Read Novel Full Chapter 409: Missions Rewards[2]
Chapter 409: Chapter 409: Missions Rewards[2]
Chapter 409 – Missions Rewards [2]
Cassius was holding his head tightly between his hands, barely holding himself back from punching his own face because of stupidity.
How could he have given the Key to Meadow? Alright, granted, he couldn’t have known that that simple damned pen would be so important.
In fact, nothing of the item description had let it be known that it could be something that could literally give one person the Characteristic of a dead god and some other beings.
So how could he have known?
And yet...
"This is so fucked up." Cassius muttered under his breath, flicking his head backwards, looking at the ceiling with a little more than exasperation, "The fact that the pen has chosen Meadow made it even more difficult. I can’t simply take it back, even if I wanted to."
[What will you do then?] Ananke asked, now tremendously curious. This was literally what she had been waiting for.
The opportunity to devour a dead god. It was something every god would want to do, as it was one of the fastest ways to get stronger.
So if the Artifact housed the Characteristic, then there was a very high chance that it could lead her to the rest of the corpse of the Dead God.
She smiled with excitement, and spoke again, [Even if Meadow held the Key, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she has to use the Characteristic herself.]
"I know." Cassius said, "And don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret giving it to Meadow..."
Ananke looked at her Blessed doubtfully. His lips twitched, as if sensing the gaze from where he was laying down, "Alright. Maybe I do regret it a bit. But simply because this is an Artifact far more important than I could have imagined. Can you imagine the fact that MasterofPaths sealed a part of a dead god in an artifact? Queen’s skirt, how strong that man was to do something so ridiculous?"
[Well, think about it, Cassius. He is the one who literally created the concept of {Commands}.] Ananke said in a sudden teaching tone, [How strong do you think he was? Very strong, I do not doubt. But more than strength, I think you are misunderstanding him. It’s not his strength you should fear. It’s his mind.]
Cassius’s eyes glowered in that darkness, taking in the full weight of the situation.
[It’s similar to you. Your power is not exactly what makes you frightening, Cassius. Give the same power to someone else, and he might not achieve half what you have done until now.] The Goddess followed, [You get it now?]
"I do." He said, "And I am regretting even more the fact I did not hold the pen. But it’s too late to think about it anymore."
He sighed, "If only the pen could give us the ability to unlock the Artifact, then I should talk about it with Meadow. Also, I hope that it’s not only the holder of the pen that has the right to use the Characteristic."
[Will you cry if it’s the case?]
"I might crash out, honestly." Cassius shrugged, "This is too good of a power to pass up so easily. Which makes me think of another thing..."
He chuckled, creating a small ball of blood atop his finger. One that hovered just above.
"There are still six other Artifacts in the Museum. Which means Six other Characteristics from beings I can’t begin to fathom. And so, Six other ways to gain tremendous power." The blood atop his finger shifted, taking the shape of a woman that closely looked like his mother. It was rough, so Cassius kept polishing the features, dragging up the memory of her face by feeding his mind with melancholy caused by the room.
And all that, he still continued to talk, thinking, pondering about the future, "I can’t pass on that, Queen."
[And you shouldn’t.] Ananke replied, [But a Characteristic changes something fundamental about you. Having too much sounds maybe fantastic, and it is, but you might find yourself torn apart by many ’identities’ trying to pull you in their direction.]
The Last Born fell silent, knowing the truth behind it.
[You know it, don’t you? Obtaining a Characteristic is obtaining a part of the being that characteristic was created from. And we are talking about gods or unknown entities. That’s a good opportunity. But that’s dangerous.]
"True enough."
[And it’s time for you to think a bit more away from yourself.] she continued, [Think about your Sect members. They will need Characteristics. Like Sarah.]
Cassius rolled his eyes, "Queen, that’s blatant favoritism."
[I just gave my humble opinion.]
"Humble opinion, of course." He said dubiously, "At this point I am feeling threatened. Is Sarah about to take my place? That’s dangerous."
[Do you actually just want me to tell you that no one can take your place?]
He smiled sheepishly, "Was I too obvious?"
[I just know you.] she chuckled, [And no one can take your place. You are my beloved so—!]
"Alright. Stop there. No need to give people any reason to call me a bastard with a mother complex."
Ananke giggled, and Cassius smiled, his mood lifting a bit.
Still, his goddess was right. If he wanted his sect members to be useful in the long run, they needed something like a Characteristic.
And what was better than those MasterofPaths himself designed and sealed?
"It could be something unique to us, too, maybe?" Cassius whispered, seeing a possible future where each member of the sect has a Characteristic from MasterofPaths or some other unique beings.
Which made it obvious that he needed a way to take the other 6 Artifacts.
Easier said than done.
After what happened in the recent Heist, these bastards would be more careful about these Artifacts. Getting them would need more than just some clever plan.
"I will think about it later. For now," He summoned again the system panel, smiling with anticipation, "It’s time to see what I get after all this bloody trouble. System, show me your might!"
DING!!!
[You have successfully completed your Quest: Second Blessing!]
[Description: Finally. How long did it take you to complete this Mission? We have been waiting, waiting, and waiting each day — that’s a purposeful lie, time doesn’t pass for us — for this day to come.
And finally, it did.
After bombing a bloody Church, yes. After killing so many civilians and causing trauma that will probably be passed down through generations, yes. After looking at and killing a six-year-old boy who just happened to be Blessed by a prick of a god, and got imprisoned because he lied to and scammed a Knight Seat — what a weak ego that Knight Seat has — yes.
Still, it came to pass.
It is only at times like this that we see the Desdemona blood in you. And it is only during these precious, delightful moments that we are happy to see you playing your role.
A Cursed Villain. What a delight.
You are certainly going to Hell. Just, please, don’t take that mentally crazy woman as your mother.]
[Rewards: 3,000,000 VP; One Lie Made Truth Ticket (we certainly don’t need to explain this one to you, do we?); Sealed Artifact of the Mother Demoness of Pestilence.]
Cassius did his best to ignore the snarky comments about everything he had done, even those concerning the young boy he had killed.
It didn’t matter.
Not because he was heartless to the woes of others, but simply because he couldn’t afford to carry everything upon himself.
His family was heavy enough. His future looked bleak enough.
After everything he had done, he still had only a 10% chance of surviving, according to his goddesses. Ten percent. That number was humorously discouraging.
But he kept going, because it was not like there was any other option.
If he stopped, he would die.
And if he turned his head back to look at the path behind him, then perhaps he would finally realize what kind of being he had become, and become afraid of what else he would need to become before reaching the end.
So there was only one option: Look forward and take another bloody step. Then another, and another.
Until either the road ended or he did.
And so, he sincerely couldn’t add on top of everything else the lives of all the people he had darkly impacted, mercilessly ended, or rightfully killed along the way.
Maybe one day he would look back.
But not today.
’Your words will not make me waver, System. They won’t.’ Cassius’s eyes churned with dark certainty.
Then he summoned the information about the Sealed Artifact, but he didn’t even get the time to look at the information before his body began to blur away from the mortal realm,
{Well said, my darling! Stop? Stop what? Stop who? We will kill them all. And we will kill everything, even a goddamned baby barely about to move his little chubby leg.}
"Huh?" Cassius exclaimed, getting dizzy, his mind seeing a kind of place high in the clouds.
{Do you know why, my darling? Because you can, and you need to. And because you will need every Luck these beings could have.}
"Luck?"
He blinked his eyes, and found himself in a completely different place, surrounded by golden clouds. And there, in front of him, sitting atop a golden coin that was being constantly flipped, sat a woman.
She smiled and his heart dropped, taking a step back, lips shaking.
{Hello, my dear son.} Tysche, Goddess of Fortune and Luck, second sister of Ananke, smiled at Cassius, {Missed me?}
—End of Chapter 409—