[Psychokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 178: Overload: Loneliness 2/3

Astrid immediately attempted to cut off all her thoughts. She took a deep breath and focused on anything that could make her happy. Fighting. Astrid nodded as numerous fight scenes appeared within her mind.

One after the other, her fights replayed like a play. However, she noticed that in a lot of them, she was alone. Because of her Class, and its advantages, Astrid was pulling ahead of everyone at a catastrophic rate. Soon, she would be on the Level of her father.

No longer would she be by her friends’ side, fighting, exploring. She would have to do everything by herself, just like the lonely, and bored eyes of the Eye-Queen.

Your Loneliness has reached 99/100.

Astrid’s eyes widened at the notification. She quickly turned her thoughts to something else entirely. Fluffy animals, rainbows, sunny weather. Just like that, days passed one-by-one.

After seven days, Astrid ate a sandwich in a muddle headed state. Her thoughts were entirely consumed with trying to stave off the loneliness that threatened to take over her mind. If she could control Overload, then she could effectively decide when to activate it. It would be by far her strongest Skill if that was the case, but after the fourteenth day, her mind was in a chaotic frenzy. She could feel her thoughts slipping, her imagination was weakening.

Although she hadn’t said a word, everyone could tell Astrid was going through something. And when it came to Astrid, it was best to let her deal with it on her own. She was an anomaly, and trying to understand what was going on in her mind was an impossible task.

Even when they did say anything, Astrid just blanked them. As if she was in another world entirely.

They were nearly approaching Rebirth. Two more days, and they would arrive at their destination.

One more day passed, and Astrid was fidgeting. Her thumbs had turned red and raw from fiddling with them in an attempt to control her emotions. Then another day, her hair was wild, her teeth chattered against each other, and her feet restlessly struck the ground. Since she wasn’t controlling her strength, her feet were beginning to crack the ship’s floor. Each thud only made it worse, until the crack spread like a river down the deck.

Despite the ship’s damage, no-one wanted to disturb Astrid. It was clear to them she was attempting some form of training. What exactly, they had no idea, but psychics were always weird. So they gave her distance.

Far in the horizon, the sound of deep, rumbling explosions rocked the ocean. Just judging by the faint tremor on the water was a testament to how big they were. Especially with how distant they seemed to be.

Finally, Rebirth entered their view, but it wasn’t a sight of home. It was a picture of destruction.

“Shit.” Brett gawked at the sight of hundreds of pirate ships laying siege to Rebirth.

Most of them were regular Seafaring ships, the likes they would use to explore the underwater towns, and cities. However, some were far larger. Massive weapons shot rapid projectiles from their cannons, each shot caused the water to tremble under its might as they slammed into Rebirth.

There was even a ship that entirely dwarfed Astrid’s own. The cannon on the top of the ship was enormous, and by the surrounding mana in the air–it was charging an attack.

Astrid shook her head, and gazed out into the distance. She could hear the fervent, excited war cries of the pirates, and the booming of cannon fire. However, it was the faint screaming in the distance that caused her heart to clench.

Your Loneliness has reached 99.4/100.

Rebirth had holes punched into its side from the intensive artillery fire, but not only that, the pirates were slinging any Skills they had in the hundreds.

Where the hell is everyone? Astrid clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her flesh.

Was the pillar of humanity just a joke? Astrid could feel her mana unconsciously swirl within her eye, the powerful liquid mana caused her hair to practically vibrate under its pressure. Then, it stood up as if static coursed through every strand.

Just as she was losing faith in the might of Rebirth, hundreds of soldiers stood at the top of the arc, and fired their Skills down toward the pirates in a rain of fire, water, and wood.

But in the next second, an enormous wave snapped upward, and engulfed them entirely. Standing behind the wave was a man wearing a long pauldrons jacket that sprawled across his shoulders. He had a peaked cap, but his features were too far away for Astrid to see.

As he thwarted the attack, his neck craned over towards Astrid. Her radiant mana was obviously easy to detect, but Astrid could also feel his own. It felt like a never-ending ocean, she could even feel the weight bare itself against her shoulders.

Just the mana the man held was enough to contest against Avemoth. With the man looking over, Astrid could see his face. He had a well kept beard, and a scar was etched across his vibrant eyes. He was the pirate king Umair Byrd.

His mana spiked, then the wave he stood on surged straight for Astrid. He waved his hand, and a tidal wave smashed towards them from the side.

Frowning, Astrid amassed the matter at the wave, then [Crashed] it. In a splattering mist like that of a waterfall, the wave was erased in a frightening explosion. Then, the primal fire of Avemoth’s eye took effect. Not even the water was safe from its might as each droplet of liquid turned into blazing sparks that flickered through the air.

His brows lifted at the attack, and he stopped his charge forty metres in front of their ship. His vision flicked from Daniel, to Brett, then finally back to Astrid.

“The children of the Severing Paths?” Umair said, then broke out into a soft laughter as his eyes remained on Astrid. “Then you must be Astrid? It’s difficult to tell with the cloak and mask, but I could never mistake a Sinwen’s eyes.”

“Where is my father and the other nobles?” Astrid asked, then floated into the air to be on eye level with the pirate king.

“I’m afraid they have more pressing matters to deal with.” Umar shook his head, “But maybe they’ll be back when Rebirth is swallowed within a blazing inferno? Now that would be a pleasant sight to watch.”

“If you were close enough to watch, then my father would annihilate you.” Astrid snarled, and continued. “But I don’t need them to kill you.”

Astrid blasted forward until she was in range, then bombarded Umair with multiple high powered [Crashes]. They obliterated the wave he was standing on, but he was quick to react. His eyes widened at the impressive might of the attacks, and immediately began weaving on the water as if he was skating on ice.

He replied with numerous bullets of water. Astrid was about to dodge, but she realised that they were aimed straight for her friends. Gritting her teeth, she placed more focus into her shield. Each bullet fragmented her shield, sending translucent shards of her barrier glittering into the air.

One even managed to pierce all the way through, boring itself past her flesh shoulder.

Knowing that she was in a dire position, her mind split, and a clone of herself was formed. It blasted into the air, then continued [Crashing] the matter against Umair. He tried to dodge them, but they were too fast. But more importantly, there was no way of telling where they were appearing. It was as if they weren’t powered by mana at all.

One blasted against his chest, flinging him deep into the water, but he re-emerged in the next second with a grin on his face.

“Incredible,” Umar swiped his hair back, obviously having lost his hat during the deep dive. He looked at Astrid in amazement. ”To have reached so far at such a young age, your future truly is remarkable.”

“Are you praising me?” Astrid asked. Her previous wrath filled eyes were replaced with an eerie calm. As if she was alone in the world–she could feel something deep within her mind take over. It was approaching.

“Of course.” Umair held out his hands, then bowed. “I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I didn’t praise your efforts. Or was it luck–”

Astrid had no intentions in talking to the man. Not when she planned on ripping out his eyes.

She continued her attacks, but this time, the wide area [Crashes] turned into concentrated Psychokinetic bullets. However, since they were smaller, it was easier for Umair to dodge them. But she only needed to hit him once.

They pierced through the air, tearing it completely, leaving a white trail in their wake. She sent them out in the dozens, he was about to dodge the last few when she connected to the very water that he was riding on.

With a burst of mana, the water turned into a penetrating metal spike. It shot up, slicing the flesh on his thigh while a stray bullet tore through his arm. He changed his approach, and sank into the water, appearing another fifty metres away.

Spitting, his face turned serious. He raised his hand, then swatted it down toward Astrid. Hundreds of cries surged toward her ship–the pirates were ordered to make a move. Her heart sank.

They fired Skills as they approached, fire, and water shot towards her ship. Astrid’s real body blistered her defences, widening her shields to cover the entire ship. While her clone dealt with Umair.

She was wanting to deal with the other pirates, but Umair constantly fired water bullets, and spikes from a distance. Astrid doubted he wanted to get too close to her because of her wide use of Skills, but it meant that Astrid was forced to retain her attention on the pirate king. Each bullet was capable of taking her life if she wasn’t careful, but the same went for Umar.

Astrid blasted forward, narrowly dodging the incoming projectiles. She wanted to get closer, so her Skills had more of a chance of hitting the fake gentleman. It was high risk, high reward. But looking back to her friends, she couldn’t hesitate here. Not when they were under siege.

While Daniel and the others desperately fought the others with the help of her shield, she was fast approaching Umair.

Just as she was within twenty metres of him, enormous water spikes emerged from the ocean. They shot up toward Astrid. One managed to scrape past her stomach, cutting through her newly acquired robes. Only then did she rely on the movement from her eye.

Firing her eye to the side, she blinked, reappearing out from the field of water spikes. She followed it with a bullet to the side of his head, but the moment it penetrated through, his body transformed into water. He reappeared, then pointed to Astrid’s ship.

Following his finger, Astrid’s main body that was in control of the barriers, could no longer hold against the intensive barrage. The attacks from the pirates smashed through, and hurtled toward Daniel, and the others. Their lives were in danger.

“What can you do on your own?” Umair taunted the young noble.

“I’m not alone.” Astrid felt something within her mind snap. The images of her family, friends, and anyone else she had met during her travels flashed within her thoughts.

The area around her transformed into a desolate area void of any emotion. An intense loneliness pervaded every inch of her brain, then, the mana within her eye spiralled out of control like a primal storm.

Your Loneliness has reached 99.8/100.

Your Loneliness has reached 100/100.