Having been discovered, Hermit saw no reason to remain hidden. He promptly deactivated his ability, pushed open the half-closed office door, and strode in with an air of casual confidence.
"How did you find me?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.
Hermit's ability, simply put, was memory erasure.
Unlike Hunter's, it was a purely developmental superpower. In its initial form, Hermit could only make himself forget what he'd been thinking a second earlier.
Wait, I have a superpower now? What is it? Let's try it out.
Wait, I have a superpower now? What is it? Let's try it out.
Wait, I have a superpower now? I...
In short, it was incredibly abstract, seemingly useless, and widely dismissed as utterly lacking potential—a completely worthless ability.
However, with encouragement from his older sister, Hunter, Hermit refused to give up on his dream of becoming stronger.
Within months, Hunter had risen through the ranks to become one of the White Eagle Eight. By then, Hermit's ability remained virtually unchanged from when he'd first acquired it, exceedingly weak.
Using her authority and the status of the White Eagle Eight, Hunter amassed vast resources to aid Hermit in honing his ability.
In fact, one could argue that this was Hunter's primary motivation for competing for a position among the White Eagle Eight in the first place.
Naturally, this sparked widespread resentment. However, no one dared openly challenge Hunter. Instead, they resorted to covertly and creatively insulting Hermit behind his back, only fueling his determination to grow stronger.
He had to become strong enough to repay his sister's sacrifice!
Years later, he succeeded. He had transformed his seemingly useless ability into the formidable power it was today.
Memory Erasure could be used on himself or others.
Let's start with the former. Hermit could isolate his actions from external interaction, preventing the formation of any "memory" of them. This was his most frequently used application, manifesting as invisibility.
When others looked at Hermit, their eyes would register his image and transmit it to their brains. But the moment the brain received this information, it would immediately forget it, or rather, never fully process it in the first place. This allowed Hermit to achieve invisibility, operating on a principle similar to Sparkle's psychological stealth technique.
This was merely real-time erasure. In addition to this, Hermit could also erase his past influence on the world, effectively erasing memories of those past events.
For example, Hermit could make someone who had once insulted him completely forget his existence, as if they had never met him at all, leaving no trace of him in their memory.
Consider the Dragon Nation Bureau of Anomalous Investigations' investigation of the White Eagle Eight, where they recorded the abilities of all eight members. Hermit could erase this "history," making it appear as though the bureau had only surveyed seven members, excluding him entirely. Without knowledge of Hermit's existence, the bureau would naturally never have investigated his abilities, leaving no records.
Looking back now, this seems utterly bizarre. How could the White Eagle Eight possibly be missing a member? How could the Dragon Nation Bureau of Anomalous Investigations have failed to notice the missing member during their survey? Even more absurdly, how could this incomplete report have been submitted, approved, and used without question to this day?
So, whose information was missing? A quick check revealed it was Hermit's. Another agent was dispatched to White Eagle to investigate, but the results were fruitless. No one there truly understood Hermit's ability.
At first glance, his ability seemed non-aggressive. But imagine fighting an invisible enemy. You could scatter flour around you, huddle in a corner guarding only your front, or even close your eyes and fight blindly, relying solely on your instincts.
But how do you fight an enemy you can't remember? The moment the battle begins, you wouldn't even realize you were in combat. You'd just wonder why you suddenly raised your weapon when no one was around, then lower it again.
Then Hermit would slash you with his sword. Startled, you'd raise your weapon, only to forget how you were injured. You'd stand there confused, wondering why you were holding your weapon, why you were suddenly bleeding, and why there was no enemy in sight.
Moreover, Hermit's ability had a second application: using it on others. Aside from the changed target, the effects remained largely the same.
Hermit's ability could completely erase a person's existence from the world, leaving no trace behind. Even their own mother would forget she had ever given birth to them.
This was erasure of the past. If Hermit continued to use his ability on the same person, he could also prevent them from leaving any trace in the future, effectively obliterating their entire existence.
Though the person might still be alive, no one could see them or interact with them. What difference was there between that and nonexistence?
However, to use his ability on others, Hermit needed physical contact. Frankly, completely erasing someone was too much of a hassle; it was far simpler to just kill his enemies outright.
The ability was inefficient against enemies, but... what about teammates?
With this in mind, Hermit selected four loyal subordinates. After obtaining their consent, he erased all traces of their existence, transforming them into the sharpest blades at his side.
The Nonexistent Assassins.
It's worth noting that Hermit himself was unaffected by his own ability. He could see and communicate with all four assassins, but they remained completely unaware of each other's existence. Their sole point of contact was Hermit.
Returning to the present, even though Hermit had deactivated his ability, the office appeared to contain only two people. In reality, it housed four "nonexistent" assassins and... several Sparkles.
What seemed like an empty room was actually overflowing with unseen occupants.
The Deputy Director slowly turned to face the blurred figure in the doorway. It wasn't that the man had no face; rather, the Deputy Director simply couldn't make out his features. More precisely, he couldn't retain the man's appearance in his memory. No matter how hard he tried to focus, the man's face remained indistinct, as if he had no face at all.
The Deputy Director was momentarily startled, but he quickly regained his composure and answered Hermit's question. "Naturally, I have my own methods."