The illusion of choice was a cognitive bias that caused people to believe they have more control over their lives than they actually did.
Free will was an illusion. Our wills were simply not of our own making. Thoughts and intentions emerge from background causes of which we are unaware and over which we exert no conscious control.
We do not have the freedom we think we have.
In reality, the illusion of choice is a false sense of control that could lead to suboptimal decision-making.
Licht already knew what he had to do. Yet he tried to fall into this delusion of thinking he had a choice.
If surviving was this easy and he could make it work with some above-average decisions then he wouldn't have been in this shit.
He wouldn't be scraping for his life at almost every battle. Trying his hardest yet barely winning every time.
This wasn't what he wanted.
He didn't have any power other than making weapons out of bones, but what would it do against someone who could burn him right where he was?
Or someone who could cut his body literally in half?
Or someone who could control his mind?
It didn't matter.
This was the meaning of why he didn't have a choice. He remembered a line from some movie he had watched ages ago.
'The choice is an illusion. You already know what you have to do.'
'It is an illusion created between those with power and those without.'
He didn't understand it at first but now he knew.
He already knew deep down that he had nothing left except some ideas. Draft ideas that he had never used.
For how much time could he live with this basic power given by his chaotic monster? Days? Quite possibly. Weeks? If he struggled.
Months? If he became a coward. Years? He would outright die.
The power he wanted needed sacrifices. Sacrifices that he was hesitant to make.
Maybe Mister Flare told him that he was strong based on his stats. But they didn't matter against supernatural powers that he would face in the future. Every step he took and would take will shape the future.
Licht believed he had a choice when he never did.
'How dumb can I be?' he laughed hysterically, his hand touching his mouth, gripping it tightly.
'When did these things start making sense? Maybe, since the day I killed Richard or when I heard the speech of Mister Flare,' he wondered.
'Well, it doesn't matter,'
Licht finally cleared his brain of the unnecessary thoughts and turned his head up, he looked straight into the hollow eyes of the warriors.
He could feel the rage in them. The will in them to kill and make him one of their own.
They roared more wildly the longer Licht looked at them. They couldn't have a living and breathing being alive in front of them!
No one deserved warm blood flowing through their veins when they themselves were dead! No one!
Seeing the antics and feelings of the Depraved warrior, Licht started to put one of the last ideas in his arsenal to play.
Suddenly massive depressions occurred all over his body as gaping holes formed and almost liquid bone flowed out of them.
The liquid was composed of a large amount of dense bone that flowed seamlessly across his body, forming a protective armor at his command.
Gleaming in shades of white and grey, the bone suit responded to his mental commands, allowing him to create a variety of tools all across his body.
Its surface ripples and shifts as it morphs to adapt to different situations, creating shields, hidden blades, and even ropes with remarkable fluidity.
It was like he had become a hunter instead of prey. The suit covered everything from his legs to his head, giving him a menacing look.
A white Oni on the battlefield, craving for blood.
Picking the sword up from the ground, Licht's hand sheathed inside a sheath that had manifested.
But something else changed when he summoned the Sentinel's armor back on the suit.
Like a gaping black hole, the armor devoured everything between his skin and itself. Then another change occurred as small spikes started coming out of it and the armor's aura changed.
It felt more familiar as if part of his own body. It changed color from the regular matte black to a dark grey as it absorbed the bones right out of Licht.
The color of his whole suit started to match that of his armor. He looked grey mecha in some ways.
This was the power of the trait [Absorbent] at its finest.
Licht had some inkling of the power of this trait, but he hadn't expected this. His body was suddenly invigorated.
His heart pumped blood faster as he felt more powerful, it didn't feel like his previous integration, but it was close.
He had at least gained two-three stats on all of his aspects. Albeit, temporary.
He still wasn't past the fifteen-stat mark in any way. The depraved warrior was still stronger.
Ignoring the feeling of becoming powerful, Licht said in a serene tone.
"Open the barrier,"
Just as his voice flowed through, the barrier slowly started to dissolve into thin air.
A gleam of happiness and confusion surrounded the corrupted monster's mind when it hurled forward on its own.
The blueish wall was gone! The prey was for its taking!
The saber one's body moved forward as its horse-like legs were just upon Licht, ready to crush him when the monster felt blood coming out of its hand.
SWISH!
A bone-deep cut had formed there, and Licht was nowhere to be seen in front of it. Instead, he was above it.
Licht's sword was drawn as he descended onto the harrowing creature, ready to kill it at a moment's notice.