LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 42: War for the Mind
War for the Mind
1. The Battlefield That Shouldn't Exist (Tom's POV)
Tom hit the ground hard, rolling to the side just as a column of black fire erupted where he had stood moments before.
The Guardian hovered above them now, its once-human form twisting and warping, golden eyes burning with rage.
The world around them had collapsed into chaos—New Arcadia City was gone, replaced by a shifting, unstable landscape of fragmented memories.
The ground beneath them shifted between different places at random—one second, Tom was standing in the Hunter's Guild, the next, he was on the old streets of his childhood.
Then—
He was on the battlefield where he had once died.
No.
No, this isn't real.
Tom clenched his fists, spinning the Roulette Wheel in his mind, pushing back against the illusion's control.
"You can't hold us here!" he shouted.
The Guardian's voice thundered, echoing from all directions.
"You don't understand, Tom. I don't have to hold you here."
The sky ripped open, revealing an endless, swirling void of shifting memories and emotions.
"I just have to make you choose to stay."
And with that, the world split apart.
---
2. Stacy vs. the Shadows of the Past (Stacy's POV)
Stacy skidded backward, narrowly dodging an onslaught of black tendrils that surged from the ground.
The Guardian's power had separated them, leaving her alone in a place she knew wasn't real.
She turned—
And froze.
Standing before her was herself.
Not the strong, confident fighter she had become.
But the frightened girl she used to be.
Weak. Powerless. Forgotten.
The illusion whispered, feeding her doubts.
You don't belong here.
You never deserved this power.
Stacy's breath came shaky and uneven, her fingers twitching.
No.
She knew what this was.
She knew what they were trying to do.
Her grip on reality tightened.
"You don't control me," she growled.
The shadows lunged.
And Stacy fought back.
---
3. Diane vs. the One She Lost (Diane's POV)
Diane stood in the middle of her perfect home, but everything was wrong.
The walls pulsed like a living thing, the air heavy with something unnatural.
Then—
A voice.
Soft. Familiar.
"Diane."
Her heart stopped.
She turned slowly—
And there he was.
Jerry.
Her breath hitched, her body trembling.
"You're not real," she whispered.
Jerry smiled. "Aren't I?"
His voice was exactly the same. Warm. Comforting. Everything she had tried so hard to forget.
"You can fix this," he murmured, stepping closer. "You don't have to fight anymore. Just let go."
Diane's hands shook.
She had spent so long trying to fix what was broken.
And now—
Now the illusion was offering her the one thing she could never fix.
Her husband.
Tears welled in her eyes.
Was this…
Was this really so bad?
Then—
Tom's voice slammed into her thoughts.
"Mom, WAKE UP!"
Diane's body shuddered violently as reality snapped back.
Jerry's face flickered, twisting into something monstrous.
Diane's grief turned to fury.
She stepped forward, voice cold as ice.
"I buried my husband a long time ago."
And with that, she tore the illusion apart.
---
4. Orion vs. the Truth (Mike's POV)
Mike stood in the middle of a storm of memories, flashes of his past life swirling around him.
Research papers. Timelines. Endless nights spent working.
Then—
Diane's tear-streaked face.
Tom and Stacy's childhoods passing him by.
He had missed so much.
The illusion whispered.
"You were never there for them."
Mike's throat tightened.
The Guardian's power didn't attack him like it did the others.
No.
It used the truth against him.
Because even outside the illusion—
This was still real.
He had failed them.
And maybe, just maybe—
This dream was where he was meant to be.
Maybe he shouldn't fight it.
Maybe he should just stay.
Then—
A single word snapped him back.
"Orion."
His breath hitched.
It wasn't the Guardian's voice this time.
It was Tom's.
Mike clenched his fists.
They still needed him.
And Orion wasn't one to back down.
His eyes blazed with determination.
"I made my mistakes," he muttered.
"But I won't make another."
And with that—
He shattered the illusion.
---
5. The Guardian's Last Stand (Final Scene – Group POV)
The battlefield reformed, all four of them standing side by side once again.
The Guardian hovered above them, its form glitching violently, struggling to maintain control.
"You still don't understand," it hissed. "You think this world was your prison."
The air around them trembled, the last fragments of the illusion struggling to hold on.
"But I was never your captor."
Tom narrowed his eyes. "Then what were you?"
The Guardian's eyes dimmed, its voice softening.
"…I was your last chance to be happy."
The words hung in the air, sinking into them like a weight.
For a brief moment—
None of them knew what to say.
Then—
Tom stepped forward, voice unwavering.
"We'll make our own happiness."
His Roulette Wheel spun, golden numbers flickering.
The Guardian let out a soft sigh—not of anger, but of acceptance.
"So be it."
The world collapsed.
And the illusion shattered completely.
---