Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: A Long Term Battle

Chapter 285 – A Long Term Battle

Theophane swallowed every fear inside her heart, watching the golden lightning devour the whole restaurant without so much as touching her.

She looked at Emrys, and in that instant he looked like a god of thunder descending from the heavens to punish unruly mortals.

A smile crept onto her rosy lips, "Yes, Cassius must die."

’And her goddess shall follow.’

"However," Theophane approached him, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder, "that won’t happen easily. Killing him will be your greatest challenge, Emrys. But I promise you, once you succeed..."

Emrys turned his head toward her, his eyes full of golden lightning.

"...no one will ever come close to matching you. No one in this Kingdom, or even the world."

"What must I do?" He asked.

"Just follow my instructions." She whispered, now caressing his cheek like a caring mother, "Step by step, we’ll destroy Cassius. This isn’t only a battle of strength. We’ll use everything against him, just as he’s done to you. We’ll take our time, and at the end of it all, you shall kill him."

She paused, and smiled again, her beauty so overwhelming that even in that moment of anger and wrath, Emrys couldn’t help but be entranced.

Once again, he wondered how it was possible for a woman — a mortal one, at that — to be this beautiful.

"Are you with me, nephew?" Theophane Celeste asked, "Are you with me, to kill Cassius and protect your mother’s honor?"

Emrys nodded, his eyes dead serious, "I am."

"Then shall we?" She said, before pulling him into an affectionate hug, "But until the day you heal your mother comes, I’ll be both your aunt and your mother, alright?"

Her voice was soft, almost fragile.

Emrys’s heart shuddered, an intense emotion burning inside him.

For a child who had never known a mother’s love, nor any female warmth during his childhood, what he felt in that moment couldn’t be put into words.

All Emrys had ever known, since he was young, was his father and the Elders of Heaven training him relentlessly. Before he’d even learned to walk properly, he’d already learned to wield a sword.

No female love. Only cold efficiency, and endless lectures about how he was born to be the best, and to save the mother who hated him.

So in that moment, held by the first female family member who’d ever hugged him, Emrys felt himself go weak and vulnerable, his heart and soul aching to stay in that embrace forever.

But that was impossible, alas.

Theophane broke the hug at that exact moment, stepped back, and nodded at him, "We need to go." She said, then glanced around the destroyed restaurant still bathing in lightning, "and we need to clean up this mess."

"Oh, just go. I’ll take care of it."

The two snapped their heads toward the voice and saw Adam Kai, dressed in a white robe befitting some wise sage from ancient times, floating within the storm of thunder, tossing his ball idly in his right hand.

Theophane’s eyes narrowed briefly at him, before her face relaxed into a smile, "Of course, Teacher Kai. If you’re here, I have nothing to worry about."

She took Emrys’s hand and, without hesitation, vanished from the destroyed restaurant, Emrys only managing a quick thank you before being pulled away.

Adam Kai stood alone, his weathered, wrinkled lips curling into a smile, "Dangerous woman, she is. Emrys, my disciple, I wonder, are you better with her, or without her?" He tilted his head, then smiled a bit wider, "Let’s see who you become under her first. Then we’ll decide whether she needs to be killed."

After those chilling words, Adam reached out his free hand and touched the raging thunder around him, and then...

"First Ultimate Skill: Of The Beginning."

...and, visibly, right before the naked eye, the thunder transmuted, releasing everything it had devoured, restoring the restaurant completely, as if nothing had ever happened to it at all.

Everything was back, better than before, even.

Adam Kai surveyed his work with a lazy expression, his essence not depleted in the slightest, before tilting his closed eyes upward, toward the sun, sensing a gaze settling on him.

His smile widened, and then he transmuted his body from flesh and bone into literal wind, vanishing from the beautiful little restaurant.

"Forgive my disciple. He’s still learning."

...

At the same time, just after leaving Emrys behind at the restaurant, Anesthesia found a secluded corner to hide in, coughing as blood smeared her lips.

She cursed and wiped it away with the back of her right hand.

Her heart pounded loudly, fear, excitement, and apprehension all tangling inside her, leaving her thoroughly conflicted.

She drew a shaky breath, pulled out her phone, and immediately called a number, her lips trembling slightly.

It didn’t take long for the call to be answered,

"What do you want?" Sophia’s voice echoed through.

"Mother," Anesthesia said, her voice trembling, "I don’t know how far along you are with the plan, but you’d better kill Father, or turn him into your slave, and get to Desde City as soon as possible."

"...what?" Sophia blurted out after a long silence, her voice turning cold, "Anesthesia, what in Vorn’s cursed name did you do this time?"

"I threatened Emrys." She said, hiding nothing, her chest heaving, her nose bleeding now too, "I threatened the entire Stormblessed family. They’re no longer our allies."

"This has to be a joke." Her mother replied, murderous, something exploding audibly in the background, "This has to be a fucking joke! First you break up with Emrys without telling me, and now you make an enemy of the Stormblessed without consulting me at all?"

"I don’t think you have time to be angry at me right now, Mother." Anesthesia replied, her voice rising, "If you don’t act right now, we’ll all be dead."

"That bad?" Sophia was incredulous. Just what had her daughter done?

"Yes." Anesthesia whispered, "That bad."

Silence settled between them, Sophia’s thoughts spiraling in every direction as she tried to make sense of this ridiculous situation.

But from her daughter’s tone alone, she knew she didn’t have the luxury of sitting around to think.

She had to act.

"I swear I’ll kill both of you bitches one day." Sophia hissed, "First your damn older sister tries to blackmail me, and now you go and make us an enemy out of a Tier One family? I’ll kill both of you. Mark my words, Anesthesia, and tell your sister that too."

"If we survive this bullshit." Anesthesia rolled her eyes. "Then yes, I’ll tell Isolde."

"Do you really think I’m going to die?" Sophia scoffed, "I’m not meeting Vorn until I become what I’m meant to become, my daughter. And none of you are dying before that day either. Now, tell me what you’ve got."

"What I’ve got?"

"You blackmailed Emrys, didn’t you? What did you blackmail him with?" Sophia asked, her tone icy, "I need everything."

"It’s related to his mother." Anesthesia replied.

"How heavy is it?"

"Heavier than you can imagine. It could destroy most of the Stormblessed’s reputation. That’s exactly why I know they’ll stop at nothing to kill us the moment the opportunity arises. So we need to make it as hard as possible for that opportunity to come. And you already know the only way to do that."

"I’ve been thinking about heading to Desde City ever since the incident with the Kanam family, anyway." Sophia said, exhaling to steady her nerves, "This is an opportunity to finally do it, even if not under the circumstances I wanted. But it’s too late now. Tell me what you have on Évangile."

Her voice dropped.

"What could a crippled wife possibly hold that would destroy half the Stormblessed’s reputation?"

Anesthesia took a deep breath, about to answer, only to pause.

"Shouldn’t we tell Isolde about this first?"

"I don’t have her number."

Anesthesia’s lips twitched, "...I’ll do it. Later."

"Will you talk, Anesthesia? I need to give your father his daily poison in 5 minutes."

"5 minutes is more than enough." She replied, and immediately launched into everything she knew about Évangile and her hatred for her son.

By the end of it, Sophia Amaris’s eyes gleamed as plans began forming in her mind.

"...Oh my. I understand now." Sophia said, finally grasping both the opportunity and the danger. "We’re either going to reach Eden after this... or fall somewhere far beneath the Earth."

Anesthesia pressed her lips together. "Will we succeed?"

"Now that you’ve dragged us into this..."

Sophia paused. When she answered, her voice carried the growl of a beast.

"...we must."

—End of Chapter 285—