Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 367: Chapter 367: A Paragon In The Making [T30 Bonus Chapters 1/5]

Chapter 367 – A Paragon In The Making

"Shall we dance, then?" Scarlet said, eager to fight after so long spent idle.

However, Cassius would have been a fool to accept.

"Absolutely not," he said, not even addressing Scarlet, knowing she wouldn’t listen to him anyway. His eyes were fixed on his own master, who stared back at him blankly.

"There’s no reason for you to fight, Master," Cassius said again, deactivating his power. "It’s dangerous."

At those words, Mallory understood instantly what he meant. Since they were linked by Fate, whatever she felt, Cassius would feel too.

So if she fought Scarlet and took a hit, even one that might barely register to her, it could be absolutely lethal for Cassius.

And if Cassius died, she’d follow.

The more time passed, the more Mallory realized just how dangerous this Fate Link truly was. This wasn’t something two loved ones should ever share.

It could be deeply limiting, even harmful. But used against an enemy, a real one? Then its potential was immense.

Weighing that, Mallory reined in her power, finally letting the spirits of the Fire State breathe again. The first thing they did was curse their queen.

After all, this wasn’t the first time she’d caused trouble for all of them.

The dean teleported beside Cassius, settling back into her usual composed state, and looked at Scarlet, who now looked thoroughly disappointed.

"Sigh." She let out a heavy sigh, powering down, as if something terrible had happened to her. "I was hoping for a real battle, Octavia."

"I have no reason to indulge your battle lust," she replied coldly. "And were you actually going to kill my disciple?"

"Kill?" Scarlet chuckled, glancing at Cassius beside Mallory with a smirk. "That would be going too far. I don’t care if Amate’s descendants die, but I wouldn’t want it to be because of me. I simply wanted to put him in a coma for a while."

"How long is ’a while,’ exactly?" Cassius asked, lips twitching.

Scarlet ignored him entirely.

"How long, Scarlet?" Mallory asked instead, and the Primal Queen answered immediately,

"A year or two. Maybe three, depending on my mood."

’Is she seriously ignoring me?’ Cassius thought, incredulous. ’How old even is she? Queen’s blessing.’

"What did he do?" Mallory asked, shooting a glare at her disciple.

The Last Born smiled sheepishly.

"He threatened to kill my daughters," the Primal Queen replied, walking towards her throne. "Pretty bold, don’t you think, Octavia?"

"In my defense, I was never actually going to," Cassius tried to explain. "The triplets have done nothing to me, they even saved me once, when I really needed it. I wouldn’t touch them, no matter what."

His eyes were dead serious.

"And let’s tell the whole story, alright? Because the way it sounds now, it looks like I’m the one in the wrong. And—!" He paused, eye twitching, "Master, please, don’t look at me like that, trust your disciple!" he complained, while Mallory kept eyeing him skeptically.

She knew exactly how loud and reckless Cassius could be. And knowing that, she knew he could stir up trouble anywhere.

Still, if Cassius had gone as far as threatening the triplets, it meant he’d truly been angry.

So she listened, and Cassius recounted the whole story from the beginning, sounding like a child complaining to his mother after being bullied by a teacher at school.

The scene amused the Primal Queen so much that, at one point, Mallory made Cassius kneel and continue the story as punishment for ignoring her earlier warning to shut his mouth.

The sight was striking.

A stunningly beautiful man, a sun tattoo across his back, an aura only distinguished beings carried, his eyes bright and almost holy, his long white hair tied back with plasma... kneeling before the Last Dragon.

Cassius Desdemona was truly a sight to behold, even Scarlet Red couldn’t deny it. She found herself impressed by both his beauty and his potential.

That admiration was mirrored by Mallory once Cassius told her what he’d created. Finally, she understood why he’d endured so much pain, and why he now felt so different.

He’d actually created his own concept. It was mind-blowing.

A concept was extraordinarily hard to create. It had nothing to do with power level, talent, status as god or mortal, or anything of the sort.

In fact, there were no known conditions or requirements for creating one. Which made it something utterly random, and profoundly rare.

"Sun," Mallory whispered, dazed, studying her disciple. She circled him slowly, stopping behind him to stare at his sun tattoo.

"You actually did it," she said breathlessly, reaching out to brush her fingers over the tattoo. Cassius shivered but said nothing, unwilling to risk another scolding for misbehaving.

"Do you understand what this means?" she asked again.

"I guess so?" he replied, unsure.

"This is one of the requirements to become a Paragon at the Academy."

"Hm? What?"

"To become a Paragon, you need to create your own Path, or a branch of an existing one," Mallory said. "We have three Paragons, Phoenix is one of them."

"Wait," Cassius said, turning to look at his master, eyes widening slightly. "Does that mean I could become a Paragon?"

Mallory’s lips trembled, barely holding back a wide grin. "If you reach Third Rank," she said. "If you reach it, and your Path develops far enough, you’d be eligible to become a Paragon of the Academy."

This was good news Mallory hadn’t expected at all. Her disciple always found new ways to surprise her.

It was maddening.

’His talent and potential are truly monstrous,’ Mallory thought, watching Cassius gloat over how magnificent he was. ’But none of this would’ve been possible without the will and resilience he showed to endure the pain of creating it.’

She was genuinely proud of him. And for the first time, Mallory seriously considered passing her legacy to Cassius.

But it was still too soon. Better to observe him a bit longer, and not overwhelm him with too much at once.

Mallory looked at Cassius again, at his eyes — nothing like Adonis’s anymore — and felt a surge of affection for this annoying, wonderful disciple of hers.

So, for the first time since their relationship began, the Last Dragon pulled the Last Born into her arms, his face pressed against her chest, hugging him with an affection she hadn’t known she held for him.

She’d only realized it during this whole ordeal, when she’d felt the pain he was going through and thought, for a moment, that he was actually dying.

Mallory had been shocked at first, then confused, then deeply, profoundly angry. Because anyone wanting to kill Cassius meant wanting to kill the only real connection she’d made in a long while.

The only being she could let herself believe would never betray her.

The only being strong enough, special enough, not to die easily and leave her behind, crushed by grief.

And even if he did die, she’d die with him anyway. That was a strange comfort Mallory never expected to find in the Fate Link.

All of this, ultimately, revealed just how broken and scarred she still was from her past. After all, a soul could only carry so much grief, disappointment, pain, and agony before it started wishing for true, eternal rest.

But Cassius was... a light. He illuminated her shadowed soul, and made her feel like maybe it was alright to let people close again, to smile again, to worry for someone again, to be loved, and to love in return.

Yeah. Maybe. Just maybe it was alright to open her heart again, for this young man who aspired to become a sun. Or maybe... the Sun.

"That’s fitting," Mallory whispered into Cassius’s ear, not entirely sure why she’d turned so sentimental. "Your concept, Cassius, suits you perfectly."

Scarlet watched the two of them, and for a moment, the faces of Mallory and Cassius blurred into her own face and Amate’s, from their last meeting — hugging each other while Scarlet cried, and Amate lied, telling her she’d come back one day. That a Desdemona never truly died.

’Fucking lie,’ Scarlet cursed, her heart aching, and closed her eyes to shut out the scene, mourning her friend and confidante.

Cassius, for his part, hadn’t expected any of this. But it would be a lie to say he didn’t enjoy it.

He cared for Mallory. He loved her as a master, a mentor, and sometimes even as a sister or mother figure.

She’d given him so much, and until now, he hadn’t given anything real back. But hopefully, that would change.

And hopefully, one day...

"I’ll make sure you see him again," Cassius said, his left eye burning brighter.

"See him?" Mallory echoed.

"The dragon you wanted to see so badly you were willing to gouge out my eye for it," he replied. "One day, I promise, I’ll find him among the countless memories in my eye, and bring him to you."

The dean let out a low chuckle. "Really?"

"Really."

"Then would you like to know who he was to me?"

"Will you tell me?"

"If you want to know."

"I do."

Mallory smiled and closed her eyes. "Well..." She held him tighter. "He was the man who found me when I’d lost everything, who put me back together until I could stand on my own again, without wanting to end my own life. He was the man who loved me, Cassius, and somehow still wanted a future with a woman who could never stop living in the past."

Cassius closed his eyes too, letting the last words settle over him.

"He was the man I learned to love, my dear disciple..." Mallory whispered. "And the man I abandoned, because, in the end, I loved my vengeance more."

—End of Chapter 367—