Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 461: Chapter 461: Story of Kaden, the Undying

Chapter 461 – Story of Kaden, the Undying

It was a day like any other.

A day identical to the first time she had decided to reside in the Sun and make it her own. A day when nothing would happen, and she would close her eyes, let her memories wander, and let them drag her towards the past.

Towards Fokay. Towards Darklore.

Towards Kaden, her master, her friend, and her adopted son.

And thinking about all of that would make her heart bleed in agony. Then she would smile, a bloody, searing smile in her beastly form, look upon the earth below, and hope that the Chosen One was doing his job. Hope that he was not fooling around, and was getting stronger in order to achieve what Kaden wished.

The worlds, or those who knew of her, called her a traitor. But those were people who knew Kaden only by name and reputation.

They didn’t know him like she did. They didn’t love him like she did.

No, not at all.

These men and women loved what Kaden represented.

She, Blanche of Lightbringer, loved Kaden for the man he was when all those fancy titles were stripped away, leaving only a broken man with a broken smile and a broken heart begging to be healed... but to no avail.

So these people couldn’t even begin to understand the pain Kaden had gone through his whole life.

A pain he wanted to relive, by choosing to help the man who, truth be told, was the root cause of his suffering.

Why would he choose to help the Vaelgrim?

Let them die. Let them disappear into oblivion. Let that man, the source of all this unending suffering, finally die, even though Blanche knew it was nearly impossible.

Yet let that Noah Vaelgrim, that arrogant bastard of the First damned Order, fall into a sleep indistinguishable from death. Let the Desdemona, the Bloodline Echo of one of his numerous, unending collection of wives, dwindle to dust.

Why must Kaden do... all of this?

Why... did he always have this compassion, this need, this love to save everyone, when no one had chosen to save him when he sank into profound depression after losing his whole family to THEM?

’Or is this revenge now, my dear Kaden? Do you want to save Noah and go against THEM? Is that why you created all this? Is that why you took a piece of THEM and created these Two Holders? Oh, darling. How many deaths did that take you? How much suffering? You, alone, with no one to witness your heart, which had ceased to be a heart, something empty like your blessed power, and yet you keep going.’ Blanche smiled with profound sadness, so much that she wished to gouge out her heart to stop the pain.

’Trenovar will be angry at you in his eternal dream, I am certain. To think you used his Authority to keep your wives asleep and save them from this pain. But they will wake up, and I know they will side with me. This unending cycle needs to end. For you, my dear. Only for you. And a Desdemona cannot end it, as you believe in this timeline. They are tainted. Only a product of this Collision of Worlds, Sunu Gaal, can do it. Only Emrys Stormblessed can. Why can’t you hear me, master, dear... my darling?’

It didn’t matter.

Blanche would make sure that Emrys Stormblessed was ready. Ready to destroy them, and to pull Kaden away from this whole nightmare that just couldn’t end, like a wheel refusing to stop.

And that, even if she needed to destroy this world and everything in it. And she would start with the sun.

After all, Blanche grinned coldly, what would happen if the Sun exploded upon the world?

’Ah. I know what would happen. You have done it already, dear Kaden. But I am not like you. I need time to make this sun mine. And I will.’

Blanche didn’t know why, but she was exceptionally melancholic that day. She let out a sigh, one that bled hot steam of immaculate white, and closed her eyes to continue her Sun Infection.

But that was exactly when her eyes snapped wide open again in surprise, staring ahead.

A being had just stepped into her Territory.

A young boy at the Second Rank. White hair like that of the Pale Lady of Old, crimson-pink eyes screaming of the echo of his reincarnations, and a face so beautiful she wondered whether Kaden had made it that way on purpose.

He stood there like a beacon inside the world of flames, surrounded by a barrier she could destroy with a loud sigh, staring at her.

He smirked.

What a beautiful little shit he was.

"You look majestic, White Phoenix," he said, his voice so irritating yet so sweet. "I am in awe, I must confess."

Cassius Desdemona, the Chosen One of Kaden Lightbringer, had arrived in the Sun.

Blanche was stunned for a while, then let out a loud, grating laugh. One so strong that she was afraid of it herself, yet she couldn’t stop.

She laughed and laughed, causing the flames to flare brighter, and the sun to glow hotter down on earth.

"This is just fantastic," she gasped, finally managing to calm down, looking at him with her monstrous eyes. "A Protection from the World itself. One that would crumble if I used only 5% of my strength, and if I used 10%, I would kill you before your goddess could even pull you out. I see an interesting power inside you. Let me guess, Traveler? Oh, that’s a rare one. Certainly not supposed to fall into your wife’s hands, but I guess the Wife of the Accursed also wants to play with Probability in this timeline. Fantastic."

’I know this is you, dear Kaden,’ Blanche thought amid her assessment of Cassius, making the man go slightly pale. ’Are you testing me? Are you giving me the power to kill him, to see if I would? What is your plan? To make me listen to him? To make me meet him? For what, dear? I am not changing my opinion of him.’

’But I will play your game,’ she finally thought, and began to rise from where she lay, the movement causing the sun to scream in horror, as if this were the first time in ages that the White Phoenix had stood up.

’Queen’s short skirt, now this is bloody scary,’ Cassius hissed inwardly, staring at the monstrous yet unimaginably beautiful being in front of him.

A stunning phoenix towered over him, so tall that he had to crane his neck to see her. She looked like a mountain of white, immaculate fire sculpted to stand steady and heavy upon the world.

Her wings were wide and beautiful, unfurling at her sides like ancient parchments finally being unrolled, causing an explosion of awe and excitement beyond measure.

The feathers were so perfectly shaped, as bright as crystal, that he couldn’t help but stare at them and see his own reflection in them.

Bloodydamn, he looked pale as hell.

Yet Cassius kept staring, witnessing this legend, this myth, this Being of Impossible Origin.

Her eyes were entirely white, burning with a fire hotter than anything he had known, even though he couldn’t feel it, and gazing down at him as if he were nothing but an ant.

Cassius Desdemona was not offended.

At that instant, he did feel like an ant. He knew with certainty that this being could kill him in a heartbeat if she wished.

The System’s protection only covered the Sun’s environment and a certain level of the Error’s power. Not her full power.

Hell, not even 10% of her power.

The System had seriously underestimated how much danger he would be in.

Already, he could hear his Queen’s grating growl, angry and irritated at him for his stupid hastiness.

Cassius didn’t let himself get dragged into that train of thought.

Instead, he stared at the White Phoenix, felt the majesty of this Beast of the Sun, and was unable to stop the awe in his heart.

The Last Born was never, or rarely, amazed by anything or anyone.

Yet at that exact moment, he was.

The White Phoenix seemed to embody everything he wanted, and his heart was full of an excitement unbefitting such a tense, dreadful moment.

"I would have sworn your master would never allow you to get close to me, dearest," Blanche said, looking down at Cassius from high above, her body almost swallowed by the fire around her.

Almost.

"She wouldn’t," Cassius said. "But she doesn’t know."

She smiled. "So you lied to your master. Quite obedient of you."

"I wanted to meet you," Cassius replied, his fingers trembling. "Our first meeting was not very ideal. You came to me in the shape of a bird. Now I get to see you."

"Do you like what you see?"

"Definitely."

"Know that it can kill you at any moment."

"I don’t doubt that," Cassius admitted, his heart shivering for a moment. "But before that, please humor me, Beast of the Sun. I have a story to tell."

"A story?"

"Yes." He nodded, and with a low, thin smile, said, "The Story of Kaden, the Undying."

The Sun roared, and the White Phoenix’s haunted heart tightened.

—End of Chapter 461—