Read Novel Full Chapter 416: CASSIUS!
Chapter 416: Chapter 416: CASSIUS!
Chapter 416 – CASSIUS!
Cassius stared at the red earring intensely, not knowing what to say at first. He truly wasn’t expecting any gift.
He couldn’t help but wonder, at that moment, if it was his grandmother’s way of telling him that what he did yesterday didn’t change her love for him.
That him, blowing up the Church of Death, and causing the death and suffering of so many people, didn’t make him suddenly unsightly to her.
And by thinking that, Cassius couldn’t help but be moved.
His siblings mostly thought of the Hoods as liabilities; as people with too many problems for them to care.
That was why the Twins never visited the Royal Palace. And no one could force them, not even father and mother.
Morgan was more tolerant, and could accept to come if it was truly important. But she didn’t particularly hold them in her heart, despite being showered with love by their grandmother. Still, because of that same love, she held a bit of sympathy for them.
Dorian was the same, but he was more fickle, and scarcely held sympathy let alone love for them.
All of that to say that his family barely considered the Hoods. He couldn’t blame them, honestly.
But Cassius was different from them.
Call him crazy or reckless, but Cassius loved the Hoods, despite all the things that were wrong with them. And the reason was simple: they loved him.
And Cassius loved whoever loved him, even though he might not return the same intensity and the same type of love you expect from him.
Thus,
"Thank you, grandma." He said, accepting the gift gratefully, sparing her his best smile, "I will cherish it. I promise."
"I don’t doubt that you will." Morenna said, and shifted her position in order to face him properly. She grasped the red earring and placed it gently on his right ear, all with a smile.
Then she leaned her head backwards a bit, taking in the whole sight of Cassius with the earring. Her smile deepened, "it suits you so well. Red might be your color, Angel."
"Red? Not very angelic, I suppose."
"You are a special kind of angel, I suppose too." She chuckled, observing him even more, "The earring is perfect with your red eyes and white hair."
"Right?" Cassius nodded, a faint smile on his lips. He lifted his right hand slowly and brushed it against the earring.
The instant he had worn the earring, he had felt a subtle essence coursing through him, soothing him, making him sigh in relief.
But there was something else too. Something deeper that made his blood quiver in a feeling akin to delight.
"The artifact has a very simple purpose." Morenna said, lifting one finger, "and it is to refine your blood."
"Oh?" Cassius exclaimed, surprised by the words, yet understanding what she meant, "refine, you said? My own blood?"
Artifacts or even Potions that refined blood were extremely rare in Sunu Gaal. So rare that most people didn’t even know that such a thing existed.
Because refining blood meant making the bloodline inside of you purer, stronger, and more attuned to your Origin Pool’s Affinities.
And considering that your Aspect and talent heavily depended on Bloodline, it was completely primordial.
People could absolutely kill for that. And coming from a Tier Three rank monster, meaning a monster equivalent to Ascended, it was expected that such an effect was possible.
However, there was one downside, if one could even call it that, about these artifacts, in most cases.
"Only 5%." Morenna said, "that’s how efficient it is. And considering you are a Desdemona, you can expect even less. Maybe around 3%. But it’s better than nothing."
She caressed his hair,
"The effect will compound as time passes. And if many years went by, then surely, one day, this artifact would have refined your blood enough for it to be transformative."
"I don’t doubt it." Cassius said, nodding, really happy about the gift. It was way better than anything he was expecting. "Thank you so much for the gift again."
He said, and hugged Morenna warmly. Morenna allowed a smile to grace her lips, before returning the hug.
The two stayed in that way for a while, before the Queen spoke again, voice low:
"Tell me, dear, what are you fighting for?" She asked gently, "what is the goal you are envisioning at the end of your road?"
Cassius knew exactly why his grandmother asked him that. And if this question was asked yesterday, he would have answered, but would still be unsure about what he truly wanted.
But no more. There was not a single doubt about what he wanted, and about what and who he was.
He embraced his good and bad sides openly, and knew when to swallow some pride and anger, and when his compassion and gentleness ended.
He knew when to kill without caring about the lives of those that would be impacted by the death of his target, and when to allow mercy.
He knew all of that. And by knowing all of that, he replied without a single waver in his tone:
"It’s a cliche goal, honestly." He said, smirking, "But that’s a goal worth pursuing, worth dying for, even. I simply want to protect those I care about."
"A selfless goal, then." Morenna whispered.
"I don’t think there exists any goal that is selfless." Cassius replied, shaking his head, "Even the fact I am protecting my family and friends is not completely selfless. Because, think about it, grandma. By protecting them, I protect who I am. Which can lead to the question of...am I doing this for them? Or am I doing this because I am afraid of what I will be without them around me?"
"That’s a good fear to have. It makes you human, and by making you human it makes you relatable, and someone who could relate to you can understand you, maybe even love you." She paused, then whispered, voice low and thin, "maybe that’s why I love you."
Cassius replied with a comfortable silence, hugging his grandmother in a way to convey feelings words couldn’t describe.
Morenna followed.
"And although no goal can be fully altruistic, yours is as selfless as it can be in this world." She chuckled, "and I am happy that this is what you want. Because, dear, that’s all I care about. Family."
"Maybe that’s why I am close to you." He returned her own words back to her.
"Hahah, yes. Because you share my goal without having gone through the mistakes I have gone through. That’s commendable."
"Each to their own Path, I guess," the Last Born said. "Some people need one or two extra steps to reach what others reach in one. That doesn’t make them less worthy of arriving. It just means that when they finally do, they understand the road in a way those who walked straight might never understand."
He smiled at her.
"And if you hadn’t made all those mistakes, Grandmother, perhaps you would have reached here sooner. But I doubt the woman who arrived would have been the grandmother I know and love."
"You might have loved me more." Morenna said.
"Or I might have loved you less."
Morenna paused at his words, reflected upon them, before suddenly laughing, loud and proud, her heart blooming with a feeling of endearment towards her grandson, "Truly, you don’t talk like a boy."
"Well, anyone in my place would not talk like a boy." Cassius said wryly, "Guess that’s what makes me unique in my own way."
"Guess so, Angel. Guess so." She broke the hug, then kissed his forehead, their eyes locked, "still, until the day comes when you can protect me, let me protect you, alright?"
Cassius smiled, nodding, "alright."
"Perfect!" She clapped, smile widening, "Now, we have wasted enough time darling. Be a dear and get ready. We will have breakfast in 15 minutes and then we will depart. We have a Call of Justice to finish, and, most importantly, to win."
Morenna then gave one last ruffle of hair to Cassius before exiting the room, giving him the space and time to get ready.
Cassius chuckled next, looked at the day, and saw today was Thursday, August 27.
Five days until September 1st.
Five days...
He looked at his phone and read again the message Isolde had sent him last time. Then he smiled, having hope. Or rather, choosing to have hope.
"I hope you are safe, Isolde." Cassius muttered silently under his breath, looking at the ceiling blankly for a while, enjoying the soothing feeling of his new earring.
’How long do you think until my bloodline gets refined enough?’ He asked, amused, knowing full well how long that thing would take.
His Bloodline was not a weak one, after all.
[More than 20 years, certainly.] Ananke said, [Your Bloodline is...very ancient, to say the least.]
’Will you one day tell me about Desdemona? The Third Holder? And even why she is called Holder and who are the First Two?’
[We will. One day, certainly.] the Queen replied,
[If you are daring enough, darling, you could use the Coin of Maybe to accelerate the process.] Tysche chimed in, changing the subject, [You can choose one statement that will make the bloodline refinement faster, and another, undoubtedly, slower.]
’What if the coin lands on the slower side?’
[Then you are doomed, darling. But a real gambler must always think: what if it lands on the faster side?]
’I truly don’t like playing with luck when the consequences affect so heavily my present and future.’ Cassius grumbled, and Tysche laughed, knowing full well how it could be annoying to always take into account the worst possible scenario.
Cassius then wondered when Marvela would be back from her slumber. It was quite pitiful what was happening to her, but the condition for her to regain her full autonomy was to kill her real mother and some conditions so absurd it was laughable.
It would take a long time before she got rid of her curse.
But it wouldn’t take that long of a time for his grandmother to come back to him for the Deathless Prison.
So it was time to look at the rewards he had obtained yesterday before it was too late.
With that thought, the system panel flickered in front of him:
[One Lie Made Truth Ticket: This is the type of Ticket people like you — who love lies, eat lies, sleep with lies, wake up with lies — would kill to have.
Now you do, Last Born.
You can make any lie a truth, objectively and subjectively, around a certain space time period.
There are no restrictions on this Ticket.
You know what that means, don’t you, Last Born? It means We want you to be the greatest fool to ever exist and make a terrible Lie a Truth in a wide span of space time period.
We want you to taste the Curse. It would be perfect. Don’t disappoint us.
You know what they said?
The Game Must Go On!]
Cassius’s eyes went immediately wide, blinking repeatedly, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he was seeing wrong.
But no.
’No limit?’
[That’s all you remember from this, Cassius?!!] Ananke basically screamed, [Don’t even try to make a Big Lie a Truth in a wide span of time. You heard me? Don’t you dare!]
[Listen to big sister. You’d better not do it, darling. You will regret it.]
But Cassius was not heeding them. His eyes were wide in wonder, thinking of something that could...
[CASSIUS!]
—End of Chapter 416—