The 'Lord of Hermes,' usable only when wielding the Divine Spear Hermes Javelin, is a mental-type attack technique that forcibly induces continuous hallucinations.
There's no technique better suited for forcing someone to face reality.
The hallucinations loop until the target confronts reality, and the number of loops is determined by the number of skills the target possesses.
With each loop, one skill is stripped away, and if all skills are gone and the target still hasn't faced reality, the technique concludes by destroying their mind.
What will happen to Kirsch?
If I remember, I'll go ask Gies about it later.
Also, I used [Reverse] on that dangerous Justice Lancer to turn it into an "Ornate Spear."
The ceremonial kind that breaks immediately if you try to fight with it.
Kirsch's retainers carried his vacant-eyed, motionless body and fled with him.
◇◇◇
"This is… what on earth… oh, my son…"
The head of the Wallenstein Marquisate gazed upon his second son, now reduced to a living corpse, and lamented greatly.
In the end, Kirsch had been unable to break free from the loop.
Kirsch was the second son, born after a period when the family had been unable to conceive following the eldest's birth, and they had all but given up hope.
It was only natural that he was doted upon.
The head of house knew Kirsch played at being a hero of justice, but he'd written it off as a youthful fever — the kind of thing young men went through.
He'd done nothing about it, reasoning it was far better than the alternative of the boy chasing after women and spreading the Wallenstein seed far and wide.
Meanwhile, the eldest son had long since come to look upon such a father with cold eyes.
◇◇◇
Marquis Wallenstein searched for the adventurer named Alan who had done this to Kirsch, while simultaneously summoning the Saintess of the Misery faith for treatment.
"What in the world… what was done to him to cause a state like this…"
Saintess Therese examined Kirsch, but she was completely at a loss.
All she could discern was that his mind had been torn to shreds.
With faith dwindling and the Church still mired in utter chaos, Therese's power as [Saintess] had not grown strong enough to offer any recourse.
In truth, even at full strength there was nothing she could have done.
"I'm terribly sorry, Marquis. I'm not powerful enough."
"Damn it — then I'll have no choice but to torture that adventurer Alan until he spills how to fix this!"
"Wait — Alan…?!"
"Whatever is the matter, Saintess?"
"Ah — no, nothing at all. May God's miracle come to pass."
That was close.
She had nearly stumbled upon an enormous bomb without even realizing it.
Saintess Therese, who knew of the final fate of the Pope's faction, wisely decided not to poke what she shouldn't, and quietly slipped out of the Wallenstein estate.