Shadow Slave

Cassie outstretched her hand, and a slender rapier appeared in it, glinting dangerously in the dim darkness of the vast hall.

It was the Quiet Dancer, manifested into reality by the power of her Aspect.

Feeling the familiar weight of her loyal rapier lying in her hand, Cassie inhaled deeply and pointed its tip at Asterion. Her dagger was pointed forward, as well, ready to deflect a blow.

“You say that I am a newborn Supreme, but my Domain is already deep and vast. It is as vast as the sea and as deep as the ocean; everything I remember becomes the source of my power, and I remember everything.”

It was true. Nephis ruled those who were inspired by her, while Sunny ruled those who were killed by him. Cassie’s Domain, however, consisted of memories — every being she remembered made it stronger, and she remembered a lot.

Especially so because of the Aspect Legacy bestowed upon her by the Spell.

Granted, the memories of those who were far more powerful than she was were an exception to that rule. But even the memories of those whose Rank was lesser than hers were a legion — and so, Cassie’s Domain was vast and powerful despite having been formed only seconds ago.

She cast her Will into the world and marked Asterion, finally becoming able to see the world… through his eyes.

Doing so before would have opened the gates of her mind and exposed it to his manipulation — more so than it was already being manipulated, at least. And that was still the case.

However, Cassie was a Supreme now, and her mental defenses were far more potent than they had been. Even if Asterion managed to erode them eventually, that was not going to happen in a short amount of time… and by the time it did, one of them would already be brought to their knees. She sensed his lips twisting into a smile.

“That might be so, but… have you forgotten that I can read your mind, Song of the Fallen?”

He shook his head.

“So I already know that your grandiloquence is nothing but a smoke screen. In fact, you are only talking to me to stall for time… because you know that you cannot defeat me. Isn’t that right?”

Cassie remained motionless, silently pressing her lips together.

At the same time, her Will poured down the stone steps of the Ebony Tower and beyond, reaching toward the soldiers of the Hunger Domain and marking each of them, one after another.

Asterion laughed.

“Nothing to say? That is alright… there is no need to. I have already seen everything that is hidden in your mind. I have already heard everything you had to say… and found it wanting.”

He took a step forward.

“Let’s see… at the moment, you are trying to embrace all of humanity with your powers — to erase the idea of me from their minds and destroy my Domain. To weaken me so that someone else could defeat me. But you need time to accomplish that, don’t you? Which means that you need to survive for a while longer.”

He shook her head.

“But how can you survive me, Song of the Fallen?”

Even though Cassie remained motionless, the tip of the Quiet Dancer trembled faintly.

Asterion studied her with interest.

“Your Domain is indeed a fascinating one. Your Supreme Ability is also quite something… however, nothing about it can augment your personal strength in combat. All you can do is borrow the strength of those you remember by summoning them into existence — but even that has its limits, does it not?”

Cassie’s expression turned concerned. Asterion smiled.

“Trying to hide it? Come now, what’s the use? You can’t hide anything from me.”

As he took another step forward, his smile turned cold.

“Ah, so these are the restrictions. Makes sense, really. Even if you remember beings of immense power, you can only manifest those of the same Rank as you… or those of a lesser Rank than yours. Even that power has its limits, though. At your current strength, you can only manifest… what, one Supreme being?”

The cold smile widened, and his golden eyes glinted with a hint of amusement.

“And your capacity to manifest Supreme beings is already exhausted. Because you are manifesting yourself — if you stop, you will cease to exist. So there is no room left to summon someone as powerful as you are — let alone as powerful as I am. Which means…”

He tilted his head and glanced at her mockingly.

“That all you can do is summon a Transcendent being to fight me — or a Corrupted one, I suppose. But, Song of the Fallen… do you really think that there is a Corrupted Nightmare Creature somewhere out there in the world that can stop me? That can stall me, even?”

Cassie gritted her teeth.

He was right. She needed to erase the memories of him from the minds of all humans, and to do that — if she could even do it — she needed time.

Cassie’s Supreme Ability allowed her to manifest one Supreme or Great being into existence, and that slot was already occupied by herself. So, she could only call upon her memories of beings that belonged to lesser Ranks.

Her capacity to manifest those one Rank below her was more generous. She could summon a Corrupted Titan, for example, or seven Transcendent Beasts… seven Saints. But what was the point of summoning seven Saints when her adversary was none other than Asterion, the Dreamspawn? The man who had subjugated hundreds of them and defeated the King of Nothing.

Cassie remained silent for a short while, and then spoke in a trembling, barely audible voice:

“One abomination comes to mind.”

Asterion smiled.

“One? Just one? Ah, you wound my pride…”

Then, however, the smile slowly drained from his face.

A cold wind blew across the dark hall, and suddenly, a cold and sinister chill permeated the air.

The darkness surrounding them suddenly seemed much deeper, much darker, much more frightening.

The weave of forbidden runes carved into the walls seemed to dance a maddening dance.

Cassie took an involuntary step back.

In the silence that enveloped them, there was suddenly a quiet rustle, and a deep, heavy sigh resounded from the depths of the hall.

As if something vast and horrible was waking up from slumber.

As Asterion turned slowly, a subtle frown appearing on his face, a whisper that sounded like broken glass resounded from behind him:

“Who calls upon me?”

Cassie shivered.

And there, surrounded by darkness, stood the thing she had summoned.

The being appeared human… or at least human-shaped.

It was a man wearing tattered clothes, his face a mass of scars that looked to have been inflicted by his own nails. His dirty hair fell like rotten seaweed, obscuring the ghastly scars and the jagged band of dark metal resting on his head like a tarnished crown.

In his hand, he was holding the hilt of a graceful jian that seemed to have been cut from a single slab of pristine, flawlessly white jade.

It was the darkest horror of the Great River…

It was the Mad Prince.