Read Novel Full Chapter 292: SLAP!
Chapter 292: Chapter 292: SLAP!
Chapter 292 – SLAP!
The frost slowly began to melt as the heat unleashed by Cassius’s Miniature Sun dispersed across the battlefield.
The chain portals retreated back into the depths of the Realm of Chains, freeing Copycat and Cassandra fully.
They stretched their bodies, faces twisted. Copycat cursed under his breath at how annoying the chains had been, especially the way they’d drained his blood.
Cassandra didn’t say much. She simply flicked her wrist, storing away her collection of wine.
They lifted their heads and looked over at Cassius, now seated in a chair made of blood, legs crossed, watching the melted remains of the monsters with visible disappointment.
"Am I too powerful for these little things to leave any artifacts behind after dying?" He said, then shrugged, "A shame."
"Widow, look at this bloody arrogant sucker." Copycat barked a laugh, walking toward Cassius and reaching him quickly.
Again, he slung his arm around Cassius’s shoulders. He immediately felt the searing heat still radiating from him.
Still, he didn’t let go.
"Sucker, you’re a Palatine, right?" He said, smiling, "How much of your strength was that?"
"85%, I’d say." Cassius replied, grinning, "What about you?"
"Maybe 80%?" Copycat replied, "I didn’t use some of my Saved Skills or Ultimate Skills."
"You have more than one Ultimate?"
Copycat smiled sweetly, deflecting the question, "You know, I couldn’t copy a single skill of yours." He tilted his head, "That’s never happened before."
He turned to look at Cassandra, pointing at her,
"I also can’t copy something she calls her Chosen Skill. My power gets rejected, as if no one else is allowed to use it. Yours feels familiar, but different. With you, it’s like hundreds of beings are staring down at me. Nasty eye you’ve got there, alright."
Cassius chuckled, "Must be annoying, isn’t it?"
"Oh, most definitely. But also rather fascinating." Copycat’s blind eye began glowing hungrily, "Why can’t I copy them? What makes them special enough to resist me? Feels like if I figure that out, and manage to push past that barrier, my Aspect might evolve. So from now on, Sucker, let’s be friends. You too, Widow. Stop mourning someone who never existed and open your heart back up."
"Someone who never existed?" Cassius paused at that, glancing at Cassandra, eyebrow raised, "What does that mean?"
"You’ve never heard about it?" Copycat said, nodding toward the silent Cassandra, "It’s a fairly well-known story. This depressed girl builds graves for someone, everywhere, even in her own house, and now here at the Academy. I looked into it myself, tried to find the guy...turns out he never existed."
"He didn’t—!"
"Don’t speak on things you don’t understand." Cassandra said coldly, her yellow eyes hardening, "Do you think you know everything? There are things beyond your comprehension."
"Then explain it, huh?"
"Stay out of my affairs."
"Yeah, of course, the classic deflection. Tsk. And stop glaring at me. I’m already annoyed the sucker won, don’t make me start something with you. And this time I’ll go all out."
"Because you’re the only one annoyed?" Cassandra tilted her head dangerously, "One more word and I’ll bury you alive."
"Oh really?" Copycat started to rise.
"Guys..." Cassius called out, suddenly looking nervous, scanning the battlefield, "What exactly were the Watcher’s Eye’s instructions?"
"Who cares!" Both of them snapped.
"Well, damn you, you should." Cassius stood from his chair, pointing at the battlefield, "The Watcher’s Eye said no damage! And look at what you two did. You, Widow, killed the land. And you, Copycat, poisoned it."
Their eyes widened instantly at his words.
Caught up in the excitement and competitiveness of the bet, they’d completely forgotten those instructions.
However...
"Why are you exempting yourself?" Copycat arched an eyebrow, "You set the ground on fire!"
"Hey, dude, get your facts straight, I cooled it back down with frost. Are you blind?" Cassius shrugged, "I’m in the clear."
"In the clear, my fucking ass!"
"Not in the clear." Cassandra hissed, "If I lose EP, so do you."
"But I’m—!"
"Junior, we can lie." Cassandra cut Cassius off, smiling thinly, "And we will lie. You’ll suffer along with us."
Copycat grinned, standing beside her, "Exactly, Sucker."
Cassius’s lips twitched, "All this because you lost the bet? Fine. I’ll tell the whole Academy you lost to a junior."
"I didn’t go all out." Copycat defended himself.
"Neither did I." Cassius shrugged.
"You cheated. You weren’t supposed to attack us." Cassandra added.
"I never said that was off the table." Cassius shot back.
The three exchanged looks, then glanced at the battlefield, lips twitching in unison.
"I say, as new friends, we should share the responsibility." Copycat proposed. "It’ll lessen our combined EP losses."
"Agreed." Cassandra said immediately.
They both looked at Cassius, who sighed after a few seconds, "Fine. But don’t forget, you both lost, and each of you owes me a favor."
"I keep my word, Sucker. Just don’t push it."
"Don’t make me bury you."
"Can you stop with your damn burying?" Cassius hissed.
"No."
After that, the three of them sealed off the Fractured Land with their combined power before walking away. Their duty was to contain the waves, not to clear the Fractured Land entirely.
Cassius walked in the middle, Copycat on his left, Cassandra on his right.
They talked about everything and nothing at once. At some point, the topic turned to tomorrow’s Opening Ceremony, Copycat promising to fight seriously if they ended up facing each other.
He invited Cassandra, who initially declined, but after a few minutes of coaxing from both him and Cassius, she reluctantly agreed to come watch.
By the end, Cassandra mostly listened, observing the two of them.
She noticed Cassius was quite different from what she’d expected.
He smiled more, laughed more, and was willing to take a few losses without making a fuss about it.
Copycat, too, turned out better than she’d assumed. Rude, prone to cursing, but nothing beyond that.
He hadn’t sulked over losing, and even seemed eager to grow closer to Cassius.
Cassandra understood why.
As Palatines, the gap between them and everyone else was abnormally wide, in most cases.
And because of their status, people either feared them or clung to them for personal gain. No genuine connection to be found.
’No surprise there.’ Cassandra thought, ’It’s nearly impossible to befriend someone you don’t consider your equal.’
But Cassius was their equal, and he’d proven it.
She glanced at the two of them one last time, leaning in to catch what they were suddenly whispering about:
"Hey, Sucker, you have to tell me!" Copycat whispered.
"You really want to know?"
"Of course. How do I seduce older women? You managed it with Soundless, just tell me how."
"But my method might not work for you, you know?"
"We won’t know until I try."
"Well, alright then." Cassius said, "Listen carefully."
Copycat leaned in further, listening intently.
"Go buy a dagger, and give it to her. Tell her she has three chances to kill you, over 3 days, or a week if she prefers. If she fails all three, you win, and you get the right to ask her out. You have to state your intentions upfront and show her your resolve."
Cassius smiled,
"Women love men who yearn. Because a man who yearns is a man who earns." He winked at Copycat, while Cassandra fought to hold back her laughter, "So even if you have to bark like a dog to prove it, then bark."
"...are...you sure this works?"
"Absolutely, brother."
"You’re not messing with me, are you?"
"We’re friends now, aren’t we? I’m gentle with my friends."
Copycat nodded hesitantly, then took a deep breath to steady himself. Then he turned toward Cassandra, and,
"Widow, let me give you a dagger and—!"
SLAP!
Cassandra backhanded Copycat with all her strength, sending his feet clean off the ground, his body flying backward.
Cassius watched the scene, eyes wide. He turned mechanically toward Cassandra, whose expression stayed dead cold, though a faint trace of crimson crept to the tips of her ears.
He then turned his attention to Copycat, now sprawled face-first on the ground, ass in the air, twitching.
Cassius began to laugh nervously, scratching the back of his head,
"Well, results may vary."
—End of Chapter 292—