Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 164: Chapter 164: Eyepatch

Chapter 164 – Eyepatch

”Is it truly necessary?” Cassius asked, now wearing a new set of clothes. His left eye was hidden behind a black eyepatch with stunning silver stripes that looked like real threads.

He looked around the training ground, his eyes landing on the spot where he had torn out the eye of his own ancestor, and found that even the blood she had shed had disappeared completely.

Not a single trace of her existence remained.

Cassius felt a slight chill move through his heart.

[It is necessary.] Ananke said. [At least for now. And it is not wise for you to look too closely at the Spirits. They can act against you, and it would not be a pleasant experience.]

”When can I get rid of it?” Cassius asked. His vision was not affected by the eyepatch in the slightest. His Goddess’s eyepatch allowed him to see perfectly while concealing the eye at the same time.

[When you are strong enough that random Spirit attacks and unwanted attention no longer pose a genuine threat.]

”That is not a very tangible answer.”

[Not all answers need to be easily measurable. All you need to do is grow stronger, and that day will come on its own.]

”Aye, yes, I know.” He nodded, running a hand back through his hair. ”And since I am already here, I might as well train and get used to the new level of Bloodflame.”

He paused, tilting his head. ”I can try Rage of Dragons as well.” He looked upward. ”Will you be able to pull me back if I enter the Madness state?”

[I should be.] She replied. [But are you genuinely planning to make me spend GeumGeum on that?]

”I will earn it back for you with interest.” He said confidently. ”Especially during the Academy Entrance. You already know the entrance is watched by the entire Kingdom. I will make sure to do some advertising.”

[I want thousands of new believers then.]

”Do not go overboard.”

Ananke scoffed without replying. Cassius chuckled, then channelled his essence.

It surged like an erupting wave in a storm, then crimson fire breathed out, licking and flickering along Cassius’s body like a living torch.

Looking down at himself, his clothes intact thanks to his control, Cassius noticed that the fire was hotter and redder than before.

Simply by activating it, he could see the space around him distort, the air taking on a shimmering effect like heat above scorched earth.

The increase in power was staggering.

And yet, even so, his essence consumption stayed the same, or was perhaps even lower.

It was as though his control over Bloodflame had evolved alongside the Skill itself. Cassius could only attribute this to the fragments of experience he had glimpsed inside Amate’s memories.

That realisation made him understand more clearly why Ananke had wanted him to create a Realm of Memories.

Memories were literally a treasury of things to learn from.

He could barely wait to build it.

Shaking his head slowly to refocus, Cassius manipulated Bloodflame, and the flame twisted and surged brighter, taking the shape of a snake that coiled itself slowly around his neck.

The snake was so vivid it almost looked real. Its body was deep red, covered in something resembling dragon scales. Atop its head were two small horns, and its crimson reptile eyes blazed with living fire.

It flicked its tongue and rested its head on Cassius’s left shoulder.

He smiled widely, feeling the condensed and explosive power hidden inside that coiled form.

Without stopping, he stretched both hands forward, index fingers raised. With his right hand he manipulated fire, creating a small but densely compressed ball of flame hovering at the tip of his finger.

He did the same with his left hand, this time using blood.

With the snake and the two spheres of fire and blood, Cassius was simultaneously controlling three potential attacks.

Ananke had promised herself she would never be surprised by Cassius’s essence manipulation talent.

She could not keep that promise.

The scene in front of her was simply absurd. How could someone who had just gained an entirely new level of power control it this effortlessly?

But Cassius was not done yet. He dismissed the blood sphere and attempted to recreate it around the fire sphere, wrapping one element around the other.

The moment he tried, the fire sphere exploded sharply into his face. His concentration shattered, and the snake dissolved into a puff of crimson flame.

He staggered backward a couple of steps, coughed and cursed under his breath.

”Damn it. I was sure that was going to work.” He muttered, genuinely confused.

His control over both elements had been so stable that failure had not even seemed possible. So why?

His words made Ananke look at him as though he had said something genuinely absurd.

[Since when has fusing two elements into one been easy?] She asked incredulously. [Is this a new way to make your own talent sound less ridiculous?]

”What? Of course not. I am being serious. And why would I brag?”

[Because you love to be seen and appreciated by everyone around you.]

”...slander.”

[I am a goddess. I have no reason to say anything untrue to you.]

”I think the fact you are a goddess is precisely why you might have every reason to say untrue things.” Cassius replied. ”But that is not the point...why did the fusion fail?”

Ananke smiled faintly at that, then answered his actual question. [Good control over essence is not enough on its own to achieve a fusion. You need a deeper understanding of the elements themselves — an understanding of how they interact and why they can be joined. You need a master for that.]

”I have no master yet. But as a goddess you must have some ideas, so tell me what else I need.” Cassius said, motivation clear in his eyes.

That was one more powerful technique within his reach. He was not going to let this opportunity pass.

So Ananke began to explain what she knew about Elemental Fusion, not knowing herself that what she was describing was something very few people, even those with more than one affinity, could achieve in three months let alone three weeks.

Even the Chosen Ones would only reach this level of manipulation at the Third rank, when the awakening of their Soulblade caused a qualitative change in their very existence, granting them immense passive benefits that made such feats possible.

But Patron and Blessed continued in their cheerful disregard for this detail, with Cassius pushing forward and trying not to repeat the same mistake, wary of what his Innate might do if he did.

...

While Cassius was training at full speed without a moment’s rest, Isolde Amaris was in a similar state.

She had arrived in Storm City hours earlier, but had not gone directly home. Instead, Isolde walked through Salinas Street — a road that led directly to Salinas itself, a renowned restaurant owned by a couple from the Holy Empire of Nuur.

Rumour had it they had fled because of the threat of a Holy War.

Just before that famed restaurant, there was a sharp turn to the left, leading into darker alleys where small shops, worn brothels and restaurants with barely any customers stood tall, pitiful and slowly dying.

Isolde walked there, wearing a hood that covered her face completely.

She passed several shops and their owners calling uselessly after her, trying to sell their wares, until she finally stopped in front of one building.

She lifted her head and read the name hanging from a cracked, barely stable sign.

Pleasure’s Nest.

With no change in expression, she stepped onto the low platform, reached the door and pushed it open.

Instantly, the scent of sweet perfume and strange essences slammed her nose like a blow. She grimaced.

Sensual music drifted through air thick with cigarette smoke — accompanied by occasional moans and low sounds. Isolde took in the unpleasant sight with flat eyes.

Multiple women and men — of all ages and styles — mingled on worn couches and around cracked tables. Some danced with barely anything covering their bodies.

She clicked her tongue and swept her gaze around, until her purple eyes settled on a man sitting at the small bar.

At his left side, clinging close to him, was a young girl with a red blindfold over her eyes.

Isolde walked directly to the man and sat to his right.

After a short silence, she spoke.

”You left no evidence behind, did you?” Isolde asked, ignoring the bartender who asked if she wanted a drink.

The man paused, set down his glass of wine that looked worse than it smelled, and turned his head toward her, revealing the face of Maxim Onearm.

”No evidence left, my Lady.” He answered flatly, then nudged his head toward the young girl clinging to him. ”None but this one. You told me to save her before burning the house. What do you want to do with her now?”

Isolde fell silent.

Memories surfaced immediately.

She remembered the day Emily Stone had asked her to take care of her daughter if anything happened to her, not knowing that Isolde had already plotted her death long before their meeting.

Emily had handed her daughter to her own killer without even knowing it.

Now, watching the young innocent girl, Isolde found herself uncertain what to do.

She could not simply abandon her, that was too risky. But she could not easily take her along either. Someone might recognise the girl, and complications would follow.

The simplest path was to kill her.

But Isolde believed this girl could be useful.

With that thought, she stood from her chair, crouched in front of the young girl and removed the blindfold.

The girl yelped faintly in surprise. Her large brown eyes began to move around in curiosity, but Isolde’s right hand cupped her face and held it still, fixing it directly toward her.

”Do not look anywhere else but here.” She said simply, pointing to her own face. ”Understood?”

The girl nodded slowly, feeling the instinctive urge to comply with those cold purple eyes.

”Your name is Emma, correct?”

A nod.

”Do you remember me?”

Another nod, slower this time.

”Good. Then, Emma, I have some difficult news for you.”

”Emma already knows mother is gone.” She said plainly.

Isolde paused and arched an eyebrow. ”Gone?”

”Yes.” Emma nodded with enthusiasm. ”Mother said she would go find father for me! She said Emma must be patient and wait, even if it takes a long time.”

The girl paused — her expression becoming perplexed, as though trying to remember something — then brightened with sudden recognition. ”Mother also said to follow big sister and be reborn like the Warmaidens from those stories! She said big sister will guide Emma to a safe place.”

Emma tried to look around, confused by the surroundings but too innocent to understand anything of it. ”Is this the safe place Emma will stay now?”

Isolde said nothing at first, looking at the young girl whose life had been turned completely upside down without her even being aware of it.

She was sitting here waiting for a mother who was dead. And she was trusting the very person who had arranged that death.

Isolde did not allow herself to examine the small worm of guilt stirring in her heart. She snuffed it out completely, her eyes going colder and colder.

Emma shivered instinctively at the sight of it. She looked toward Maxim Onearm, searching for some comfort, but Maxim was like stone. Unfeeling and indifferent.

The girl began to sense that something was deeply wrong.

Before that instinct became too pronounced, however, Isolde spoke again.

This time with a forced but beautiful smile.

”No, Emma.” She said in a soothing voice. ”This is not the safe place.”

Isolde had changed her mind.

”I will take you somewhere far better.”

She would bring Emma with her.

—End of Chapter 164—