Down had to be guarded against. Especially with someone like Fu Hua, who habitually activated Fenghuang Down like a consciousness hacker when facing strong enemies even while injured. Aaron certainly wouldn't let her run wild.
"You... what exactly did you do to me!"
Feeling the injuries on her body recover slightly, Fu Hua, knowing her act of playing dead had failed, didn't bother continuing the charade.
"My body...!"
"I don't know what you're angry about."
Looking at Fu Hua, who was furious but unable to mount any resistance, Aaron sneered and asked back.
"You intended to use Fenghuang Down to manipulate my consciousness. I just did the same to you... oh, maybe a bit more excessively."
"But you were the one who moved first. This counts as self-defense... hmm, maybe excessive self-defense?"
Irrefutable.
Thinking about it carefully, Fu Hua was indeed the one who struck first.
The person who strikes first gets beaten... Fu Hua pondered for a moment and found no fault in his words.
She used Fenghuang Down to attack the man before her. Although she didn't intend to kill him, the feeling of having one's consciousness manipulated was certainly terrible.
In this situation, from a bystander's perspective, him not killing her was already polite.
But Fu Hua was the involved party. No matter how much her rationality told her she deserved the beating, the unlucky one currently under control was still her.
Unpleasant was unpleasant. No matter how in the wrong she was, the indignation brought by having her body and soul controlled by him wouldn't vanish immediately.
"Ah, don't stare at me like that. Making it look like I'm the perpetrator."
"Now, be a good girl. Go back and report to Otto. Just say you arrived late and the target escaped—Otto just wants an answer anyway. If he doesn't see the Gem, he'll look for it himself."
"I—Under! Stand!"
Gritting her teeth as she spoke words she didn't want to say, Fu Hua was shocked to find herself involuntarily acting according to his instructions.
Before leaving, Fu Hua took a deep look at Dr. Magi on the other side.
Dr. Magi had come to this basement voluntarily to stop Cocolia's conspiracy.
Although he couldn't touch the Gem of Serenity directly, after absorbing the Honkai Energy from the liquified Honkai crystals, the energy fluctuations from the Gem had already caused zombification phenomena to appear on the old man's body.
Even if this man let Dr. Magi leave now, it was likely too late for Fu Hua to save his life by taking him back to Schicksal.
Dr. Magi was done for.
And she failed both tasks Otto gave her... *Hah*, why think so much? I'm not the one with the headache.
But starting today, with my body and soul controlled...
What should I do?
...................
After Fu Hua left, Aaron immediately turned his gaze to Dr. Magi.
This old man was a tragic figure.
He used various reasons to convince himself and other researchers to modify the bodies of countless Valkyries. But only after his granddaughter [Lin] became a test subject and died in the lab did he realize how excessive his past actions were.
Then, realizing Otto's cold-bloodedness, he wanted to rebel against Schicksal and join forces with Anti-Entropy to fight the Honkai.
The result: having just escaped Schicksal, he became a tool for Cocolia and a pawn in Otto's long-laid deployment, nearly causing the Fourth Eruption.
Trying to be a good person, he almost became the fuse for a massive explosion. If Kiana hadn't arrived in the original story, God knows how many people in Singapore would have died.
"Is it my turn next?"
Looking at the man before him, Dr. Magi recalled the aura he just saw, and thinking of the Valkyrie who was defeated and seemingly subjected to something unsavory, Aaron had clearly become a villain in Magi's eyes.
"You don't need to act. This old man will die from Honkai erosion in a few minutes anyway. Give me some face and let me have a few minutes of peace at the end."
*...Excuse me, do I look like the kind of person who likes silencing witnesses?*
Aaron looked speechlessly to Dr. Magi's side and actively activated his Pure Eye.
Possessing the Power of Dominance, Aaron had sensed a soul fluctuation nearby from the start.
It wasn't a soul fluctuation hosted within a body like Fu Hua or Dr. Magi.
In Aaron's view, this fluctuation was clearly more like a wandering ghost.
Simply put...
—There was a dead person's soul nearby watching everyone present.
Fu Hua ambushed him with Fenghuang Down earlier, so he didn't have time to deal with this soul.
Now that the issue with Fu Hua was resolved, Aaron felt he should address this matter on the spot.
Opening the Pure Eye, Aaron easily saw the thing 'normal people' couldn't see.
This soul was none other than Dr. Magi's granddaughter 'Lin', who theoretically died last year.
*No, Otto has such a hard time finding a soul, why do I feel like I've encountered dead souls more than once?*
*What is going on?*
[You have to realize, Kallen Kaslana has been dead for five hundred years. The technology Otto had back then wasn't mature, so finding her soul naturally wasn't easy.]
*Oh, you popped up. Looks like I'm safe for now.*
[Correct. Anyway, regarding the people around who pose a threat to you... the only one has already run away because her mood was ruined.]
[Returning to the previous topic, the stronger the people in this world are, generally the stronger their souls. When ordinary people die, their souls dissipate before long.]
[But before this Valkyrie died, she wasn't just A-Rank; she had achieved a certain degree of fusion with the Gem of Serenity. So she has been using the Gem as an anchor to barely keep her soul from dissipating.]
*Wait, the Gem of Serenity is her anchor. Then if I store the Gem in my space, wouldn't she...*
[Yes.]
[If this continues, her soul will dissipate. Isn't that obvious?]
.....................