Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 468: Chapter 468: The Dragons Kneeled... For Me?

Chapter 468 – The Dragons Kneeled... For Me?

Cough! Cough! Cough!

"Queen’s soft hands on me..."

"My hands are indeed on you."

"...I got burned by the Sun like poor Icarus." Cassius coughed again. "But hey... at least I am alive. Fucking hell."

He finally opened his eyes with immense difficulty, staring at the three goddesses looming over him.

He was inside the Gate of Fate and Secrecy; Cassius knew it immediately from the threads all around.

His head was resting on Ananke’s lap, and her hands were gently resting on his cheeks, trying to cool down his body.

Steam curled up from his body, hissing like dozens of snakes, twisting and swirling in the air like a coming storm.

The pain was still racking his mind and body. But at that point, truth be told, Cassius was getting ridiculously used to pain.

And he didn’t know whether he should be happy or disturbed by that fact.

’Still, I would have died if not for the fire Blanche used to spare me from instant death. She is so cruel.’

Cassius shook his head slowly, then winced at the pain. Sighing, he looked back at his goddesses.

"Alive thanks to you," he said to them, attempting a smile. "Thank you for the timely help."

"If we started counting how many times you would have died without us behind you," Tysche whispered, irritated, "we would be here for a long time."

"Ananke, this is truly not what you told me when I asked you how it feels to be Cassius’s mother," Marvela complained to Ananke, whose lips twitched at being blamed. "This is way worse than I ever thought. Since when does an Abyss-damned Second Rank human go to the Sun and face an Error? Am I the only one who thinks this is all so absurd?"

"And fall straight from the Sun," Tysche added, her lips pulled into a dry smile. "What I felt when I saw you falling from the Sun is something I hope, and pray, I will never feel again. I almost saw my life ending."

"I don’t like being blamed for Cassius’s stupid behavior," Ananke muttered. "I am a victim."

The three goddesses then turned their gazes toward Cassius, who was looking back at them with that unmistakable ’I know I’m completely in the wrong, but surely you can forgive me when I have such a cute face’ kind of expression.

The worst thing was that it was working. And the goddesses wanted to slap themselves for being so weak in front of him.

In the end, Tysche sat on his right, rebuking him in a harsh tone.

Marvela was on his left, slapping his face gently, but repeatedly enough to irritate Cassius.

Ananke was behind him, only smiling, cooling his body so that his own healing fire could restore him.

The Last Born accepted and listened to all these complaints with a wry, apologetic smile. He knew what he had done was the most reckless thing ever, but he didn’t regret it.

This Meeting with the Error had brought clarity to his future, to his own life, and that was something he truly needed.

And although he had failed to secure the White Phoenix’s support, there was hope of achieving that in the future.

He just needed to keep his word and set foot on the Sun.

This time, with his own power, and not the power of the System.

"I know the way now," Cassius suddenly declared, his voice cutting through those of his goddesses, who immediately fell silent and turned their attention toward him. "I’ve been to the Sun, and I was thrown out of it, sent falling from the heavens to the earth, and I even almost died in the process, but..."

He smiled.

"...I now know the way from the heavens to the earth. Which means I can find my way back to the heavens, to the Sun itself, by following the very path that brought me down."

The goddesses were surprised for a heartbeat, before Marvela spoke in a strange tone, half amused and half awed. "It amazes me how humans always find meaning and strength, even in the worst situations. You almost died, yet you’re telling us that because of it, you know the way."

"Well," he said, "I try my best to interpret the events in my life in a good way. It keeps me away from negativity, and so protects me from pointless disappointment and from wasting time crying over things that have already passed."

He grinned. "And you know what they say: as long as this life doesn’t end, failure is just a rumor."

"You were right, darling," Tysche said, grinning. "Let’s scam people. You’ll be a motivational speaker and tell them all these things for big money."

"Cassius doesn’t need money." Ananke glared at her sister.

"It’s for the love of the game. You don’t understand, because you are an old woman. Just stay silent."

"Who is—!"

"Haha!" Cassius laughed, cutting them off again. "What I said isn’t false, honestly, but it’s easier for me to say because, in truth..."

DING!

He looked at the panel flickering in front of him, glowing like Blanche’s immaculate, fiery eyes.

"...I did receive something after this small failure."

[NEW ACHIEVEMENT! You Kissed The Ass of The Sun and Still Fell From It!]

[Description: There are no words to express our feelings about what you have done. It’s true that we somehow, just somehow, gave you this Ticket to go to the Sun.

But we never thought you would use it immediately, and even manage to get the White Phoenix to give you a Gift, fall from the Sun, and still survive.

What a lucky bastard you are. Some would die to have a tenth of that luck.

Still, you know us by now.

It is our great duty to watch you, so we witnessed everything you did and said during the meeting, and we must admit, little fucker, that was one hell of a damn performance.

Lightbringer. You are embodying this Spirit Title more and more, and we are happy to announce that we... do not hate it.

For once.

For this one, you deserve some rewards.]

[Rewards: Echo of Desdemona; Twin Love-Hate Potion (Automatically given to the one in your circle who deserves it the most); Couriel For the Gods! (Unique Item)]

These rewards were odd, he thought, especially the last two. However, the first was something Cassius had never thought he would see again.

Another Echo of Desdemona, which meant another Ancestor to meet, to know, and maybe a chance to learn a lot more about his Family.

He was already eager, and his lips pulled into an involuntary smile.

’But what is this Potion, and... Couriel?’ he thought, confused. Especially the fact that the Twin Love-Hate Potion was not in his hand, but automatically given to someone in his circle.

What did that mean?

Unfortunately, Cassius didn’t have time to truly think about these two before the gift Blanche had given him finally activated, spreading through his whole body.

His left eye caught fire, the same White Fire that was infecting the sun.

The three goddesses arched their eyebrows and slowly backed away from him, watching curiously.

To their surprise, they saw crimson and white fire burning in his left eye before covering his body like a shroud.

That was not all.

The crimson fire took the shape of a mighty scarlet dragon, its red scales gleaming like gemstones under the light of the Gate, its claws long and sharp like spears, its wide, monstrous mouth gaping open in a blasphemous roar.

The air shook, and shockwaves erupted.

The White fire, however, took the shape of a graceful, beautiful white phoenix. It stretched its wings wide, as if wishing to envelop the whole Gate.

"This is..."

The goddesses watched as the crimson dragon and the white phoenix danced around each other — one roaring, the other screeching — a symphony of power filling the Gate.

Cassius’s body was thundering, and his Sun Core was growing stronger at a stunning pace.

On his back, where the wide tattoo of a Sun was beautifully etched... slowly and meticulously, the figures of a dragon and a phoenix were being drawn into it – one to the right of the sun, the other to the left.

His left Draconic Eye shifted, now bearing aspects of a Phoenix, which made his Sun’s Power far stronger than before.

But beyond all of that, the power of the Phoenix had an effect Cassius never expected at that moment.

It had the power to revive some of the memories of the dead dragons that had been sealed in his eye.

So before he could even grasp the full meaning of the situation, his Sun Core reaching 99%, just one percent away from stepping into the next Stage...

...Cassius’s mind was dragged into a whole new memory, the scenery swapping in a flash.

But it was not a memory in the truest sense of the term. It was just a glimpse.

A snippet.

And there, Cassius stood atop a high crimson pillar shaped like a finger pointed toward the heavens. At the top of that pillar rested a throne made of dragon bones, its armrests formed from the skulls of dragons whose blood was still seeping down in slow streams, staining the ground below red.

The sight was beautiful, yet horrific.

Above, the sky was dark, red lightning snapping through it as though the heavens themselves were convulsing in anger, and over the whole scene lingered a strange scent of solemnity... and awe.

Only then did Cassius notice, with great surprise, that beneath the Pillar and surrounding it on all sides were hundreds of red dragons.

One of them was especially immense, majestic beyond measure, with seven wings spread across its back and stunning red eyes marked by two slitted pupils crossing into the shape of a plus.

And yet...

All of them were kneeling. All of them were chained.

All of them were bowing down to him.

’No,’ Cassius finally thought, his eyes widening as a realization began to settle in. ’Not me.’

He raised his hands and looked at them.

They were not his own.

They were covered in scars, the nails long and deeply red. They belonged to a woman.

It didn’t take him long to know whose body, and whose eyes, he was looking through right now.

’Amate... Desdemona?’

And the dragons roared at that precise moment, the world trembling beneath the sheer weight of their voices, the thunderous stomping of their feet against the ground, and the mighty blows of their claws against their chests.

"Hail The Worldburner! The Human Queen Before Whom Dragons Kneel! The Mistress of Fire and Lover of Hell!"

Cassius blinked, his breath caught.

And the world suddenly cracked and fragmented like a shattering vase, and as he was pushed out of these memories, he heard the last words of the roaring dragons.

"Hail Desdemona! Rightful Heirs of the First Serpent!"

—End of Chapter 468—