Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 306: Chapter 306: Opening Ceremony [13]

Chapter 306 – Opening Ceremony [13]

Time seemed to stop completely for Cassius, everything unfolding in such slow motion it felt as though the world itself were struggling to keep pace with his racing thoughts.

He watched Copycat teleport in front of him, raising his hand, finger pointed at his forehead, about to deliver an attack that would, without question, end this fight.

He ran through every possible way to protect himself, even considering his own Ultimate Skill, but he knew deep down it was pointless.

By the time any of his Skills could manifest in the real world, Copycat would have already struck a dozen times over.

’Is...this it?’ Cassius thought, one last time, his crimson eyes slowly widening, his heartbeat pounding so loudly it drowned out everything else.

He watched, breathless with dread, as Bishop gathered all the sweat at his fingertip. He watched again as that sweat began heating up, bubbling like boiling water.

’So this is—!’

"Human Chosen by Dragons!"

Cassius’s eyes regained their focus as three fire spirits suddenly appeared before him.

He barely had time to register them, recognizing them as the same spirits from their Emergency Mission earlier, before two of them formed a fire barrier to block the incoming attack, while the third detonated a blast of fire, propelling him out of the attack’s path.

Cassius’s mind snapped back to real time just as he found himself on the ground, his back aching from the impact.

Copycat’s 5-second window had run out, freeing Cassius’s body completely.

He lifted his head and saw Bishop’s attack fully blocked by the two spirits.

Stella acted then, for the first time entirely on her own, taking the form of the beast she’d devoured.

The Three-Eyed Corrupted Crow.

She flew skyward, black wings spread wide, beak stretching open, and unleashed a wrenching screech that sent Copycat clutching his head in pain, corruption spreading through his mind, tempting him toward madness.

The spirits used that window to return to Cassius, gathering around him as though shielding him.

Stella returned to her master’s side as always, croaking with visible concern in her now-monstrous, all-black eyes.

Everything had happened so fast that most spectators only registered Cassius being attacked, then suddenly safe, with Copycat now screaming in agony.

Only those at their level of power, or close to it, had caught the full sequence, which left them all wondering the same unsettling question:

Since when did a Desdemona hold the favor of spirits?

That was exactly the question Cassius wanted answered himself, in that moment.

"You," he began, eyes on the three identical spirits, voice weary, "what are you doing here?"

"What? What? We followed you, Human Chosen by Dragons! We followed you!" They said in unison, voices overlapping.

"But why?" Cassius genuinely couldn’t understand.

"Why?" They tilted their heads simultaneously, as if the question had never occurred to them before.

But an answer came soon enough, delivered by the spirit standing in the middle.

"We like you." She said, then nodded proudly, as if delighted with her reasoning, "We like you, Human Chosen by Dragons! You carry so many dragons within you — you could hold all their power, memories, and knowledge! Our mother would love to meet you so much! Right, sisters?!"

"Yes! Mother loves dragons so much!"

"And he’s Worldburner’s descendant! He even has the same left eye!"

Cassius grew more confused by the second, "...your mother?"

"The Primal Queen of Fire!" The three spirits declared proudly, puffing out their chests, "The First Fire Spirit, origin of every other fire spirit in existence! We’re her direct children! We’re the Three—!"

SCREECH—!

Stella cut off the spirits’ endless chatter, drawing Cassius’s attention forward, to Copycat, barely holding himself upright.

A green aura flickered around him, healing only the most superficial of his wounds. Still, enough to let him straighten and face Cassius.

"Ah, shame my Skill can’t affect these fucking spirits yet." He grinned, "But truly...saved by three spirits and your beast. Cassius, my friend, aren’t you lucky?"

"Do you even know who you—!"

"I am." Cassius replied, cutting off the spirits’ continued babbling.

He forced himself upright with tremendous effort, coughing blood in the process. He dismissed Stella with a word of thanks, then channeled some essence to heal the worst of his wounds.

The three spirits wanted to speak again, but Cassius waved them off, gesturing for them to stand aside.

This was a battle he intended to finish himself.

He wanted to give everything he had, because Cassius needed to know: which was truly stronger?

Copy, or Adaptation?

So he rose, raised his fists in a boxer’s stance, and settled into position.

"But you’re one to talk. That’s a ridiculous Ultimate you’ve got there." He rasped.

Copycat chuckled, wiping blood from his eyes, "I’ll admit it. My mother made that one just for me to copy. Isn’t she the best?"

"Oh my. I thought no one could rival my mother when it came to loving me."

"You must be delusional. My mother loves me so much I get goosebumps sometimes. And don’t even get me started on my two older sisters." Copycat pulled a pained expression, "Being the youngest and only son of Rose Bishop is a heavy burden."

Cassius smiled wryly, "I strangely understand exactly what you mean. I’m the youngest Desdemona too. There was a time an entire family nearly got slaughtered because I came home with a few bruises."

"Haha, I remember that. Hilarious. My mother was the only one, besides the Hoods, who publicly supported your mother’s actions. Do you remember that post defending her as a formidable act of maternal love? It was one of my mother’s many alt accounts."

"Queen’s Blessing...I like your mother, Bishop."

"Hey, back off, sucker. She’s already got enough husbands."

Cassius and Copycat kept talking and laughing, the scene leaving spectators wondering if they were dreaming.

None of them had ever imagined witnessing two people bonding over having been thoroughly spoiled by their own families.

Aaron cackled like a madman, instantly adoring both Copycat and Cassius, declaring he could see himself befriending such strange bastards.

Nicole giggled along, her eyes gleaming with fresh interest in Cassius. Her smile widened further, remembering he was married to Isolde.

Cassandra was tempted to laugh but held it back. It felt strange watching her two new friends act this way, though not unpleasant.

They reminded her of a brother she’d once had and lost.

Still, Copycat and Cassius knew it was time to wrap this up.

By this point, both were thoroughly exhausted, no longer able to unleash powerful Skills.

Yet they kept fighting, relying on fists, smart, small applications of their Skills, and the technique already ingrained in their bodies.

That was when the true genius in each of them came shining through.

Cassius kept adapting to Copycat, fighting in unpredictable ways that surprised the second-year Palatine again and again.

But never for long.

Copycat copied him as easily as breathing, quickly fighting in the exact same style.

Cassius might be unpredictable in his Skills and their applications, but Copycat’s own range of abilities made him just as unpredictable in return.

After a while, it became nearly impossible to tell the two apart, save for their differing Skill sets.

They were fighting exactly the same way.

The Last Born felt like he was fighting himself, only wielding a different set of abilities, some of which proved far trickier to defend against.

When he punched, Copycat punched. When he dodged, Copycat dodged.

It reached a point where Copycat began anticipating attacks Cassius hadn’t even thrown yet, executing them before Cassius could.

That was when the fight took a dangerous turn against Cassius.

Knowing he couldn’t copy Cassius’s Skills directly, Bishop had instead copied whatever abilities he judged would counter him most effectively.

So when the Last Born wielded fire, Copycat wielded black fire in return. When chains lashed out, he lightened his weight to dodge faster, while blasting sound waves to shatter Cassius’s focus.

Fighting him felt like fighting several beings at once, all perfectly synchronized.

Cassius accumulated more and more wounds, and as he cut back on using Bloodflame to heal, hoping to conserve essence for later, those wounds simply stopped healing at all.

Strangely, though, he wasn’t worried. Cassius found himself oddly delighted by the difficulty of this fight, even as his consciousness began to darken at the edges.

Above his head, his Snake of Adaptation had already begun forming a new Snake Loop.

But this one was unlike anything the Last Born had ever seen. Because the scales of the white snake felt like they were...

’...shedding?’ Cassius thought, eyes widening slightly, his focus fracturing for a split second.

Copycat seized that exact opening, swinging his bone sword downward.

Cassius reacted just in time, swinging his own left-hand sword diagonally, left to right, deflecting the strike, though the impact tore his weapon from his grip, sending it flying.

Cassius detonated the sword, raining fire down on Copycat, while countering with his right-hand blade, aiming for a piercing strike.

The attack never landed as Copycat retreated, dodging it cleanly.

The two broke apart, breathing hard, sweat, blood, and gruesome wounds soaking both their bodies.

Cassius used the pause to examine his Snake of Adaptation more closely, confirming that yes, the white snake really was shedding its skin.

He froze for a moment, confused about what exactly was happening to his Innate, and the answer arrived swiftly, urgently, whispered directly from his Innate itself.

Evolution.

His Snake of Adaptation was undergoing evolution, triggered by Copycat’s dangerous ability to adapt through his Copy power.

Which meant that whatever Adaptation Cassius gained, Bishop could simply counter it by copying that exact adaptation himself.

That was precisely what had been happening since the fight began. Every time Cassius grew better mid-fight, Copycat matched him instantly.

The second-year Palatine seemed made of clay, reshaping himself into whatever form was necessary to win.

Realizing this, Cassius’s Innate arrived at a dangerous conclusion: the only way to surpass Bishop’s Copy ability was to Adapt to the ability itself, not the dozens of other Skills he wielded through it.

What his Innate hadn’t anticipated was that attempting to adapt to the very concept of "copy" — something so dangerously close to its own power, yet fundamentally different — would trigger its own Evolution process, pushing it toward the next stage of its unique existence.

And since Innates were rare enough on their own, let alone ones that evolved, the Mother System chimed loudly inside Cassius’s mind, marking the occasion.

DING!

[Rare achievement! Your Innate, Snake of Adaptation, is ready to evolve!]

[Conditions for successful evolution: Copy the One Who Copies, without the help of your Innate, and win.]

Cassius’s eyes went wide, feeling a piece of himself go suddenly hollow, as though a limb had been severed outright.

He immediately noticed the familiar, ever-present hum of his Innate had gone silent, and his fear was confirmed the instant Copycat reappeared in front of him, wide grin plastered across his face, fist already tightening, swinging straight for his head.

"What are you spacing out for, Cassius? Focus, will you?"

’Queen’s breath!’

—End of Chapter 306—